MILWAUKEE — Assassination was in the air at the Republican National Convention, even before news of another possible Donald Trump assassination plot — this one hatched in Iran — broke Tuesday.
“Fight, fight, fight,” delegates chanted as former President Donald Trump greeted attendees Monday evening after surviving a would-be assassin's bullet at a campaign event Saturday in Pennsylvania.
But Trump is not the first populist former president to defy death before leaving an indelible mark on this Midwestern city. Historical plaques reminded convention-goers of a dramatic event from more than a century ago as they picked up their credentials at the Milwaukee Hyatt Place Downtown — just a nine-minute stroll from the Fiserv Forum, where the convention is being conducted.
Back in 1912, outside the hotel, a mentally unstable saloonkeeper shot former President Teddy Roosevelt when he was seeking a third presidential term in the newly formed — and short lived — Bull Moose Party.
The .32 caliber bullet ripped into Roosevelt’s chest. But Roosevelt didn’t yield. With the slug still in him, Roosevelt greeted a room full of politicos on the 3rd floor of the hotel, even pulling out and showing the crowd the bloody copy of his speech that helped save his life by slowing the bullet down.
“You see, it takes more than one bullet to kill a Bull Moose,” Roosevelt told attendees.
That 1912 assassination attempt is an integral part of Milwaukee’s history.
“Yes. Yes. Absolutely,” Gerald Randall, 70, a Wisconsin delegate and member of Milwaukee’s Spectacle Club for businessmen, told Raw Story. “I participate every year in a commemoration dinner for Teddy Roosevelt, and we talk about the story of how he came and was shot and continued to give a 90-minute speech after he announces to the audience that, you know, ‘I've been shot, so I'll have to cut my remarks short.’”
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Milwaukee is adding a new chapter to its political history this week, and parallels are being drawn between Roosevelt and Trump.
Both are New Yorkers, populists and one-time presidents.
Roosevelt was a trust buster who took on the monopolies of his day, which is reminiscent of how Trump — and his new vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) — have advocated for the break up of some of Silicon Valley’s largest tech behemoths.
But Roosevelt was a progressive former “Rough Rider” who fearlessly stormed Cuba and engaged in strenuous pastimes throughout his life. Trump infamously avoided serving in the Vietnam War after getting a “bone spur” diagnosis and mostly sticks to golf.
While Trump is bombastic, he never struck Randall as tough — until Trump thrust his clenched fist in the air as blood dripped onto his flushed face.
“Not until this past weekend. This past weekend I think the parallels were there, but prior to that, you know, a populist? Yes. A populist with grit? Now. And all of the images that have been flashed so far, they reflect that. I didn't think so until this weekend,” Randall said.
“National security — ‘speak softly, but carry a big stick’ —- today, what's our place in the world in terms of leadership and making the world safer?’” he added.
“Some people say Trump speaks loudly and carries a big stick,” Raw Story pressed.
“Yeah,” Randall said. “Maybe that's the new doctrine.”
With the addition of Vance on the ticket — who Randall calls “full blown MAGA” — the GOP is presenting itself as a more populist party heading into November.
Even as the progressive wing of the Democratic Party refuses to surrender the title of populism to the GOP, Randall says Democrats like President Joe Biden are failing to define today’s GOP.
“They’ve attempted to make MAGA a bad word, and honestly, it hasn't been a successful effort on their part,” Randall said. “If anything, you know, two things may have galvanized Trump's supporters: that debate and the incident over the weekend.”
