MADISON, Wis. — Reaction is pouring in from Wisconsin to the shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.


What You Need To Know

  • Brandon Maly is the chair of the Republican Party of Dane County and a delegate to the Republican National Convention

  • He was spending the weekend getting prepped for the convention when he heard the news

  • Maly said he didn’t think the convention could get more secure, but he now believes it will be taken up a notch

  • Moving forward, he said it’s important to come together as the election approaches

Brandon Maly is the chair of the Republican Party of Dane County and a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

He was spending the weekend getting prepped for the convention when he heard the news.

“My phone notifications just started going off,” Maly said. “I had gotten home after running some errands and people were saying they didn’t know what happened, but there was an incident that the Trump rally shots were fired.”

Maly said he knew it was serious when he heard Trump was injured.

“It was just so surreal,” he said. “The first thing I wanted to make sure was that President Trump looked okay.”

The incident is raising some questions about security at the RNC.

Maly said he didn’t think the convention could get more secure, but now he believes it will be taken up a notch.

“The most important thing is that the president, President Trump, is doing well and that he is safe for the convention,” he said. “Of course, I pray for the safety of all of my fellow delegates and the 50,000 people that will be in Milwaukee. And I think that every measure will be taken to ensure that.”

Maly said he’s shocked and saddened by what the Secret Service is investigating as an assassination attempt.

He said he appreciates the bipartisan support pouring in for Trump, but said violence should never be a part of any political disagreements.

“Honestly, the most important thing is that we keep things nonviolent,” Maly said. “Don’t get too angry. We channel that anger and all of that emotion into productive things, to getting President Trump reelected.” 

Moving forward, he said it’s important to come together as the election approaches.

“It’s important that we all stay nonviolent,” he said. “We take this in, we pray for the country, and we come out of this a little bit more united and hopefully, lower the political temperature in the country.”