MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — A number of leading Republican figures from Alabama participated in the Republican National Convention this past week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and all shared a similar message: that the Republican Party was wholly unified behind now-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
That wasn’t necessarily the case seven years ago in Cleveland, when plenty of Republicans remained skeptical of Trump, even to the point of considering a convention floor challenge.
This year, Alabama Republican leaders spoke to the energy at the convention in the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump last week at a rally in Pennsylvania, which Alabama GOP Chair John Wahl described as “solemn.”
“This convention is unique, we kind of had that solemnness for the victims from up in Pennsylvania, but at the same time, Donald Trump wants it to go forward, he wants to talk about the values that the Republican Party believes in,” Wahl told Alabama Daily News while at the convention.
Trump survived the assassination attempt when a bullet grazed his right ear, a near miss that would have had historic consequences. Pennsylvania resident Corey Comperatore, however, was fatally shot, and two other rally attendees were seriously injured.
Following the assassination attempt, Trump reportedly rewrote his planned speech for the convention to focus on unity, and not President Joe Biden as he had originally planned.
Wahl echoed the intent of Trump’s revised speech, telling ADN it was the Republican Party’s goal “to bring America together.”
Rep. Robert Aderholt is no stranger to political conventions, having himself attended as a delegate for George Bush in 1992. This year, however, he said it was different.
“I think on the heels of what happened on Saturday has really made this convention a little bit different,” Aderholt told ADN.
“Obviously, security is always a top priority at any convention, but this one was just a little different because of the nominee coming within millimeters of losing his life just hours before the convention started.”
A long-time Trump ally, Rep. Barry Moore spoke to what he considered to be the Republican presidential nominee’s strengths, as well as how even some of Trump’s former Republican critics have now coalesced behind him, including Trump’s own vice presidential pick.
“The one thing I love were (Trump’s) policies, I mean what he did for the country… securing the border, getting inflation under control, gas prices came down, we were net-energy exporters,” Moore told ADN.
“There were a lot of things he did, but it’s just like J.D. Vance, Vance was a never-Trump guy early on, but he said (he) got to know the man, and when you get to know him, you really see that he is a billionaire that could ride off in the sunset and let this nation burn, but he loves his country, and he’s in it for the right reasons.”
While Biden was not the main focus of Trump’s speech as was originally intended, Trump, in his 90-plus minute speech, still spoke at length of the Biden administration, criticizing everything from its foreign policy to domestic issues.
Rep. Jerry Carl also shared a few words about Biden, and how he best felt Trump and the Republican Party should campaign against him going forward.
“I think the best thing we can do is stay out of Biden’s way, keep telling our story as we want to see it play out, let Biden keep being Biden,” Carl told ADN.
“I think that we’ll see some real changes, (though) I don’t necessarily know if they’ll get him out of the way or not. I hope they don’t, I want him to stay right where he’s at. It’s going to get pretty nasty for the Democrat Party, and we already see that in Washington now.”
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen also attended the convention, his first time doing so, he told ADN. While there, he described the atmosphere as “exciting” and “electric,” and spoke further to the newfound levels of unity seen within the Republican Party in the wake of the deadly attack last week.
“The party energized, galvanized around President Trump and J.D. Vance, now his vice presidential pick, so I’m just glad to be a part of history, glad to be here with the delegation, and it’s exciting times,” Allen told ADN.
There was just one Republican leader from Alabama, however, who took the podium during the convention, Sen. Katie Britt, who during her speech laid praise on Trump while also speaking to the impact of inflation on families.
Britt was among a select-few that were invited to sit in Trump’s V.I.P Box during the convention, and in speaking later to ADN, echoed the sentiments of other Alabama Republican leaders in speaking to the heightened energy at the event, as well as the newfound levels of unity within the Republican Party.
“It was incredible to be his guest, to be asked to be in that small space and sit with (Trump) at his very first public appearance since the assassination attempt,” Britt told ADN. “I will say that the energy, the emotion, the hope and the unity that we felt last night will carry us through. I think, obviously, we’ll see that on election day as well.”
Alabama Daily News Intern Reporter Anna Barrett contributed to this report.