Trump before the election What happens after the assassination attempt at the Republican Party conference
In Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin, men in a bar watch the coverage of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Nearby, the Republican nominating convention begins on Monday.
Image: dpa
The event takes place from July 15 to 18 - and preparations have been in full swing for weeks.
Image: dpa
High security precautions are in place around the venue. A number of roads have been closed. Some zones are only accessible with access authorization. This applies all the more after the attack.
Image: dpa
Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans' alliances are clear: Trump, Trump, Trump.
Image: dpa
On Friday night in Germany, Trump will accept his nomination at the grand finale and give a speech. Despite the Capitol storm and the criminal proceedings against him, the Republican has managed to unite the party behind him.
Image: dpa
In Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin, men in a bar watch the coverage of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Nearby, the Republican nominating convention begins on Monday.
Image: dpa
The event takes place from July 15 to 18 - and preparations have been in full swing for weeks.
Image: dpa
High security precautions are in place around the venue. A number of roads have been closed. Some zones are only accessible with access authorization. This applies all the more after the attack.
Image: dpa
Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans' alliances are clear: Trump, Trump, Trump.
Image: dpa
On Friday night in Germany, Trump will accept his nomination at the grand finale and give a speech. Despite the Capitol storm and the criminal proceedings against him, the Republican has managed to unite the party behind him.
Image: dpa
No change of plans after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump: the Republican is to officially become his party's presidential candidate this week. But how does the whole thing actually work?
15.07.2024, 10:07
15.07.2024, 12:37
dpa
The circumstances surrounding Donald Trump's big nomination could not be more dramatic. At the nomination convention in Milwaukee, the Republicans want to officially choose their leading man as their presidential candidate for the election in November.
But an assassination attempt on Trump shocks the country shortly before the kick-off - less than 48 hours before the convention begins: a man fires several shots at a campaign event in the state of Pennsylvania. Trump is injured in the ear. A family man, who was a spectator at the event, dies. Two participants survive seriously injured.
Trump, who survives the attack slightly injured, now presents himself more than ever as the strong man who cannot be stopped even by a gun attack. And his supporters are united more than ever by the feeling: now more than ever.
Despite the assassination attempt, there are to be no changes to the security plans for the Republican party convention starting on Monday. The "Washington Post" reports. "There are no changes to our current security plans for this event," said Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the coordinator of the Secret Service on Sunday.
What is a nominating convention anyway?
After the internal party primaries in each state, both the Democrats and Republicans must officially certify their overall results at the national level. This takes place at the respective nomination conventions. The Democrats will meet in Chicago, Illinois, in mid-August. This time, the Republican nominating convention will take place from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Why Wisconsin?
It is no coincidence that the Republicans have chosen Wisconsin. It is a "swing state" that can be categorized as neither Republican nor Democratic. In the 2020 presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden won there by a hair's breadth against Trump. This time too, the race is shaping up to be extremely close.
Many local politicians welcome nominating conventions, regardless of their own party affiliation, as they bring economic benefits. The mayor of Milwaukee is a Democrat and has actively sought the hosting role. The Democratic nominating convention was due to be held there in 2020 - but the coronavirus pandemic scuppered all plans.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, bleeding from the ear, is brought to safety by Secret Service agents. (July 13, 2024)
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Security personnel help Donald Trump off the stage.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Secret Service agents protect Donald Trump.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Donald Trump ducks away and is protected by Secret Service agents.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
According to a spokesman, Trump is "fine".
Image: dpa
Trump is escorted off the stage by security personnel.
Image: Keystone
Trump is led off the stage.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Trump's ear is bleeding.
Image: Keystone/AP
Secret Service agents run to Trump after shots are fired on stage.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Trump's security personnel react immediately.
Image: Keystone/AP
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, bleeding from the ear, is brought to safety by Secret Service agents. (July 13, 2024)
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Security personnel help Donald Trump off the stage.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Secret Service agents protect Donald Trump.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Donald Trump ducks away and is protected by Secret Service agents.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
According to a spokesman, Trump is "fine".
Image: dpa
Trump is escorted off the stage by security personnel.
Image: Keystone
Trump is led off the stage.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Trump's ear is bleeding.
Image: Keystone/AP
Secret Service agents run to Trump after shots are fired on stage.
Image: Keystone/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Trump's security personnel react immediately.
Image: Keystone/AP
As of today, more than 50,000 visitors are expected in Milwaukee, spending money on hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment. It's a huge spectacle: the city of around half a million inhabitants is in a state of emergency. The tight security concept was drawn up long before the Trump assassination. The main venues can only be reached with a permit issued in advance by the Secret Service. Metal detectors and sniffer dogs are used.
In addition to politicians, party members and representatives of the press, hawkers, onlookers and demonstrators also travel to the event. However, the most important guests at every nomination convention are probably the delegates.
What are delegates?
Delegates are party members who are sent to the nominating convention from all 50 states and six territories. Based on the primary election results, they choose their party's presidential candidate. The system is inconsistent and extremely complex. The Republicans have around 2,400 delegates. To win the candidacy, a candidate must have secured at least 1,215 delegate votes. Trump already cleared this hurdle in March. After the conclusion of the Republican primaries, he is entitled to a total of at least 2,265 delegate votes.
Do the delegates have to vote for Trump?
Theoretically, not all delegates have to abide by the primary election results. However, as Trump has clearly won against his competitors in almost every state and also enjoys strong loyalty, an internal party revolt is not expected. The formal nomination is scheduled for Monday. The newly nominated candidate will then traditionally make a ceremonial appearance in Germany on Friday night. The grand finale will be Trump's acceptance speech.
When will it be announced who will be runner-up?
It is the question of all questions: who will be Trump's "running mate"? The Republican has been flirting with the idea of a running mate for months, but has recently deliberately avoided making too much noise to distract from the internal chaos in the Democratic Party over Biden's age. The tension now established is likely to be to Trump's liking - after all, it was a reality show that once helped the businessman to national fame. Entertainment is part of his understanding of politics. The media report that his son Don Jr. is not due to introduce the runner-up(s) until Wednesday. In recent US history, the name was usually announced shortly before the nomination convention.
What else is on the agenda?
At the convention, the Republicans want to adopt their party platform on topics such as abortion, gun rights and religion. The surrounding events will also be interesting: there will be discussion panels, church services and other events to mobilize the party base. Trump's allies will give speeches. For lobbyists, the large political contingent offers a welcome opportunity to exert influence. Celebrities who move in right-wing conservative circles are intended to increase the celebrity factor. It is currently unclear to what extent Trump's wife Melania, who has been rather absent of late, will play an active role.
What is different this time?
For the first time, Trump can present himself as the clear leader of the Republicans at a nomination convention. In 2016, he still ran as an outsider; in 2020, the pandemic also prevented the Republicans from holding a large, pompous event. In view of his defeat against Biden in the 2020 election, the subsequent Capitol storm and the criminal proceedings initiated against him, Trump was threatened with losing power within the party for a time.
However, he managed to unite the Republicans behind him. Trump has installed close family members and loyal supporters in key positions within the party. His daughter-in-law Lara Trump, for example, is jointly responsible for financing and coordinating the meeting in Milwaukee. This gives him control over the nominating convention - and the vision for America's political future propagated there.
1865: Abraham Lincoln - killed: Abraham Lincoln was the first US president to be killed by assassination. While attending a special performance of the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., he is shot in the back. The perpetrator is John Wilkes Booth, an actor and fanatical supporter of the Confederates, who had been defeated in the Civil War two days earlier. Booth shoots the president in the head at close range with his single-shot pistol. Lincoln is brought unconscious into a neighboring building and given medical treatment. The next morning, Lincoln is dead. As it turns out, the assassination is part of a conspiracy against several members of the US government. Lincoln's assassin Booth is later shot dead, four co-conspirators, including a woman, are hanged three months later.
Image: Imago/Kena Images
1881: James Garfield - killed: The assassination attempt on American President James Garfield also ends fatally. On July 2, 1881, six months after his inauguration, Garfield was shot at a train station in Washington, D.C.. His murderer, Charles Guiteau, a 39-year-old lawyer and former supporter of his, is said to have been dissatisfied with not getting a job in Garfield's administration. Other sources describe him as mentally disturbed. The American doctor and inventor Alexander Graham Bell tried to find and remove the bullet in Garfield's chest using a specially developed device. In vain: the president died of blood poisoning a few weeks later and Guiteau was executed in June 1882.
Image: Imago/Gemini Collection
1901: William McKinley - killed: US President William McKinley is shot at close range in Buffalo, New York, in September 1901. After a speech at the Pan-American Exposition, he was shaking hands with several people when the anarchist Leon Czolgosz pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger. At first it appears that the injuries are not fatal, but then gangrene sets in and McKinley dies. Assassin Czolgosz is executed in the electric chair.
Image: Imago/Gemini Collection
1912: Theodore Roosevelt - survived: This X-ray shows Roosevelt's chest after the attempted assassination in October 1912. "Teddy", as Roosevelt was also known, is attacked in Milwaukee shortly before an election campaign appearance. By this time, he had already served two terms as president and was running again as an independent candidate. Roosevelt is not seriously injured: a spectacle case and the folded manuscript of his speech muffle the shot. The perpetrator, John Schrank, is arrested and spends the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals.
Image: Imago/UIG
1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt - survived: Donald Trump speaks under a huge photo of President Franklin Roosevelt during an event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. A few weeks before being sworn in as president, Roosevelt is giving a speech from the back of his open car in Miami in February 1933 when five shots are fired. Roosevelt is not hit, but the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, who is speaking to Roosevelt, is injured and dies 19 days later. The perpetrator is sentenced to death.
Image: imago images/ZUMA Press
1950: Harry S. Truman - survives: In November 1950, Truman is staying at Blair House opposite the White House when two gunmen break in. Truman is not injured in the assassination attempt, but a White House police officer and one of the assailants are killed in the exchange of gunfire and two other White House police officers are wounded. The shooter, Oscar Collazo, is sentenced to death. In 1952, Truman commutes the sentence to life imprisonment. The photo shows the assassin Oscar Collazo, who is taken to an ambulance seriously injured.
Image: Imago/Granger Historical Picture Archive
1963: John F. Kennedy - killed: The photo shows the Kennedys in Dallas in their open vehicle a few minutes before the fatal shots are fired at the motorcade. Two rifle shots are fired during the assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested as a suspect and killed two days later in police custody by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. More than 2000 books have been written about the assassination - and yet the murder remains a mystery to this day: conspiracy theories were soon circulating, but all the evidence pointed back to a single perpetrator with a thirst for revenge.
Image: imago images/Everett Collection
1968: Robert F. Kennedy - killed: Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the assassinated President John F., is shot dead as a US presidential candidate in 1968 at the age of 42 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles by a 24-year-old Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan. The seriously injured Kennedy is said to have whispered in the ear of the paramedics who rushed to lift him from the floor onto a stretcher: "Don't lift me." His last words before he lost consciousness. Despite a four-hour operation, his condition remained critical. Kennedy is pronounced dead 26 hours after the assassination.
Image: Imago/Pond5 Images
1972: George C. Wallace - survives: Like Trump, George Wallace is a presidential candidate, but for the Democrats. In 1972, he is shot at a campaign event in Maryland. As a result, he is paralyzed from the waist down. Wallace wins the primaries in Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee and North Carolina and speaks in a wheelchair at the Democratic National Convention in Miami in the summer of 1972. However, he is not nominated as a presidential candidate.
1975: Gerald Ford - survived: Not quite as close as Trump: The photo shows Ford flinching when shot during the assassination attempt by Sara Jane Moore. The bullet, fired from a distance of twelve meters, misses Ford by just twelve centimeters. Ford is doubly lucky: this is the second assassination attempt within three weeks. In the first attempt, Charles Manson supporter Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme points a semi-automatic weapon at him. However, the gun does not go off.
Image: imago images/Everett Collection
1981: Ronald Reagan - survived: President Reagan has just given a speech at the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. and waves to his fans on his way to the motorcade. Then shots are fired. Seconds after the shots are fired, reporters and Secret Service agents manage to push the assassin to the ground and hold him down. Reagan narrowly escapes with his life, three other people are injured. The criminal proceedings against the assassin Hinckley later end with an acquittal by reason of insanity. Shortly before the emergency operation in hospital, the Republican Reagan is said to have asked the surgical team: "Please tell me you're all Republicans."
Image: Imago/Everett Collection
2005: George W. Bush - survived: George W. Bush visits Georgia in 2005 and takes part in a rally in Tbilisi with the then President Mikhail Saakashvili when a hand grenade is thrown. The grenade missed Bush by about 100 meters and did not explode, although it was live. A red handkerchief wrapped tightly around it is said to have prevented the safety lever from being released. The Georgian assassin Vladimir Arutyunian is sentenced to life imprisonment.
Image: Wikipedia
2011: Barack Obama - survived: A man from Idaho shoots at the American president's official residence from a parked car. The bullets narrowly miss the guards. Unlike their younger daughter Sasha, the incumbent President Barack Obama and his wife were not in the White House at the time. After his arrest, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez admits that he wanted to kill Barack Obama. He is sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempted murder. As with Trump, the assassination attempt led to discussions about the role of the Secret Service, which was also accused of failure at the time.
Image: Imago/ABACAPRESS
2024: Donald Trump - survived: On July 13, a young American carries out an attack on Donald Trump at an election rally in Pennsylvania. Trump survives the attack with minor injuries to his right ear. One spectator is killed and at least two other people are seriously injured. The 20-year-old perpetrator, Thomas Matthew Crooks, is shot dead at the scene by the Secret Service.
Image: AP
1865: Abraham Lincoln - killed: Abraham Lincoln was the first US president to be killed by assassination. While attending a special performance of the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., he is shot in the back. The perpetrator is John Wilkes Booth, an actor and fanatical supporter of the Confederates, who had been defeated in the Civil War two days earlier. Booth shoots the president in the head at close range with his single-shot pistol. Lincoln is brought unconscious into a neighboring building and given medical treatment. The next morning, Lincoln is dead. As it turns out, the assassination is part of a conspiracy against several members of the US government. Lincoln's assassin Booth is later shot dead, four co-conspirators, including a woman, are hanged three months later.
Image: Imago/Kena Images
1881: James Garfield - killed: The assassination attempt on American President James Garfield also ends fatally. On July 2, 1881, six months after his inauguration, Garfield was shot at a train station in Washington, D.C.. His murderer, Charles Guiteau, a 39-year-old lawyer and former supporter of his, is said to have been dissatisfied with not getting a job in Garfield's administration. Other sources describe him as mentally disturbed. The American doctor and inventor Alexander Graham Bell tried to find and remove the bullet in Garfield's chest using a specially developed device. In vain: the president died of blood poisoning a few weeks later and Guiteau was executed in June 1882.
Image: Imago/Gemini Collection
1901: William McKinley - killed: US President William McKinley is shot at close range in Buffalo, New York, in September 1901. After a speech at the Pan-American Exposition, he was shaking hands with several people when the anarchist Leon Czolgosz pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger. At first it appears that the injuries are not fatal, but then gangrene sets in and McKinley dies. Assassin Czolgosz is executed in the electric chair.
Image: Imago/Gemini Collection
1912: Theodore Roosevelt - survived: This X-ray shows Roosevelt's chest after the attempted assassination in October 1912. "Teddy", as Roosevelt was also known, is attacked in Milwaukee shortly before an election campaign appearance. By this time, he had already served two terms as president and was running again as an independent candidate. Roosevelt is not seriously injured: a spectacle case and the folded manuscript of his speech muffle the shot. The perpetrator, John Schrank, is arrested and spends the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals.
Image: Imago/UIG
1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt - survived: Donald Trump speaks under a huge photo of President Franklin Roosevelt during an event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. A few weeks before being sworn in as president, Roosevelt is giving a speech from the back of his open car in Miami in February 1933 when five shots are fired. Roosevelt is not hit, but the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, who is speaking to Roosevelt, is injured and dies 19 days later. The perpetrator is sentenced to death.
Image: imago images/ZUMA Press
1950: Harry S. Truman - survives: In November 1950, Truman is staying at Blair House opposite the White House when two gunmen break in. Truman is not injured in the assassination attempt, but a White House police officer and one of the assailants are killed in the exchange of gunfire and two other White House police officers are wounded. The shooter, Oscar Collazo, is sentenced to death. In 1952, Truman commutes the sentence to life imprisonment. The photo shows the assassin Oscar Collazo, who is taken to an ambulance seriously injured.
Image: Imago/Granger Historical Picture Archive
1963: John F. Kennedy - killed: The photo shows the Kennedys in Dallas in their open vehicle a few minutes before the fatal shots are fired at the motorcade. Two rifle shots are fired during the assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested as a suspect and killed two days later in police custody by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. More than 2000 books have been written about the assassination - and yet the murder remains a mystery to this day: conspiracy theories were soon circulating, but all the evidence pointed back to a single perpetrator with a thirst for revenge.
Image: imago images/Everett Collection
1968: Robert F. Kennedy - killed: Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the assassinated President John F., is shot dead as a US presidential candidate in 1968 at the age of 42 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles by a 24-year-old Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan. The seriously injured Kennedy is said to have whispered in the ear of the paramedics who rushed to lift him from the floor onto a stretcher: "Don't lift me." His last words before he lost consciousness. Despite a four-hour operation, his condition remained critical. Kennedy is pronounced dead 26 hours after the assassination.
Image: Imago/Pond5 Images
1972: George C. Wallace - survives: Like Trump, George Wallace is a presidential candidate, but for the Democrats. In 1972, he is shot at a campaign event in Maryland. As a result, he is paralyzed from the waist down. Wallace wins the primaries in Maryland, Michigan, Tennessee and North Carolina and speaks in a wheelchair at the Democratic National Convention in Miami in the summer of 1972. However, he is not nominated as a presidential candidate.
1975: Gerald Ford - survived: Not quite as close as Trump: The photo shows Ford flinching when shot during the assassination attempt by Sara Jane Moore. The bullet, fired from a distance of twelve meters, misses Ford by just twelve centimeters. Ford is doubly lucky: this is the second assassination attempt within three weeks. In the first attempt, Charles Manson supporter Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme points a semi-automatic weapon at him. However, the gun does not go off.
Image: imago images/Everett Collection
1981: Ronald Reagan - survived: President Reagan has just given a speech at the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. and waves to his fans on his way to the motorcade. Then shots are fired. Seconds after the shots are fired, reporters and Secret Service agents manage to push the assassin to the ground and hold him down. Reagan narrowly escapes with his life, three other people are injured. The criminal proceedings against the assassin Hinckley later end with an acquittal by reason of insanity. Shortly before the emergency operation in hospital, the Republican Reagan is said to have asked the surgical team: "Please tell me you're all Republicans."
Image: Imago/Everett Collection
2005: George W. Bush - survived: George W. Bush visits Georgia in 2005 and takes part in a rally in Tbilisi with the then President Mikhail Saakashvili when a hand grenade is thrown. The grenade missed Bush by about 100 meters and did not explode, although it was live. A red handkerchief wrapped tightly around it is said to have prevented the safety lever from being released. The Georgian assassin Vladimir Arutyunian is sentenced to life imprisonment.
Image: Wikipedia
2011: Barack Obama - survived: A man from Idaho shoots at the American president's official residence from a parked car. The bullets narrowly miss the guards. Unlike their younger daughter Sasha, the incumbent President Barack Obama and his wife were not in the White House at the time. After his arrest, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez admits that he wanted to kill Barack Obama. He is sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempted murder. As with Trump, the assassination attempt led to discussions about the role of the Secret Service, which was also accused of failure at the time.
Image: Imago/ABACAPRESS
2024: Donald Trump - survived: On July 13, a young American carries out an attack on Donald Trump at an election rally in Pennsylvania. Trump survives the attack with minor injuries to his right ear. One spectator is killed and at least two other people are seriously injured. The 20-year-old perpetrator, Thomas Matthew Crooks, is shot dead at the scene by the Secret Service.
Image: AP
