Donald Trump Accepts GOP Nomination After Assassination Attempt

The former president accepted his third GOP nomination five days after nearly losing his life.

Washington and Lee’s Mock Convention is a 112-year-old tradition in which students replicate the national convention for whichever party does not hold the presidency. It is the nation’s most accurate mock presidential nominating convention, correctly predicting the Republican nominee every year since 1948. 

This year was no different. The Republican National Convention ended Thursday with a speech in which former President Donald Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination for a third time. Washington and Lee’s Mock Convention prediction was accurate once again.

Trump’s RNC speech, however, came just five days after an assassination attempt which shocked the American electorate. The tragic event occurred at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, leaving one dead, another two injured, and Trump with a bullet wound to the ear.

Trump addressed the tragedy in his speech, delivered on the final evening of the RNC, by highlighting the need for unity. “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” he said. He continued, “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America.”

Trump went on to describe his near-death experience saying, “the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life.” However, he relayed feeling oddly safe because “I had God on my side,” a providential feeling echoed by many at the RNC.

In one of the most powerful moments in his speech, Trump said, “I’m not supposed to be here tonight” — to which the audience responded by chanting “yes, you are!” Many in the audience had placed bandages over their own ears to show support for Trump.

The would-be assassin was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park Pennsylvania. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Crooks fired at least six shots in the direction of the former president with an AR-15 rifle before being killed by a Secret Service sniper. The shots claimed the life of audience member Corey Comperatore and injured two of his fellow attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who are in stable condition and expected to recover.

Police believe Crooks acted alone; however, his motive is unclear at this time. He was a registered Republican, but his search history revealed searches for both the date of the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and the date of the Democratic National Convention, as well as images of Trump and President Biden, according to ABC News.

As more details about the assassination attempt are revealed, the Secret Service comes under increasing scrutiny. A video shows GOP lawmakers confronting the then-Director of Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, about the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held their first congressional hearing into the assassination attempt on Monday, July 22.

According to ABC News, Crooks was identified as a person of interest about one hour before the shooting occurred, when snipers spotted him with a rangefinder and duffel bag. In addition, Secret Service snipers first spotted Crooks on the rooftop from which he shot about twenty minutes before shots were fired.

Local law enforcement was warned repeatedly by onlookers that there was someone on the roof with a rifle, according to the BBC. Investigators also revealed that Crooks was able to fly a drone above the open-air speaking venue on the morning of the rally, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

In one video of the incident, an onlooker, having noticed the gunman on the roof, asked, “why is there not Secret Service on all of these roofs here? This is not a big place. [It's a] security failure, 100% security failure.”

The House Oversight Committee continues to investigate the assassination attempt and the related security failures. Most recently, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayrokas announced the creation of a panel to investigate the attempted assassination. The panel is expected to conclude its investigation following the completion of a 45-day review.