The Press in Milwaukee | Republicans convinced of victory

(Milwaukee) Wyatt Jeffreys pinches himself. At 23, the Texas delegate, raised at home in a Christian family, believes he is living in a unique moment in American history.

“The November election could not be more promising,” he said Thursday during the fourth and final day of the Republican convention in Milwaukee. “We could win the House, the Senate and the White House. With the Supreme Court on our side, we would have everything we need to make good, lasting change.”

Wyatt Jeffreys began to believe that this scenario was within reach for Republicans during the June 27 presidential debate in Atlanta, where Joe Biden delivered a calamitous performance.

And he has become almost certain that this scenario will come true after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump a week ago.

It is not surprising to hear delegates filled with hope at the end of a convention in which they have heard from their party’s two leading candidates and several of their allies and admirers.

But the Republican convention delegates are in a class of their own, as Wyatt Jeffreys’ remarks suggest. They are convinced that they can count on God in the election contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden or whoever might replace him.

Donald Trump’s “divine mission”

“Donald Trump is protected by God because he has a job to do,” said Stacey Goodman, a delegate from Arizona who describes herself as a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment.

Stacey Goodman spoke of Donald Trump’s supposed mission from God at the end of a convention where a host of speakers, including the former president, demonized migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border in search of the American dream.

These speakers portrayed migrants as potential murderers, even though they account for a tiny percentage of murders in the United States. Delegates held up signs that read “Mass Deportation Now!”

Even Republicans who aren’t known for their piety couldn’t help but draw this connection between God and Donald Trump at the convention microphone.

“He turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to ignite the nation after being targeted,” said former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who received a standing ovation like few speakers have in Milwaukee. “In the moment, he did his best to bring the country together.”

“People who don’t believe in God are starting to wonder if there’s something to this,” he added, after claiming that last Saturday’s attack had “transformed” Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s transformation, if there was one, is still incomplete. On Thursday night, during his inaugural address at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, the Republican presidential candidate seemed to want to adopt a new tone and a new approach as he recounted the assassination attempt on him and promised to unite a country torn apart by “division and discord.”

But he returned to normal after the first 17 minutes of his speech, delivering the divisive and rambling remarks he usually gives his supporters for the next 70 minutes, whether on illegal immigration, his Democratic rivals, the 2020 presidential election or “the late Hannibal Lecter.”

Raised fist

Still, Saturday’s attack will stick in the minds of Republican delegates and many other Americans for much longer than this speech. Beyond the sanctimoniousness, that’s what Brad Sherman, pastor though he is (he’s also a state representative in Iowa), remembers.

“I’m not saying it was organized, I don’t even want to get into that, but the fact is we saw what is clearly an abuse of the justice system to go against President Trump. And that is not acceptable,” he continued.

Asked how the attempted assassination may have helped Trump, Rep. Sherman said: “It created an iconic image of Trump raising his fist. Instead of crawling off the stage for his life, he stood up. He didn’t know how long he was going to live. There could have been another bullet. But his first instinct was to tell people to fight for America.”

This image convinced most Republican delegates in Milwaukee that Donald Trump is now unbeatable, indestructible.

And it’s not a change of candidate that could save the Democrats from defeat, according to her.

“I don’t think it would make a difference because I don’t think the Democrats have a strong person in sight. They put everything they had behind Biden and they didn’t have a plan B.”