The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania Saturday night will loom large over the Republican National Convention that kicks off on Monday in Milwaukee, a Northeastern political expert says. Republicans will leverage the shooting over the four-day event, and try to capitalize on Trump’s lead and cast him as a sympathetic figure and “fighter of oppressive forces,” says Nick Beauchamp, associate professor of political science at Northeastern University.
“I think from the Republicans’ side of things, because they see themselves as ahead at the moment, they have a very strong incentive to not rock the boat,” says Beauchamp. “They have an incentive now to do the same thing that the Biden team is doing, which is carefully going through their speeches to make sure there are no implicit calls for violence,” he adds. “They want to portray themselves as the victims.”
