Political conventions have not been compelling television for decades, but the Republican gathering this week in Milwaukee to nominate former President Trump arrives after a shocking twist.
The attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday provided a new story line, complete with vivid history-making images that are likely to drive greater viewer interest in an event that has largely become predictable.
“It will increase the audience enormously,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Trump, who survived primary challenges from several prominent Republicans, was expected to come into the event as the head of a united party intent on recapturing the White House in a rematch with President Biden.
But now the gathering, airing across all the major TV networks, becomes a major platform for his first public appearance since surviving the attack by a 20-year-old shooter with only a minor injury and pictures that show him bloodied and triumphant with his fist in the air moments afterward. The shooter, who killed one rally attendee and severely injured two others, was killed on site.
“I think an awful lot of people will be tuned in when he first appears, ‘cause they want to see what he’s going to say, how he seems and how’s he going to react to this,” said Brit Hume, senior political analyst for conservative outlet Fox News, said in interview.
Hume added that the thwarted attack will add to the convention’s plan to contrast the vigor of Trump with Biden, whose poor performance at the June 27 presidential debate led to calls that he pull out of the race.
John Dickerson, who anchored coverage of the assassination attempt for CBS News, noted that whatever unfolds at the convention will now be watched through the fraught emotions that viewers experienced over the weekend.
“His is an extraordinary moment in American politics,” Dickerson said. “Not only the heightened attention for the pure human drama, but also the enormous upside for the politician who chooses to try to say something to the entire nation that will address people’s fears.”
A month ago, the public was largely seen as less than enthusiastic about a Biden-Trump rematch. Cable news ratings, which usually spike in a presidential election year, are down overall in 2024, compared to last year.
The novelty of Trump’s candidacy brought 32 million viewers to the final night of the GOP’s 2016 presidential convention, but that figure dropped dramatically when he was nominated again in 2020.
Rick Klein, vice president and political director ABC News, believes the stunning events of the last few weeks will reignite audience interest.
“I think people have dialed in on politics like they haven’t for a long time,” Klein said. “The debate a few weeks ago and the intense questions around whether Joe Biden should be the nominee — that was going to be overhanging this whole convention up until what happened Saturday.”
President Reagan is shoved into his limousine by Secret Service agents after being shot outside a hotel in Washington, D.C., in 1981.
(Ron Edmonds / Associated Press)
TV news largely avoided any major mistakes in covering the shooting Saturday, a contrast to the confusion that occurred in 1981 after President Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton. The extent of Reagan’s condition wasn’t known for hours, while there was an erroneous report that his press secretary James Brady, who was severely wounded by shooter David Hinkley, had died.
Hume was a Washington-based correspondent for ABC News when Reagan was shot. When he phoned in during Fox News’ coverage Saturday, he tapped the brakes on any speculation on Trump’s condition before any official word was put out.
“I’ve been down this road before and know where it can sometimes lead,” he said.
Klein said TV news organizations were well prepared on the ground in Butler as many correspondents and news crews were on hand in anticipation of Trump’s announcement of his vice presidential running mate at the rally. (The pick of Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio was revealed Monday).
“If this had been a one-off campaign event, we might not have had the same resources,” Klein said.
Alexis McAdams, a Fox News correspondent who was on the scene, said internet and mobile phone service was almost nonexistent at the rally. Only by being on the air live and remaining in touch with New York headquarters through a dedicated intercom was she able to remain in contact with the network’s control room.
McAdams said she had to scramble down from a scaffold near the rally stage in order to get accounts from people in the crowd.
“You have to show empathy, because these people are trying to figure out what happened, and they were pretty shocked,” she said. “I wanted to make sure we weren’t just drilling people for answers.”
Fox News, which was presenting the rally live, had the most viewers for its breaking coverage of the shooting Saturday, averaging 7.1 million viewers in prime time, according to Nielsen. Around 19 million people overall were watching across the networks that carried continuous coverage.
