The Spiritual Allegiance to Trump Is Deepening

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The Republican National Convention is more than halfway through, and the mood is serene—even spiritual. I spoke with my colleague Mark Leibovich, who is at the convention in Milwaukee, about how the attempted assassination of Donald Trump has only reinforced confidence within his party.

But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.

• Eliot A. Cohen: Cancel the foreign-policy apocalypse.
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Unambiguous Faith

Lora Kelley: How has the assassination attempt shaped the mood of the RNC?

Mark Leibovich: People are definitely jarred by it. But now that a few days have passed since the shooting, there’s a sense of divine intervention, like Trump has been touched by God. This seems to have stoked an almost spiritual allegiance to him.

There’s an even greater sense of confidence I was hearing while interviewing a bunch of people earlier this week—senators, congressmen, delegates. There are a lot of reasons for them to feel confident based on the political realities on the ground. But the shooting added a new dimension to the collective faith that people have in Trump. This is clearly the party of Trump, and there is no sign of any resistance. Mostly, people are just here for a coronation.

On Monday, I overheard a guy saying that he went out to a drugstore and bought a bunch of gauze pads—like the one Trump was wearing on his ear Monday night—and that he was going to put some kind of logo on them and try to sell them or pass them out. By yesterday, I was seeing people wearing them—mostly plain gauze pads, but I saw a few with writing and logos on them. The merchandising wheels are in motion.

Lora: Is this a different type of RNC than the one you were anticipating before last Saturday?

Mark: The week so far has been spirited but also serene. At the RNC there’s usually much more of a siege mentality. There’s a big victim complex in this version of the Republican Party, this sense of We’re fighting long odds and everyone’s against us. But that feeling is not as strong now.

I was at Trump’s first convention, in 2016 in Cleveland, and a lot of the delegates I talked with this week were there too. At that point, Trump had not quelled the resistance to him at all. Ted Cruz gave this very defiant speech, and was basically booed throughout by the Trump supporters in the crowd.

The contrast to this week is really stark. Now we’re seeing an even more extreme level of falling in line than seemed possible. People were very happy to embrace J. D. Vance, too. That’s an extension of the unambiguous faith people seem to have in Trump.

Lora: What are attendees’ reactions to the name Joe Biden?

Mark: There’s not so much anger as head-shaking, almost a sense of pity. Biden is part of the good fortune Republicans feel right now. They don’t even seem to be bothering with the usual vilification. It’s more of a quiet vilification, almost as if they’re picking on a feeble target at this point.

I don’t want to understate the contempt people here have for the other side and for Biden—and for what losing could look and feel like. Who knows how Republicans would react to a surprise on Election Night? But that does not seem like the prevailing mood, at least so far—and that also may have to do with the shooting.

Lora: What are you seeing from Trump himself?

Mark: There were reports that Trump was thinking about changing the tone of the event to something more unifying and conciliatory, not the usual combative tone. I don’t know if that’s going to hold.

When Trump came out last night, he looked a little bit moved. He doesn’t usually look moved. It seemed to be a look of genuine—I would never say humble, but his face seemed quieter. His whole vibe seemed quieter. He seemed to still be a little bit shocked at what happened to him on Saturday. That would be a normal reaction.

Related:

• John Hendrickson: “Everything is in place now.”
• Tim Alberta: “What the heck just happened?”

Today’s News

1. Representative Adam Schiff called for Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. He is the most prominent elected Democrat to do so thus far.
2. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he will create a bipartisan task force to investigate Saturday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
3. J. D. Vance, Trump’s newly announced running mate, will speak tonight at the Republican National Convention.

Dispatches

• The Weekly Planet: The search for alien life starts on Earth, but the places that could most help scientists find it are melting away, Marina Koren writes.

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Evening Read

The Improbable Rise and Savage Fall of Siegfried & Roy

By Chris Jones and Michael J. Mooney

The last survivors of a lost empire live behind the Mirage, in Las Vegas, out back by the pool. On a good day, Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden will draw more than 1,000 visitors, the $25 adult admission fee justified mostly by the palm shade and tranquility it offers relative to the mania outside its walls. There are also long summer stretches when it’s 100 degrees and things get a little grim. During a recent visit, only a few families strolled through, surveying the five sleeping animals on display: three tigers, a lion, and a leopard. The Secret Garden ostensibly operates as an educational facility. “Look, a lion,” one young father said to his son, while pointing at a tiger.

Read the full article.

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Culture Break

Watch. Simone Biles Rising, a four-part Netflix docuseries about the gymnast, explores the limits of “work ethic.”

Dine. Who wants to sit at a communal table? A lot more Americans than you might think.

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P.S.

In a land far from Milwaukee, preparations for the Olympics are under way. I am eagerly awaiting the Summer Games (my quadrennial foray into niche sports fandom) and found my colleague Alan Taylor’s selection of images from the 1924 Paris Olympics lovely. Some of the uniform choices are surprising, though the spectators’ hats—and the general energy of the photos—spoke to me.

— Lora

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