Alabama Delegates Determined RNC Must Go On After Trump Shooting: ‘Not Going to Cower’

Alabama’s delegates arriving Saturday and Sunday in Milwaukee for the start of the Republican National Convention on Monday expressed shock and relief after Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

“You assume the worst,” said Logan Glass, 22, of Steele, the youngest delegate from Alabama and possibly the youngest delegate at the GOP convention. He said he was walking into a Milwaukee restaurant when he learned about the shooting.

“It was a feeling of shock and utter disbelief,” said Glass, founder and chairman of the St. Clair County Young Republicans. “Our prayers are with the president, but especially the individuals that are fighting for their life right now in critical condition that were also hit. We’re especially in prayer for those individuals. This is a very difficult time for our country.”

Comments echo those made by Sen. Katie Britt after the shooting, who offered a prayer for Trump, for people at the rally, and for “unity for the nation” Saturday night.

As the delegates and alternates prepare for the business of the convention, feelings are still raw over the emotional scene of the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“It’s despicable,” said Alex Reynolds, part of the Alabama delegation to the Republican National Convention as chairman of the Houston County Republican Party. “It’s a sad day in America.”

Trump’s composure after the shooting – rising up with blood streaming down his face and striking a fist-pumping, defiant pose – was stunning, said Tobias Vogt, a combat veteran who served 28 years in the U.S. Army.

“My background is in infantry and special forces,” said Vogt, a delegate from Madison County. “In the context of a firefight, he felt it, he dropped to the ground like you’re supposed to. He composed himself. He did an excellent job under the most terrible conditions that anyone could ever dream of.”

That scene will present a somber backdrop to the political convention that will nominate Trump.

“It brings a somber tone, not just about President Trump and the near miss,” Vogt said. “We had someone killed and [two] wounded. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.”

Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who is not a delegate, posted a fiery message to X Sunday afternoon, saying “the radical left has declared a jihadist-style attack on traditional Christian values.”

He blamed the shooting in part on language from President Joe Biden, who recently told supporters to “put Trump in a bulls eye.” Ainsworth also referenced a congressional aide who, after the shooting, posted that the shooter should get some training “so you don’t miss next time.”

Biden said this weekend that his comments referenced political action, not violence. The staffer was dismissed from Rep. Bennie Thompson’s office.

One person in Alabama’s delegation who may miss out on the convention is state Sen. April Weaver. She was struck by a car on July 12 and is recovering.

Amid supercharged rhetoric and emotions, Alabama’s delegates said they are ready to move forward.

“I think it makes people even more energized and excited about President Trump being our nominee,” said Judy Barlow of Fairhope, a delegate from Baldwin County. “We’re concerned for him and we’re concerned for our nation.”

Delegates are focused on the work of the convention, Glass said.

“We have a job to do,” Glass said. “We’ve got work that needs to be finished. We’ve got to show that we’re not going to cower in the midst of this.”

It’s time to steer the nation away from President Biden’s policies, such as how he manages mass immigration, Barlow said.

“It’s time to look at the agenda and the policy of the Democrats,” Barlow said. “We’re looking forward to the next four years under different leadership. We need different leadership carrying us forward. What we’re in right now, no matter who the president is, is not working.”