Felon. Martyr. MAGA unifier: Will assassination attempt change the way people view Trump?

MILWAUKEE – Convicted but not imprisoned, Donald Trump and his reputation have nonetheless been locked in place in the minds of many Americans after eight fractious years of turmoil, impeachments, insurrection and criminal charges.

The attempt on his life may give him the best chance at breaking free, offering a kind of political parole from voters sympathetic to the bandage on his bullet-grazed ear, and possibly a second look from those who normally oppose him, all while elevating his reputation with true believers to near martyr status.

That was the explicit plea from some Republican supporters and former opponents, and the implicit message throughout much of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week: Whatever you think about Trump, this has gone too far with bullets flying at him. Maybe it’s time to reconsider?

For three days, Trump's family, surrogates and supporters have said the shooting changed the 78-year-old former president, giving him a new outlook, and that he tore up an aggressive speech aimed at dismantling his opponent's administration in favor of one aimed at national unity.

And while that may have been the case when it comes to candidate Trump, critics say, there have been no major changes to the Republican Party's agenda. In between calls to recognize an almost messianic Trump conversion, they say, was the same old same old MAGA platform that looks to push anti-immigrant sentiment, ban trans kids from sports and expound misinformation from the convention stage.

Trump's remarks Thursday night will be the first time Americans will have a chance to hear if his change of tone has stuck.

"You can't keep him down by falsely indicting him. You can't keep him down by falsely convicting him, and you can't keep him down by trying to kill him," U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa told USA TODAY. The California Republican lawmaker added that he expects to see Trump as he was after the shooting and as he's always been: defiant.

It was always going to be this way in Milwaukee, where Republicans had four days of primetime programming to counter the narratives of Trump’s critics that he is a threat to democracy and instead paint the former president as the survivor of a organized effort to bring him to his knees.

Trump’s self-described persecution at the hands of outside forces has been a major part of his persona since the 2016 campaign.

Trump claimed victim status over the investigation into whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia, his two impeachments while president, his failed 2020 reelection bid, his four indictments and his 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records to hide from voters an alleged affair with a porn actor during that first White House race.

"In the end, they're not coming after me. They're coming after you – and I'm just standing in their way," Trump said at a rally after his New York criminal trial concluded, repeating the strongman theme that's been central to a campaign that helped him excite his political base, raise monster donations and cake walk to the GOP nomination.

Trump faced a heavy lift in Milwaukee to convince swing voters there’s no truth to it all, it’s just the worst “witch hunt” since Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692.

The legal cases have presented the most immediate threat to his campaign for much of the last year – even as he rode them through the primaries to secure the nomination – and were expected to be a main focus this week, with Trump continuing to push the premise that he is being persecuted by a justice system run amok.

It’s an argument Trump has made with some success, according to polling, especially with his base.

In one vendor booth near the convention, four different Trump shirts riffed on his legal troubles: “I’m voting for the convicted felon.” Delegates could buy coffee cups and hats displaying his mug shot.

'Not even an assassin’s bullet could stop him'

There’s no question, though, that Trump is a victim.

The horror that unfolded in a Pennsylvania field Saturday as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired a series of rifle shots that hit Trump's ear, killed a rallygoer and injured two others turbo charged the persecution narrative around him, elevating the GOP presidential nominee from party hero in the minds of his faithful to something bordering on secular sainthood.

“Not even an assassin’s bullet could stop him,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump's former press secretary, told delegates. “God almighty intervened because America is one nation under God, and he is certainly not finished with President Trump.”

For many, the moment they learned of Trump’s shooting will be one they never forget, like hearing that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.

Ohio college student Victoria Rivas, 19, wasn’t alive when terrorists attacked the nation on Sept. 11, 2001. But she’ll always remember where she was when she received the text message “Trump has been shot.”

“I work at a supermarket,” said Rivas, who wore a black MAGA hat and Trump 2024 pin to the convention. “And I know everything at that supermarket stopped for one second and we just wanted to make sure, is he alive? Is he dead? We didn't know what the state was. It was scary. We thought if he was dead chaos would break through at any moment in the streets.”

Rivas believes the shooting made him a more sympathetic figure.

"I saw so many people that were kind of in the middle that would never be political just post in support of Donald Trump and I think that opened the eyes of many Americans,” said Rivas, who grew up in Miami as the daughter of Cuban immigrants.

That message was reinforced by convention speakers from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to former Trump Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and his daughter-in-law and Republican National Committee co-Chair Lara Trump.

"Donald Trump has been demonized, he's been sued, he's been prosecuted and he nearly lost his life. We cannot let him down and we cannot let America down," said DeSantis, who had a contentious race against Trump in the 2024 GOP primary but delivered a resounding call on Tuesday night for the party to rally around him now.

Trump’s daughter-in-law encouraged those watching to consider Trump's resilience under literal fire, when he stood up, pumped his fist in the air and yelled "fight, fight, fight," as he was whisked off stage in Butler County, Pennsylvania, by U.S. Secret Service agents after being shot, blood streaked across his face.

“Maybe you got to see a side of Donald Trump on Saturday that you were not sure existed until you saw it with your own eyes,” Lara Trump said, before proceeding to paint an image of him at odds with the way many Americans see him, highlighting his business success and love for family.

Delegate Joye Blount, 60, of Charlotte, North Carolina, said the shooting humanized Trump. 

“It was one of those moments in time that we hadn't seen in most of our lifetimes, and it just resonated with everyone. He is human. He's a father. He's a husband, he's a brother, he's a son and that is something that we tend to cast away sometimes,” she said. 

Whether a few seconds of heroism on a stage in Pennsylvania can erase eight years of chaos and division is a question that could define the 2024 election and the country’s future if Trump reclaims the White House.

Redefining an image

The rehabilitation of Trump’s image would be a remarkable turn of events after he seemed destined to be remembered as one of the most controversial leaders in American history.

Critics say Trump was elected in 2016 on a divide and conquer platform, targeting immigrants and Muslims and bringing a new level of crudeness to the modern political landscape as he mocked, belittled and demonized his opponents.

Supporters celebrate the accomplishments of his first term; a major tax package, renegotiated trade deals and a tough foreign policy posture. They praise his frank speech, even if they sometimes disagree with what comes out of his mouth.

But many saw a supremely dark approach foreshadowed by his “American carnage” inauguration speech in 2016 they say continued through numerous controversies and two impeachments, the last on charges of inciting a mob of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump's campaign was running strong even before the shooting, with polling averages showing him edging out Biden in most swing states amid backlash to his indictments and the president’s struggles.

The Republican 2024 nominee has hammered Biden on high inflation during his presidency and large levels of illegal immigration, but Biden’s age and questions about his stamina and mental acuity have been his biggest liability.

Now Trump has an opportunity to use the flood of support after his shooting to try and put the election out of reach. He is seizing on a unity message to cement his position.

“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump wrote on social media shortly after the shooting.

His allies are reinforcing that theme, including simply by attending the convention – DeSantis and Trump’s other main GOP primary rival, Nikki Haley, spoke back-to-back Wednesday in a powerful symbol of putting behind past divisions.

Trump's focus is on uniting the country, Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a close Trump ally and contender for the vice-presidential nomination, said in an interview with USA TODAY.

“Politics is tough, man. We have strong disagreements,” Donalds said. “But nobody wants to see what happened on Saturday in Pennsylvania and so I think the president’s right, the moment calls for uniting this country.”

Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former 2016 campaign manager who is helping the 2024 team with the convention, argued Trump will meet the moment, as other leaders have after tragedies.

“Donald Trump is rising to the occasion of unity,” Lewandowski told USA TODAY. “Not unity just for the Republicans. Not unity just for the MAGA faithful, of which I am one. But unity for America.”

Many wonder whether Trump’s new message will last, though. There already are signs of it fading.

On Tuesday, Trump put up a social media post attacking “the radical left Democrats” and “these Communists.”

On Wednesday, Trump put up a post mocking Biden, juxtaposing pictures of him tripping on stairs with the iconic image of the former president raising his fist in defiance after being shot.

Vance, in his first public comments since becoming Trump’s running mate, on Wednesday questioned Biden’s mental state, called him “fake Scranton Joe." The 39-year-old Ohio GOP senator added, “It is time to get rid of the corrupt Biden/Harris regime that has broken this country.”

Vance immediately blamed rhetoric from Biden and Democrats after the shooting, prompting former GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie to question in a column published Tuesday in The New York Times if Vance's selection as VP undercut the message.

“I was pissed. … I was mad about it,” Vance said Wednesday of his initial reaction.

Democrats are questioning whether Trump’s campaign is really committed to the unity message.

“You can’t say one thing and do another, right?” Karen Finney, a senior aide for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, said in discussing Trump’s recent Truth Social post on CNN Wednesday, adding, “I think many of us are skeptical.”

Martyr or hero

Treating Trump like a martyr or a hero isn’t likely to sway many people in an election when most voters already have baked in opinions of the candidates, said Justin Garrison, an associate professor of political science at Roanoke College.

“The imagery might work for some people. I don't know if it would cause people who were not interested in Trump before the shooting to change who they are going to vote for in November,” Garrison said. 

Derek Torstenson, who traveled from Denver to protest the Republican convention in Wisconsin, said he doesn’t believe Trump has changed.

“Trump’s a loser, a little baby loser," he chanted on Wednesday afternoon while holding up a sign reading “GOP = fascism” and “Trump started an insurrection.” He was standing in front of a man reading the Bible next to Trump banners on a sidewalk just outside the convention security perimeter.

“I don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth,” Tortstenson said. “Trump is literally a pathological liar.”

A Milwaukee woman who gave her name as “Miss Hodges” interjected. “Trump loves everybody,” she said. “He loves us.”