At Republican National Convention, which Trump will show up?

A worker puts out Trump signs during the Republican National Convention.

July 15, 2024 Updated 1:24 PM PT

The Republican National Convention opens Monday in Milwaukee at one of the most tumultuous times in modern American history.

The four-day event is a make-good of sorts. The city of beers and brats was supposed to host the Democratic convention four years ago, but the in-person gathering was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This time, the event is shadowed by the attempted assassination of former President Trump who, undeterred, arrived Sunday to formally claim the GOP nomination.

Columnists Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria are also on hand this week. Here they look back at the head-spinning events of the last 48 hours and ponder what’s to come.

Barabak: Anita, whatever your politics, or feelings about Trump, we agree the attempt on his life was a scary and terrible thing.

My question from a political standpoint is: Trump and President Biden both issued calls for unity and, at least implicitly, urged a step back from the inflammatory rhetoric of the White House campaign. How long can, and how long should, that last? After all, political conventions are all about building up your candidate and tearing down the other guy, or gal.

Chabria: Hey, Mark. First off, I can’t stress enough how unacceptable political violence is. I said it when Paul Pelosi was attacked by a hammer-wielding malcontent and I’ll say it now: No one in America, regardless of party, should condone what happened in Pennsylvania.

But it puts us in the hardest of positions as this pivotal election approaches. We need to be able to speak truth, even hard truths.

Despite this horrific incident, it does not change that Trump was found in a civil case to have sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. It does not change that Trump is a convicted felon. It does not change that he has called immigrants “animals” who are poisoning the blood of our country.

And most importantly, it does not change the political agenda he and his party have laid out to fundamentally remake American society as one dominated by white, Christian nationalism.

So to me, the challenge is being honest with those truths while at the same time acknowledging the fear and fatigue that all of us are feeling as our democracy slides closer to chaos.

I think, though, that we will see lots of talk of unity at this convention, because it’s the best political move. Trump has goodwill at the moment and a toned-down message will only enhance that and possibly draw undecided voters.

What do you expect this week?

Barabak: All sorts of conflicting impulses.

Trump is a pugilist by nature. His first instinct — and second and third — is to attack, then attack some more.

On Monday, after a judge tossed out his indictment for treating classified documents like so much bric-a-brac at Mar-a-Lago, Trump took to his Truth social media site to issue one of his incendiary all-caps diatribes.

Not very unifying.

But he’s also quite shrewd, knowing a post that plays to his political base won’t have nearly the impact or reach of the convention programming and, especially, his Thursday night speech accepting the GOP nomination.

Note how uncharacteristically quiet Trump remained as Democrats got all knotted up over whether to dump Biden from atop their ticket. (Current Magic 8 ball forecast: Uncertain.)

You might recall that battlefield edict often ascribed to Napoleon. The one that says, “Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.”

As the victim of a horrific attack, Trump has become a much more sympathetic figure, which will likely result in at least a modest boost in polls. He’s holding the political high ground and will remain there as long as he stays on the high road.

How long can he maintain that uncharacteristic posture? Your guess is as good as mine.

Meanwhile, do you suppose Democrats will persist in their existential freak-out ? How do you think Trump’s near-death experience has affected their calculations? How should it?

Chabria: Any talk of Biden stepping down is now reduced to back-room mumbles. I don’t see how Democrats can pursue that kind of upheaval now — if there was concern Kamala Harris couldn’t beat Trump before, this notion that he is some kind of defiant hero would be nearly impossible to overcome.

Biden offers stability and is a known quantity. My guess is the American people will want comfort and clarity after this — just like they did in 2020.

I think a lot of the tone for what happens next will be set at this convention. There are warring elements in the Republican Party, or at least it seems so, despite Trump’s new focus on unity.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been busy on social media. She posted this after the shooting: This reeks of something a lot more sinister and bigger. There are too many things that do not make sense. I don’t care what anyone says about me saying this, because everyone knows we are all thinking it. Fine call me a conspiracy theorist. I don’t give a damn. The insane left have been fantasizing out loud about killing Trump for years.

On the ground in Milwaukee, I’ll be looking for which of these personalities — the MTG or the new Trump — rules the rank-and-file. What you are looking out for, Mark?

Barabak: At the moment my lost luggage.

Beyond that, the all-important moments carried in television’s prime time. The days of gavel-to-gavel convention coverage have long passed. So most viewers will take away their impressions from those highlights served up by the major networks and cable news.

Chief among them, of course, will be Trump’s Thursday night acceptance speech. It will be interesting to see what else the Trump campaign has cooked up and choreographed when all those eyes are upon Fiserv Forum.

Chabria: Indeed. Here’s hoping you find your bags and make it to Milwaukee — there’s history in the making.