Fearing “Chaos,” Republicans Dread Trump’s RNC Performance

As dawn breaks on Lara Trump’s Republican National Convention, not every GOP lawmaker is feeling entirely confident in Donald Trump’s ability not to alienate voters.

Before the assassination attempt against Trump Saturday, Raw Story asked several Republican lawmakers what they were hoping to get from the convention this week. In many ways, their milquetoast answers stood in sharp contrast to the chaotic candidate they’ve come to back.

“Stability. Simple message. Lack of drama,” Representative Don Bacon told Raw Story.

“You know, people want stability. They’re tired of chaos and the loud noises on both sides. So if our side and President Trump can communicate stability and a moderating theme, that’s what we want. Let these other guys blow it.”

“I always try to recommend it, at the least in our area in Omaha, the Midwest—we’re called ‘Nebraska nice’ for a reason,” said Bacon. “I just say in our district, people want governance, conservative governance but decency. And that’s what we want to communicate.”

The Nebraska Republican is staring down what could turn out to be an especially narrow presidential election in his state, which has only five electoral college votes to give, and three of which are distributed based on how the congressional districts vote. As a result, a step toward the middle appears to have been on his mind.

In February, Bacon co-sponsored a nonbinding resolution expressing support for IVF and commending the work of fertility specialists. While the measure itself did absolutely nothing to actually protect the right to fertility treatments, it was an attempt to signal to voters a Republican shift to the middle, or at least an ability to listen to their more centrist constituents.

Apparently, Bacon has been singing his tune about “stability” for a while.

“I remember saying that during his administration, and [Trump’s] chief of staff told me to shut up,” Bacon told Raw Story, clarifying that he was not referring to Mark Meadows.

“The more we can communicate civility and no chaos, the better,” said Bacon. “Americans are tired. We’re tired of all that noise out there.”

Representative Nancy Mace also urged Trump to make an appeal to the middle.

“I think I’ve been pretty vocal about going after independent voters, suburban women, and I’ve tried to be a really strong voice for the party, but he’s doing a remarkable job on his own,” Mace gushed to Raw Story. “He put IVF and birth control and contraception into the Republican Party platform for the first time ever in history.”

Mace was the main sponsor of the do-nothing IVF resolution earlier this year.

And Marco Rubio, a contender for Trump’s vice presidential nomination, ran a hard defense for the former president, claiming he was not at all “dysfunctional,” unlike his opponents. Trump, he said, “comes from a background in real estate and business, and it’s just a different language. And so it may seem alien to people around here, but I watched firsthand how it works, certainly, on the world stage.”

It’s unclear how the weekend’s events will affect Trump’s performance at the RNC, but it’s worth noting that in the past, Trump’s language seemed to be less entrepreneurial and more racist and violent.

Trump said Sunday that his speech, which he is scheduled to deliver Thursday, has been completely rewritten in the wake of Saturday’s shooting, which left one attendee dead and two others injured.

“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” Trump told the Washington Examiner.

Even as Trump turns to unity, one thing is for sure: Drama is definitely still on the schedule.

Republican lawmakers are ignoring the evidence to blame the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on anyone but themselves.

Although the gunman behind the shooting has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old white conservative, GOP leaders have decided to collectively attack the Secret Service—specifically, the members that are women and people of color.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Representative Cory Mills was quick to divert attention away from the conservative shooter and toward the nonobvious target: diversity, equity, and inclusion hires.

“Look, I’m not sure about who the individuals are on the individual detail of the Secret Service, but I can tell you under this Biden administration, the one thing I’ve seen is massive DEI hires,” Mills, a former U.S. Army sniper, told Jesse Waters Primetime, appearing to suggest that only white men should be members of the Secret Service. “And I can tell you, when you primarily go after DEI, you end up with D-I-E.”

But Mills wasn’t the only Trump ally frustrated with a service detail that kept the former president alive.

“Somebody really dropped the ball,” Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett told Fox Sunday afternoon. “You’ve got a … DEI initiative-person who heads up our Secret Service. You know, she was working at Pepsi before this. I know she was a former Secret Service agent, but still.”

“This is what happens when you don’t put the best players in. It’s a complete failure on our part,” he said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Burchett baselessly pushed that Democrats’ focus on the violent rhetoric of MAGA Republicans—including likening Trump to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and describing Trump’s political ambitions as fascist—was the reason behind the shooting, despite the fact that Crooks’s former classmates repeatedly described him as holding exclusively conservative ideals.

“It is a manifestation of what they brought upon us,” Burchett said. “It is not the Republicans’ fault.”

And network hosts also jumped in on the fury, including Jeanine Pirro and Laura Ingraham, who were seemingly unhappy with the women who risked their lives and bodies to create a human shield for Trump.

“You and I, in our own way, have been trailblazers in our fields,” Ingraham bemoaned. “And we support women in all we do. But when it comes to shielding the body of someone who is six foot three, and shielding him, you can’t do it if you’re five-five.”

At a time when tensions are high following an assassination attempt against Donald Trump on Saturday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene still saw fit to immediately use violent rhetoric to describe Democrats.

In an interview on Real America’s Voice right after the shooting, Greene called politics today “a battle between good and evil.”

“Look at the views and the policies on the left. This is the party that is literally trying to destroy God’s creation,” Greene said, before going on a rant blaming Democrats for a number of conservative bogeymen, including trans rights, abortion, Black Lives Matter protests, and prison sentences against conservative figures including January 6 rioters. She was happy enough with her message that she posted a video of it the next day to her X (formerly Twitter) account.

Greene has a reputation for using extreme and bigoted rhetoric, so this initial reaction isn’t unexpected. She has called for a “national divorce,” infamously blamed California wildfires on “Jewish space lasers” back in 2018, spread conspiracy theories about 9/11, and alleged conspiracies behind school shootings. Her political party has enabled her ever since she was elected to Congress, and in some cases has even echoed her talking points. As such, she isn’t likely to receive calls to apologize from her fellow Republicans, particularly as a host of them will probably be saying the same things at the Republican National Convention this week.

But one would think that, at a time when the motive of the gunman who shot at Trump still is unclear, Greene might not want to escalate tensions and be seen as promoting more violence. But that would be out of character for Greene, and out of touch with today’s Republican Party.

Rudy Giuliani has lost bankruptcy protection, and creditors can now go after his assets, a New York judge ruled Friday. 

The former New York mayor turned Donald Trump lawyer was found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers in December, with a jury awarding them $148 million. Giuliani then applied for bankruptcy protection, arguing that he was unable to pay the judgment because of the other many sizable debts he owes. 

Judge Sean Lane, of New York’s federal bankruptcy court, made the ruling partly due to Giuliani’s lack of transparency, writing in his 22-page opinion that the disgraced lawyer hadn’t opened the books of the companies he owns, which have recently received thousands of dollars in wire transfers. Lane also said that Giuliani hasn’t explained other financial dealings, from book contracts to what his podcast and radio show earn. 

“Mr. Giuliani has failed to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs in the six months that this case has been pending,” Lane wrote. “The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case.” 

Giuliani claims a net worth of $10.6 million, mostly tied up in two apartments: one in New York City and another in Palm Beach, Florida. The two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freemon and Shaye Moss, plan to seek liens on the two properties soon, their lawyers say. 

Giuliani’s creditors can also try to seize his other assets, which include bank accounts, his collection of luxury watches, his Mercedes-Benz sports car, three New York Yankees World Series rings, and other baseball memorabilia. Giuliani’s creditors accuse him of downplaying how much these items are worth or failing to acknowledge them altogether.

Giuliani does not manage his money well. He lost his accountant in May, and, despite his many debts, still spends extravagantly while blowing off his financial responsibilities. He didn’t pay back his accountants, lawyers, or his ex-wife. Lately, in a desperate attempt to make money, he even tried to sell his own coffee.  

The rest of his life isn’t going well either. Giuliani was disbarred from practicing law earlier this month over his false statements on the 2020 election and is facing criminal charges in Arizona over his election misdeeds after a comical attempt to avoid being served. His old client Trump still owes him $2 million in unpaid legal fees, but aside from throwing the odd fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, hasn’t helped his ex-lawyer. It looks like Rudy may soon hit rock bottom.