The assassination attempt against Donald Trump cast a grim shadow over the Republicans arriving in Milwaukee for their party’s presidential nominating convention this week.
With enhanced security measures and a sense of solemn resolve, it may not be the typically jovial affair it was intended to be. No matter, many lawmakers, lobbyists, and party faithful still hopped their flights and said the violence wouldn’t change their plans. There was hope for unity.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who joined the Senate just months before the last sitting president was shot, said he hoped the shooting would soften the nation’s increasingly inflammatory political discourse, including at the convention starting Monday.
“We got to tone it down,” Grassley said in an interview at the bar of a Cajun restaurant on the outskirts of Milwaukee hosting Iowa Republicans’ welcome reception. “Both sides in a politically divided country have used bad rhetoric.”
Milwaukee still will be a place to be seen, schmooze with donors, and cajole for policy wishlists, for those who were already going. The convention itself takes on a new sense of purpose, Republicans said.
“I am keeping my original plans and I am not aware of anyone changing their plans,” said lobbyist Alex Vogel, founder of the Vogel Group. “The convention is an integral part of our election process and will not be deterred by unacceptable violence.”
Even before the violence at the rally, some vulnerable Republican lawmakers, lobbying groups, and corporate representatives had already decided to skip this year’s event, or to keep a relatively muted presence.
A mix of scheduling conflicts, swing-district electoral pressures, and potential risks to corporate brands of being perceived as too cozy with a political party, will keep some away. Even some running for relatively safe seats don’t see the four-day political extravaganza as terribly fruitful.
A contingent of vulnerable lawmakers with tough re-election fights said they had other plans, as far away from Milwaukee as Africa.
Plenty of lobbyists and business interests will be among the 50,000-plus convention-goers, including giant defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the major oil companies. Both plan to attend the Democratic convention in Chicago.
But some of the biggest names on K Street said they aren’t sponsoring or hosting events at either political convention.
The Business Roundtable, the US Chamber of Commerce, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and other major lobbying organizations said they weren’t hosting convention events but will have staff or lobbyists on the ground. Amazon.com, Boeing Co., Google, and other major companies did not respond to inquiries about their convention plans, or lack thereof.
“Corporate interest isn’t zero, but they’re definitely taking more of an arm’s length approach,” said Andy Keiser, a Republican lobbyist with the firm Navigators Global, in an interview last week.
Battleground View
Some of the House’s most endangered incumbents from districts where Trump is unpopular — like vulnerable Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Mike Lawler from New York — are still planning to make an appearance at Trump’s coronation.
Other swing-district Republicans will take advantage of the break from D.C. to go home. Reps. John Duarte (R-Calif.) and Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) both said they’d campaign this week ahead of competitive elections in their toss-up districts.
Some of Trump’s most diehard Hill supporters will be eager to attend the convention and earn facetime with the party’s de facto leader. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who has ties to a Jan. 6, 2021 rally but says he never entered the Capitol that day, will be in attendance despite possible pressures in his district.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is going, having seemingly repaired his relationship with Trump after the ex-president tanked Emmer’s chances of becoming speaker last year. Former Trump aide Max Miller (R-Ohio) will be in attendance, though former administration official Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) said he’ll be busy with his state’s rodeo circuit.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will speak at the convention. It’s a chance for the relatively unknown leader to make a name for himself on the national stage, though any major gaffes could also endanger his future in leadership.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who represents a district Biden won in 2020, said he’ll be leading a congressional delegation to the Baltics as chairman of the Baltic Security Caucus. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), another Biden-district incumbent, planned to be on a different codel to Africa.
There were signs that calls for unity in the wake of the shooting were soothing some intra-party divisions. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a former fierce critic who fought Trump for the nomination, was announced by the RNC Sunday as a speaker later this week, after earlier saying she would not attend.
Democrats looking to unseat GOP incumbents have tried to tie them to Trump’s divisiveness, calling them extreme and MAGA, so appearing at the convention could spur attack ads against those vulnerable Republicans. The assassination attempt, however, may increase the risks of such Democratic attacks.
Travel Logistics
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be leading the Kentucky delegation at the convention. But a handful of senators are skipping, including centrists like Sens. Susan Collins (R-Md.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the party’s nominee back in 2012, who voted to convict this year’s nominee in his second impeachment trial.
Others cited pre-scheduled trips overseas at a time of war on two continents, or a preference for spending time with family in the case of Bill Cassidy (R-La.), another Trump conviction vote. Sen. Thom Tillis said his time was better spent campaigning at home for fellow North Carolina Republicans.
The complicated logistics of attending a high-security event stretched across a whole city poses more tangible obstacles — as does the grind of morning-to-late-night events.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said she strongly backs Trump but wanted to avoid staying in a motel more than an hour’s drive away from the convention.
The Republican Main Street Partnership, a pragmatic conservative group, doesn’t plan to be in Milwaukee, said the group’s President and CEO Sarah Chamberlain, even though in previous years it hosted a Sunday welcome fete.
“The members support Trump but it’s just not in our wheelhouse, so we decided to pass,” Chamberlain said. She said she planned to spend the week focused on pivotal congressional races.
GOP lobbyist Mark Williams, whose firm Ferox Strategies is hosting a brunch in Milwaukee this week, said he expected increased security this week but did not believe it would deter a recent uptick in interest among corporate denizens and Hill staffers.
With the 2020 conventions largely online during the height of the covid pandemic and off-the-floor events canceled, people lack the “muscle memory,” Williams said. “I have seen over the course of the past month enthusiasm build for Milwaukee and more and more events.”
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