An estimated two hundred Alabama delegates will be attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The event follows Saturday’s assassination attempt on presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. APR News Director Pat Duggins spoke with Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl to get his reaction following the incident...
Pat Duggins: Where were you and what were you doing when you heard about the incident Saturday night?
Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl: Yeah, so I was literally sitting at my desk working up here in Milwaukee, getting ready for the Republican National Convention, and I had one of my staff members call me say, John, turn on the TV. And, you know, just watching the scenes immediately following. It was literally they were watching the rally itself, and so literally saw the immediate first reaction and the horror of it. And it's just hard for me to believe we're at a place in our country where we have, we have this scenario where the divide is so great that that anyone would feel the need to attempt to attempt to assassinate a political leader, simply because we disagree on the issues. And I think that's the heartbreaking thing about this entire situation, both Republicans, Democrats, independents, we should all have the same goal, and that's helping the people of America have a safer, happier, healthier life, and that's what the Republican Party is committed to. We're committed to defending the rights and freedoms of people, securing the southern border, keep our community safe, help people with struggling with inflation. And when you think about these issues, these are the things we should all agree on. And the only question is, how do we get there? We should all be on the same side of helping make America better and safer and happier and put America, put American citizens first. And, so I think it's an incredibly sad day when we see the political divides in our country go past the debate on the issue to actual attempted assassination.
Pat: As a State Republican leader, I was wondering-- published reports are indicating that the gunman was registered GOP. He did give, I think, $15 to a democratic group a couple of years ago. But it does seem as though it's, it's a shot that came from “family.” What do you think?
Wahl: I think, you know, I look Donald Trump is our nominee. He's a Republican. I find it very unlikely that someone who donated to a democratic group and that someone who attempted to assess something, Donald Trump is a strong Republican. But today's world is a crazy world.
Pat: We spoke earlier about Maga supporters and how they're fitting into Alabama's Republican Party, and I've read published reports about conservatives who just think Trump isn't conservative enough. Your thoughts on that?
Wahl: The Republican Party is a big 10 party, like, look, we're united. You've not seen squabbles within the Republican Party. You really are seeing a convention that was going very well. You're seeing a republican party that is behind Donald Trump all the way, and you're seeing a very smooth process on the Republican side. So, I don't I'm not seeing any division within our party. I'm seeing, you know, some debate over issues, but I'm seeing a very unified front. We know who our nominee is. There's no questions about that. We're not talking about, you know, any, any removal process or anything. We're together, and we're moving forward, because this election cycle is probably one of the most election cycles in our history. Freedom is on the ballot this November. This is, this is this is an incredibly important election cycle. We're talking about issues like securing our border, making sure our communities are kept safe, making sure that that inflation is turned around, where citizens can actually afford to live. These are important things, and we're 100% united as we head towards November 5th.
Pat: Some Republican lawmakers are already blaming Joe Biden for ordering the shooting. In your opinion? Is that constructive going forward?
Wahl: Absolutely, absolutely not. Once again. This should not be a political debate. Everyone should be opposed to this act of violence. I think it is a tragedy, not just for President Trump, but for the other victims, as well as the American people we have we've got to come down off of this divisive rhetoric, and I'm going to be very bold and claim the mainstream media's demonization of Donald Trump absolutely played a part in this tragedy, and I think we've got to all calm down as a society, respect human life. We're all made in the image of God, and it's important that we recognize that, and that we respect human life, and that if we disagree, we have a civil, open and honest debate, and it should never lead to violence, and I hope that this tragedy helps us get to that place.
Pat: Now, this is just my opinion, but I would hope that even if people dislike Donald Trump, would not wish this on him. But isn't it fair to say that his rhetoric is the most bombastic telling militia groups to “stand back and stand by,” or it's going to be a "bloodbath" if I don't get my way. Things like that?
Wahl: I've never heard him say something like, there's going to be a bloodbath if I don't get my way. I would find that rhetoric incredibly unsettling. But I have never heard Donald Trump in my years of being around him, being to many rallies, talking with his team. I have never heard that type of rhetoric actually come out and Donald Trump's going of Donald Trump's mouth, and I don't think he would look he had the chances as the city president actually to America if he was going to use the power of arms, he would have done so before leaving office, and he did not. It was a peaceful transition. He is a peaceful man, and I do not think that he has the most negative rhetoric, I think if you look at some of the people who who are are still attacking today, I thought I saw several CNN put out a story immediately following that, Secret Service rush jump on top of Donald Trump after he falls. Anyone who watches that video. No, he didn't fall. He died for cover. This has got to stop. The rhetoric from the left has got to stop it's got to calm down. It's got to be respectful. And just because you disagree with someone does not mean you attempt to undermine their character or their or their position. Policy positions matter.
Pat: Sir, we always have very constructive exchanges whenever you and I talk. But I have to point to a story from Reuters, March of this year, where Trump said that if he doesn't unseat Biden, there will be a bloodbath… sir, it is out there.
Wahl: No, that's a completely different context, though. Like, if you're saying he was telling like, militia groups (to) “get ready.” That's not the same context. What he was saying was, he was there. He was saying the American people might react badly. There would be some element that might react badly. He lost. He was not calling on them to do it. And that's a fundamentally different concept of the of the context of that conversation.
Pat-- Well, my initial question actually was that, during the debate, not the most recent debate, but the previous debate with Biden, he was asked about militias, and he said, “stand back and stand by”. That was one point that I was making. And then later on, there was my reference to there would be a "bloodbath."
Wahl: He said, if, if Biden wins re-election, look to put those two together is intellectually dishonest, because you're taking two thoughts from two different time frames and inserting them into one. That's not a good approach. It's not an intellectually honest approach. You have to look at each context of each conversation. Well, look, militias are in our Constitution. I'm not going to go into what the President meant exactly, but it was in a different time, separated by months from the other comment, and I don't think it's fair to put them together.
Pat: What are your personal concerns about safety going into the Republican National Convention?
Wahl: I mean, obviously I think everyone, everyone in Milwaukee, is very concerned, you know, for us, this is, this is a time that should be celebrated as a sharing of ideas and a talking about the platform and what the Republican Party represents and what we want to do for the American people. And I don't think there's a single delegate in Milwaukee who's not concerned about safety, who's not concerned about the situation, and not and not looking at what can we do to make sure that both delegates, our elected officials, and especially our nominees, are safe during this during this week.
Pat: What are your delegates saying to you? Are they? Are they? Are they concerned? Are they angry? What's their response?
Wahl: The overwhelming response is just sadness. Just sadness, very solemn. But we're going to continue, and we're going to do this job. You know, the convention will go on, we will nominate Donald Trump, and we are going to make sure that this convention stays on track and it is not derailed by this, this horrendous, senseless act of violence.
Pat: During our last conversation, you talked about supporting the Second Amendment, you mentioned that lots of conservatives would be carrying firearms in the outer perimeter of Milwaukee, considering Saturday night. Any second thoughts on that now?
Wahl: Well, look, the Constitution is still the Constitution we believe in. The right to keep embarrassing, the right to defense. Every American citizen has a right to self defense. And it's important to remember, in the situation, the acts that were committed were a crime in criminals. Don't obey gun laws, this individual would have gotten a gun whether there were stricter gun control measures or not. And we still believe in the rights and the freedoms of the people of America, and we were not going to just because, just because something, a tool, was used in a violent act, doesn't mean that we're going to change our policy positions. We're still going to defend the rights and freedoms of the people of America. We're still going to make sure that they are able to do and fulfill their God given rights.
Pat: Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, back in June, tried to modify Wisconsin's open carry law. He was voted down, even though he said that when the law was created, they were not envisioning an event as big as the Republican National Convention coming to their town. Do you think it's worth taking a second look at this? I know it's the Convention's right on top of us. There's no time. But did he do you think he had a good idea going?
Wahl: I don't see a significant difference between “open carry” or “concealed carry.” And I think the important thing here is to not allow a single event to define who we are as a nation or define the policy positions that we hold. If the fundamental question is, do the American people have the right, the Constitutional right and the guarantee to keep and bear arms if we want to change that, we need to amend the Constitution and the Republican Party's perspective is we believe in the right people of America. We believe that they whether it's the whether it's the right to life, the right to free speech, the right to free press, or the right to keep and bear arms, we defend the rights and the constitutional values that America was founded on.
Pat: Final question, sir, going forward, how do you think this is going to impact the of the entire presidential race?
Wahl: I, you know, I that is a good question. And I think it's a question that I almost I don't want to look at this tragedy through a political lens. I want to look at it through, through a personal perspective. One thing that we saw yesterday was we saw the President, a former president, United States of America, in his humanity vulnerable. And we saw how he reacted to that, how, how, when once the Secret Service Work kind of surrounded him, how he still wanted to break free of them for a moment, to let the crowd know that he was all right, and to be bold and brave and to move forward. And that's leadership. And I think what I want, want to come out of this is not a political spin, not this or that. I want people to realize that, that that's what makes America great, is that we can, we can have political discussions. We should look at every person as a human being made in the image of God, and that we should all come together. We should all look for the best of our neighbors and our fellow Americans and talk about policy respectfully and not get dragged down where we're looking through everything for a political lens.
Pat: Any last thoughts before we wrap up?
Wahl: It's hard to know what to say after a situation like this, but I believe it's incredibly important that as a society, we go back to respect. And I would call the Democrat Party and the mainstream media to curb down their rhetoric a little bit, because I think that their constant villainization of Donald Trump definitely played a part in this tragedy, and I think that's something that we can all do better at, and I hope that's the lasting impact of this event that we can politically debate strongly, but that we never let it go to a point where actually inciting people to violence.
Pat: Respectfully, sir. There are those on the other side would say, okay, shouldn't the Republicans do that too?
Wahl: Well? I said, all of us, and I do. I do believe that when I say that, I believe it's incredibly important, that's what I want to be the lasting message out of this event for all sides, respect, kindness, and let's, let's keep it consistent standard. It's very, very easy to create a double standard if you disagree with someone, and I think that's, that's inappropriate. Let's, let's treat each other with respect, even if we disagree with.
