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Tag: assassination Trump
From The Atlantic. Link here.
Posted without comment.
Unambiguous Faith
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Lora Kelley: How has the assassination attempt shaped the mood of the RNC?
Mark Leibovich: People are definitely jarred by it. But now that a few days have passed since the shooting, there’s a sense of divine intervention, like Trump has been touched by God. This seems to have stoked an almost spiritual allegiance to him.
There’s an even greater sense of confidence I was hearing while interviewing a bunch of people earlier this week—senators, congressmen, delegates. There are a lot of reasons for them to feel confident based on the political realities on the ground. But the shooting added a new dimension to the collective faith that people have in Trump. This is clearly the party of Trump, and there is no sign of any resistance. Mostly, people are just here for a coronation.
On Monday, I overheard a guy saying that he went out to a drugstore and bought a bunch of gauze pads—like the one Trump was wearing on his ear Monday night—and that he was going to put some kind of logo on them and try to sell them or pass them out. By yesterday, I was seeing people wearing them—mostly plain gauze pads, but I saw a few with writing and logos on them. The merchandising wheels are in motion.
Lora: Is this a different type of RNC than the one you were anticipating before last Saturday?
Mark: The week so far has been spirited but also serene. At the RNC there’s usually much more of a siege mentality. There’s a big victim complex in this version of the Republican Party, this sense of We’re fighting long odds and everyone’s against us. But that feeling is not as strong now.
I was at Trump’s first convention, in 2016 in Cleveland, and a lot of the delegates I talked with this week were there too. At that point, Trump had not quelled the resistance to him at all. Ted Cruz gave this very defiant speech, and was basically booed throughout by the Trump supporters in the crowd.
The contrast to this week is really stark. Now we’re seeing an even more extreme level of falling in line than seemed possible. People were very happy to embrace J. D. Vance, too. That’s an extension of the unambiguous faith people seem to have in Trump.
Lora: What are attendees’ reactions to the name Joe Biden?
Mark: There’s not so much anger as head-shaking, almost a sense of pity. Biden is part of the good fortune Republicans feel right now. They don’t even seem to be bothering with the usual vilification. It’s more of a quiet vilification, almost as if they’re picking on a feeble target at this point.
I don’t want to understate the contempt people here have for the other side and for Biden—and for what losing could look and feel like. Who knows how Republicans would react to a surprise on Election Night? But that does not seem like the prevailing mood, at least so far—and that also may have to do with the shooting.
Lora: What are you seeing from Trump himself?
Mark: There were reports that Trump was thinking about changing the tone of the event to something more unifying and conciliatory, not the usual combative tone. I don’t know if that’s going to hold.
When Trump came out last night, he looked a little bit moved. He doesn’t usually look moved. It seemed to be a look of genuine—I would never say humble, but his face seemed quieter. His whole vibe seemed quieter. He seemed to still be a little bit shocked at what happened to him on Saturday. That would be a normal reaction.
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