Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump marked a “tipping point” for many voters who are undecided about how to vote in the 2024 election, former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York) said in an interview with Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Boyle noted that many at the convention on Saturday were keenly aware that God had intervened to save Trump’s life after a bullet grazed his ear milliseconds after he turned his head. Zeldin agreed.
“A lot of people feel like the hand of God was on his shoulder, that there was an angel there that saved his life,” he said, explaining that it was about more than just saving Trump’s life.
“This isn’t just about one man averting a crisis, this is about our country averting a crisis, and we have a large crowd at the convention in Milwaukee. Maybe at past conventions there would have been a celebratory gathering, but there was a lot more outward emotion planned for a while to celebrate the nomination. Yes, President Trump had a hard-fought primary, yes, he’s been through a lot in the past, but what we all witnessed on Saturday, the emotions we felt on Saturday, seemed to dwarf almost everything else put together,” he said, noting that people were “deeply reflective” and “emotional.”
“Listening to the speeches, there were great things being said about important issues, but it really felt like everyone was waiting to see this great man alive, fighting and inspired,” Zeldin said.
“If he’s going to go through something like this, if he’s taking this much risk, we have to fight harder tomorrow than we do today. We need to do everything in our power to make sure, not just that he succeeds. We don’t do this for Donald Trump, we do this for America. I think Donald Trump would want us to do this to Make America Great Again,” he continued, recounting watching Trump make an emotional entrance into the convention on Monday night, just two days after he was nearly killed.
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“I thank God I was in the arena at that moment and got to witness it firsthand. I will never again in my life have the opportunity to experience something so beautiful, so moving, so powerful. I was looking for my seat at the time. My wife was with me. We were sitting in the 100s…I got a good view of the media, which is usually more hostile,” he said, noting that even the media was shocked by the moment.
“I just watched their expressions, their body language and I could see it affecting them. It was an American moment. Lee Greenwood sang ‘God Bless the United States of America’ and paid tribute in words. It was truly astonishing that just two days after this assassination attempt, a gunman came so close to killing President Trump. God bless him and his family,” he said, remembering the innocent victims who lost their lives protecting their families. He noted that a GoFundMe set up for the victims and their families has raised more than $4.7 million.
“This is the American people, hardworking Americans across the country, and it’s touching me deeply,” he said, explaining that it’s also impacting people who were on the fence.
“We had people for many years who didn’t like President Trump, who never voted for him before, but who are so proud of his bravery, his courage and what he’s been through,” Zeldin said.
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“They said what they saw on Saturday was too much,” Zeldin said. “That was their breaking point and they decided, ‘Yes, I’m going to support Donald Trump on 24.'”
