North Carolina Delegate Witnesses Trump ShootingNorth Carolina Delegate Witnesses Trump Shooting North Carolina Rep. Michele Woodhouse joined former Chief Justice Mark Martin in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. As they took in the sights and sounds, news broke that former President Donald Trump had been shot. The Shooting On Saturday night at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, 20-year-old Matthew Thomas Crooks allegedly fired shots from a rooftop, striking Trump in the ear. Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed, and two others were seriously injured. Delegate’s Reaction Woodhouse witnessed the replay of the incident and described the atmosphere as chaotic. Delegates gathered in the hotel lobby, watching with concern as Trump’s bloody face appeared on the screen. Security Concerns The shooting raised security concerns for the convention. The NCGOP announced restrictions on press access to its events, a move followed by other state parties. Woodhouse initially found Milwaukee quiet, but the incident heightened security measures. Trump’s Survival Despite the initial uncertainty, Trump survived the attack. Woodhouse wonders what motivated Crooks to target the former president and emphasizes the importance of inches in Trump’s survival. Political Violence Woodhouse believes the shooting was an attempted murder and rejects the categorization of “political violence.” She attributes the incident to “partisan rhetoric” and blames the political left for downplaying its severity. Trump’s Strength and Vulnerability Woodhouse observed Trump’s vulnerability in his request to get his shoes but also his strength in raising his fist despite his injuries. She sees this moment as a balance between vulnerability and power. Implications for the Convention Woodhouse believes the shooting will unify Republicans at the convention. She expects changes in speeches and themes and is curious about North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s response. She also wonders how Democrats will address the incident. Emotional Reactions Woodhouse anticipates an emotional response from delegates when Trump speaks at the convention on Thursday. She believes it will be a different reaction than they had the previous day. Under the Dome For the latest news on North Carolina politics, readers can sign up for The News & Observer’s award-winning newsletter.
North Carolina Rep. Michele Woodhouse walked with former Chief Justice Mark Martin in downtown Milwaukee, taking in the first sights and sounds of the Republican National Convention. Then she started receiving reports that former President Donald Trump had been shot.
On Saturday night, Trump was speaking onstage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when police say 20-year-old Matthew Thomas Crooks fired shots from a nearby rooftop, hitting Trump in the ear, killing Corey Comperatore, 50, and seriously wounding two other men attending the rally.
“I actually rushed back to the hotel and we were sitting in the lobby with the other delegates watching the replay and we saw President Trump’s bloody face,” Woodhouse said. “He had his fist up as the Secret Service tried to hold him down. You could hear the screams of ‘USA.’”
She said they all stood together trying to process what they had just seen. Among the group was North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons and NCGOP Finance Director Sarah Newby, daughter of Chief Justice Paul Newby.
“We just watched and waited, and at that point we didn’t know there were other victims,” Woodhouse said. “It was really targeted at Trump.”
She said they both wondered what would happen to security at the RNC.
The NCGOP has already announced that it will no longer welcome press to its events. Other state parties have done the same.
Woodhouse said when she first arrived in Milwaukee on Saturday, it was relatively quiet from the airport to the convention site.
Woodhouse, of Hendersonville, is chair of the North Carolina Republican Party’s 11th District, a role she previously held but relinquished in 2021 to run unsuccessfully for Congress. She also hosts a radio show in Raleigh.
Republicans have worried for weeks whether Trump would make it to the RNC because of the scheduled July 11 sentencing of 34 people convicted of corporate fraud in connection with hush-money payments related to an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels.
But when sentencing was postponed, Republicans were assured that Trump would be able to attend the convention.
Now the North Carolina delegates watched television screens, worrying about the former president’s injuries.
And whether he was even still alive.
“Looking back, if someone were to ask me today if I was surprised, I’m not,” Woodhouse said of the shooting. “But that doesn’t make it any less terrifying.”
She has been to many Trump rallies herself.
Now that Woodhouse knows Trump survived, he wonders what drove the suspect to kill Trump.
And those inches were of vital importance to the former president.
Political violence
She is also irritated by the political left, which she believes is downplaying the event by describing the shooting as “political violence.”
“I think it was 100% an attempted murder, where someone was murdered and there were attempts to murder others,” Woodhouse said.
She said that political violence is a description of a “protest” or “flag burning,” but not this.
She also blamed the shooting on “partisan rhetoric.”
“There has been talk for years about, ‘He is a threat to democracy,’” Woodhouse said.
“You start using that language over and over again and then you have Kathy Griffin holding a bloody head. I think if one side takes that as their story, something like this is unfortunately inevitable,” Woodhouse said.
In 2017, Griffin, a comedian, took a photo of himself with a bloody, decapitated fake replica of Trump’s head, effectively getting the star canceled.
Trump’s strength and vulnerability
Since Saturday night’s shooting, Woodhouse has watched the clip of Trump multiple times, and she keeps coming back to one detail: Trump’s shoes.
Trump and the Secret Service were still standing near the podium when they tried to get him off, allowing the rally’s microphone to pick up some of what they were saying.
“Let me get my shoes,” Trump was heard saying.
“We’ve all had … those moments where something really terrible happened. You went to something stupid, like ‘get my shoes’ or the house is on fire and ‘is the door locked,’” Woodhouse said.
But she also noted that Trump showed thousands of people at the rally that he was doing well when he raised his fist in the air.
“I think you saw this vulnerable part of Trump balanced against a powerful part of Trump when he held his arm up with his bloody face and people started chanting, ‘USA.’”
What it means for the convention
Woodhouse is confident the shooting will be a unifying factor for Republicans attending the rally.
She believes that speeches are being rewritten.
She wonders if the themes will change.
But she thinks North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is the person to watch.
“He’s someone who tends to be incredibly bombastic,” Woodhouse said. “What does he do?”
She is also curious to see how Democrats will respond in the coming days.
“If all your advertising is Donald Trump is the greatest threat to democracy and then someone tries to assassinate him,” Woodhouse said. “What is your message?”
But most of all, she’s wondering how she’ll respond to Trump when he speaks at Congress on Thursday night.
“I think it’s going to be quite emotional,” she said. “I think it was emotional yesterday, but when he speaks on Thursday, I think it’s going to be a different emotional reaction.”
Under the dome
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