Analysis: Republicans have completely subjugated themselves to Donald Trump, writes US correspondent Logan Church from the party’s national convention.
Behind the iron curtain of fencing, armed police, and Secret Service protecting the Republican National Convention, there is an ideological bubble.
Everyone I’ve spoken to at the event believes the country is heading in the wrong direction, and on the precipice of disaster.
Only one man, they tell me, has the ability, strength, and will to fix it — Donald Trump.
The attempted assassination of the former president last weekend was a heinous act of political violence. It was also a political gold mine for the Republican Party — that image of Donald Trump, fist in the air, moments after bullets scraped his ear and cheek, now sold on buttons and t-shirts worn inside the convention.
Leaving the convention’s media centre (a room about the size of Wellington’s TSB Arena), I ran into Kellyanne Conway, the former spokesperson for the Trump White House who famously coined the phrase "alternative facts" on national television back in 2017.
Ignoring the aggressive glares from her minders, we started talking about New Zealand (a country she told me she visited and loves), and how the world reacted to the news of the assassination attempt. She quickly made it political.
"Let's be very clear," she told me.
"[Trump] actually was on the receiving end of the would-be assassin's bullet. So, it looked like the violence went in one direction and it wasn't coming from [Trump] and his supporters. In fact, one of them lost his life and two were grievously injured, and the president himself was injured for the whole world to see.
"I would say that I was really happy to hear President Joe Biden in the Oval Office a day and a half ago, call for calm and turning down the temperature — and that lasted about a day and a half, because today he's back out there attacking Donald Trump as his heart, his allies in the mainstream media, many members of his administration, his campaign [do] the same."
Conway believed the country could be united under Trump.
"We can disagree agreeably."
Her minders then decided they were sick of me and whisked her away as other media waited to pounce.
JD Vance has had his first outing as Trump's vice presidential pick, US Correspondent Logan Church reports. (Source: 1News)
Unity and a 'miracle of God'
But that sense of shock over what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania has permeated the entire convention.
And that was clear in the extensive security at the site. It was already going to be a security-heavy event, but that appears to have been ramped up even further.
As an example, to get into that media centre, I had to wear multiple credentials, including one showing the Secret Service had done a background check on me, before going through a series of bag checks, pat downs, and other airport-level security.
Inside, all the doors have armed police and Secret Service agents.
Police have been brought here from all over the country. I chatted with officers from Texas to New Jersey during this event. "It’s for a good cause," one told me.
From Trump Bibles to Trump cereal (not for consumption), there’s a whole lot of merchandising behind the scenes, reports Logan Church. (Source: 1News)
On the convention floor itself, I spent some time talking to the delegation from Alabama.
"There is such unity and love we haven't seen in a long time since last Saturday," Mack Butler, who serves in the Alabama House of Representatives, told me.
"[Trump] stood back up ... we also saw something that many people have never seen — an honest to goodness miracle of God."
Republicans are predominantly Christian, and all told me they saw the hand of God protecting their president.
"Just like our first president, George Washington, could not be killed in battle. Horses were shot out from under him," Butler said.
"The divine hedge of protection from God is on President Donald Trump as well."
Butler was at the convention with his son, Carson Butler. His concerns about the US came from a more practical standpoint.
"The country right now is not in good shape with our border crossings and grocery [prices]," he told me.
"Everything's just gone up — it just shows how my generation, young people, how I'm not going to be able to afford to buy a home, rent."
The Trump Party
Ahead of Donald Trump’s speech tonight — where he’s expected to formally accept the nomination to run for president — a few things became very apparent to me.
Firstly, whatever you think of their politics, the Republicans showed unity and strength in the face of political violence.
But secondly, they have totally subjugated themselves to Donald Trump.
The Republican Party is the Trump Party.
Dissent is gone. Shut out. Not allowed. You are on the Trump train, or you are out.
They believe they will win in November.
Democrats have their work cut out for them.
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