Just two days after a bloodied Donald Trump mouthed “fight!’ to his supporters after a brazen assassination attempt, Republicans at the opening day of the party’s convention in Milwaukee chanted the same word as they prepared to welcome him back to the stage.
The former president will deliver a much-anticipated speech in the Wisconsin city on Thursday, but there has been hope he will make an earlier public appearance at the convention, which formally nominated him as presidential candidate on Monday.
Trump said he “threw away” the prepared text of his speech entirely after the shooting at his rally on Saturday, a sign of how the attempt on his life has changed the dynamics of this gathering, one of the biggest moments of any presidential campaign.
Republicans at the convention told the BBC the shooting, which left one dead and two others seriously injured, had supercharged already united behind Trump within the party.
As music blasted on the convention floor on Monday evening, the mood was defiant but excited – with many saying they felt he would win November’s election.
But the recent attack – a shocking act of political violence – was still fresh in minds and had left some shaken.
“Saturday scared me,” Joe Mullins, a delegate from Florida, said. “We’d be in a whole different world if not for half an inch.
“I had tears in my eyes. I haven’t cried like that since I lost my mother.”
For others, the thought of Trump returning to the stage for what will likely be an enormous, raucous standing ovation was not just exciting, but reassuring given how close the 78-year-old came to being more seriously hurt.
“It will be great to see him up and walking around after Saturday,” Matt Limoges, the chair of the Philadelphia Young Republicans, said. “This is a historic moment. Everybody is very, very happy. I think everybody here is behind him and everybody is looking forward to sending him back to the White House.”
Terasa Filsoof, who is attending the convention with the Republican Jewish Coalition, was watching the Pennsylvania rally on TV when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crookes fired at the former president and rallygoers.
“When [Trump] grabbed his ear and fell, I just immediately thought the worst,” she told the BBC. “But when he stood up with the fist, we knew all was going to be well.”
A delegate from Wisconsin, Cindy Werner, was also watching in panic as the dramatic scenes unfolded. “I turned on the TV and instantly started praying,” she said. “I’m really thankful that God… it was God that gave him the grace. I’m so relieved.”
Ms Filsoof said the images that quickly spread on social media after the shooting, which showed a bloody Trump raising his fist in front of a billowing American flag, showed “exactly what he thinks of this country – stand tall, stand proud, and fight for what you believe in”.
“There’s no room for that on either side,” she said of the attack. “There’s absolutely no room for violence. There’s no room – the rhetoric, it’s just been too far on both sides. I think it’s just too much.”
While some attendees expressed anger at the shooting, and others called for displays of solidarity and well-wishes for Trump, the overarching mood in Milwaukee is still one of celebration.
“It’s electric. Everyone’s cheering and supporting their fellow states. “It’s been wonderful,” said Ms Filsoof, who had made her own disco-ball cowboy hat, and adorned it with red ribbons and an American flag.
Ms Werner, meanwhile, said the moment her state pledged its delegates to the former president was a moving moment. “I felt proud,” she said. “I felt that we will have a fighter that will get back into the fight.”
Additional reporting by Alex Lederman
