Trump’s epic week started with cheating death

By Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

(CNN) — Donald Trump may not have changed in the past week, but the presidential race clearly has.

In the seven days since his brush with an assassin’s bullet, Trump has:

► Followers spoke with reverence about their view of God’s plan to save his life, giving him near-divine status.

► Republicans arguably rallied around him during a rousing Republican convention.

► I saw former rivals like Nikki Haley singing his praises.

► He benefited when a judge he appointed dismissed a criminal case against him in Florida.

► Watched President Joe Biden become isolated by the growing number of Democrats who worried he couldn’t beat him.

► Read polls that suggest he has a lead in what previously seemed like a neck-and-neck race.

Convention weeks should always be a time for a presidential candidate and their party to put on a show and unite their party ahead of the election, but this week has been different for Trump. By combining his momentum with Democrats’ concerns about Biden, the race has changed.

Biden is, in fact, under fire as a growing number of Democrats call on him to step aside, arguing that it’s the right thing to do to protect his legacy and give them a chance in November. If Biden were looking for inspiration to overcome his opponents, he could find it in Trump. The former president has, improbably, emerged from purgatory after trying to override the 2020 election results despite a criminal conviction in New York and owing hundreds of millions in defamation and corporate fraud, to claim his reward, his name flashing in Broadway lights at the Republican National Convention.

Many Americans will likely have come across the riveting first part of his nomination acceptance speech on social media, in which he recounts his near-death experience, embraces the theory of divine intervention that he survived the nomination, and honors the fire chief who died in the assassination attempt by kissing his fire helmet.

But what came later in Trump’s 90 minutes onstage, when he was babbling off-script, was a rally-style airing of grievances and factually inaccurate bragging about his record. If the focus of the Democratic drama ever shifts back to him, such speeches could bring back memories of his chaotic years in office.

Back on the path

Trump returns to the campaign trail on Saturday in his first joint rally with running mate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. They are scheduled to speak at an arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Michigan is a key building block in the so-called Blue Wall, which also includes Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. If Democrats win those states, they could win the White House. But as Democrats focus on whether Biden will be their nominee, and he recovers from a COVID-19 diagnosis, Trump and Vance can campaign without an answer.

Up in the polls

Trump is ahead of 50% of the vote nationwide in a poll of likely voters released Thursday by CBS News and YouGov.

Trump’s lead in the polls suggests he could become the first Republican to win a national popular vote in 20 years, since incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Sen. John Kerry in 2004.

More trouble for Biden

Interestingly, most registered Democratic voters in the CBS News poll, 56 percent, do not think Biden should withdraw. Lawmakers take a different view. The Democrats’ efforts to force Biden out of the race are an admission that Biden is behind in the presidential race and also a function of Democrats in the House and Senate hoping to change the conversation in their own races.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, joined the list of Democrats calling on Biden to step aside. In a letter to Biden, she said she would support his candidacy if he stayed in the race and worked to help him win. But…

“Unfortunately, I very much doubt that the outcome will be positive and our country will pay a terrible price for that,” she said.

The motive for the shooting remains a mystery

Investigators are still questioning the motives of the alleged gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by a sniper moments after firing shots from the roof of a building outside the perimeter fence of Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a week ago.

In the intervening days, CNN has learned that Crooks sought information on both Trump and Biden, including details about the Democratic National Convention. Crooks also sought information on Ethan Crumbley, the mass murderer who shot and killed four classmates at a Michigan high school in 2021. Crumbley’s parents were recently sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.

CNN also reported that Trump’s campaign was not informed by the Secret Service before he took the stage at the outdoor rally in Butler that police were searching for a suspicious individual who turned out to be Crooks. Republicans have called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn posted a video of lawmakers loudly chasing Cheatle and demanding answers during the Republican convention.

Regardless of what motivated Crooks or how he was able to climb onto the roof and shoot Trump, his attack on Trump could be a pivotal moment for the country because it gave Trump’s campaign a sense of justice.

The-CNN-Wire
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