The Republican National Convention is opening in Milwaukee less than 48 hours after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the death of a bystander.
Heidi Ganahl, who lost the 2022 Colorado gubernatorial race to incumbent Democrat Jared Polis, is an alternate delegate at the RNC.
She told Colorado Matters senior host Ryan Warner the focus now should be on pushing for unity and cooling the political rhetoric – on both sides.
Trump, she said, plans to rewrite his convention speech to take a different approach.
“Things like this, when they happen to you, they change you,” Ganahl said.
Neither presidential candidate can change the political tone alone, Ganahl said.
“I don't think we can put this on one man. I think we each have to do it,” she said.
Meanwhile, there were two late-breaking developments after we spoke with Ganahl earlier this morning.
Former President Donald Trump said he'll announce his choice for vice president today.
And, a federal judge dismissed the classified documents case against Mr. Trump. The court found that the appointment of the special prosecutor violated the constitution. The case alleges that Trump held onto sensitive documents after he left office, and blocked government efforts to get them back. Legal experts have said there will likely be an appeal.
Read the interview
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Ryan Warner: Two days after an assassination attempt and bloodshed at a campaign event, the GOP Convention begins. Can you give me a sense of what you feel as an attendee?
Ganahl: Last night, you could tell there was a sense of anxiety, of course, about our safety and just how this is going to roll out, but there was also a sense of excitement to be around each other, to be able to talk through it.
After something tragic happens like that, you find people come together and they want to be together, they want to be in conversation, they want to be in community. That's what it was like last night. There was a (country singer) Trace Adkins concert and everyone was just excited to be there for this moment in time and history.
And obviously there's a determination, a determination now to stay calm, stay focused, and get the job done, which is to nominate Donald Trump for president.
Warner: Both former President Trump and President Biden have called on the country to unify. People on both sides of the aisle have said the political rhetoric needs to calm down. Is America past that point?
Ganahl: Ryan, I think America is exhausted. I think we're all just yearning to come together, to find a way forward, to find a way to shake hands again, be together again without divisiveness, without tension. We all want that. The question is, how do we do it?
Warner: Any answers?
Ganahl: Well, I think Donald Trump said yesterday he changed his speech, he threw out his speech and he's rewriting it with a different tone, with a different approach to be a champion for all of us to come together, to use what he went through over the weekend to bring us to a point where we can get past this.
Things like this, when they happen to you, they change you. I lost my husband in a plane crash when I was 27. It dramatically changed my life. Then I faced a brain tumor and brain surgery just a couple of years ago and it dramatically changed my life and my approach. I think what happened to Donald Trump this weekend dramatically changed his approach too, and I think we'll see it on stage on Thursday night.
Warner: Do you think that Donald Trump changing his tenor, the way that he speaks is key to changing the political conversation then?
Ganahl: I don't think we can put this on one man. I think we each have to do it. We each have to take individual responsibility for changing our tone. A couple of weeks ago, our President, Joe Biden said to put Trump in the bullseye. So it's both sides and honestly it's each one of us individually. We can't put this on any one person. We have to put it on each of us individually and take that initiative.
Warner: Biden reportedly did make that comment in a telephone meeting with donors last week, a secret meeting to shore up support after his disastrous debate performance. The media outlet Politico said it obtained a recording in which Biden said, quoting here, "I have one job and that's to beat Donald Trump. I'm absolutely certain I'm the best person to be able to do that. So we're done talking about the debate. It's time to put Trump in a bullseye," Biden said.
Biden’s supporters say he was just asking the donors to put former President Trump at the center of the political debate, that he wasn't calling for violence. What's your response?
Ganahl: Wow. Well, what would happen if Donald Trump had said that about Joe Biden? We've lived through a decade and I just ran for governor, so I lived this every day on the front lines of being called all kinds of names: Nazi, bigot, fascist, white supremacist. It was disgusting.
All of us want what's best for our country. We all want America to be healthy and strong. We just have different approaches, different ideas about how to get there. It's really that simple. And in order to make our country great again, we have to come together and compromise on some things and agree on a path forward and not be stuck on one side or the other.
So again, I believe it goes back to each of us individually, but each leader of each party can do that. They can set an example. I think if Joe Biden truly wants to set an example and truly wants to cool things down, like he said, how about he drop all the charges, all the lawfare against Donald Trump. Take the first step, do that. Let's see how that goes.
Warner: He doesn't have power to do that in many cases, given that he's not the one prosecuting Mr. Trump.
Law enforcement says the gunman used an AR-style, semi-automatic rifle also used in the Club Q attack in Colorado Springs, which killed five, the Las Vegas attack, which killed 60. Should the weekend's events spark a discussion of the legality of that weapon in particular?
Ganahl: The weekend's events are about America and our path forward. And if we are going to go down a violent, ugly path of political violence or if we're going to come together, unite and agree to be Americans, not Republicans or Democrats. Trump loves America. There's no argument about that, I would assume from either side.
And America loves when someone stands up for them and fights for them and has courage and champions for everyday Americans and is determined to make us healthy and strong again. That's what Americans want. They want that conversation. They want someone to stand up and lead with courage and be a champion for all of us in our ideals.
Warner: You do not then want a conversation about the AR-15 in particular, you don't think that's where America is?
Ganahl: Ryan, this is not about that. This is about the future of America. It's about how we're going to move forward, it's about determination to move past this and bring people together in love and unite our country in something bigger.
Warner: I want to note that as an alternate delegate, you won't get a vote at this convention unless someone in the Colorado delegation drops out. So Heidi, what's your role? What will the week look like for you?
Ganahl: Well, I say this is half pep rally to get everyone excited and invigorated for the election ahead, and then it's half process and procedures and making sure that we're doing everything tactically that we're supposed to do. So I'll be at all the meetings.
I'm here mostly because my dad was really excited to be a delegate and he was chosen as a delegate and he's almost 80. So I wanted to come with him and make sure he’s taken care of, but we're having a great time. He brought his little brother along, and I brought a dear friend of mine. So we are here to be around folks that love our country and want to get us back on a great path to see some amazing speakers and to nominate Donald Trump for the presidential race.
Warner: Former President Trump will announce his vice presidential choice soon. There's something of a short list. Anyone that you support in particular?
Ganahl: I trust him to make the right decision for who he wants to partner with, but I believe there's different paths forward. Do we want someone younger like (entrepreneur) Vivek Ramaswamy or (U.S. Sen.) J.D. Vance that's going to perhaps take the mantle and lead our party into the future? Or do we want a caregiver, someone calm and who might be a great voice right now, like (former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development) Dr. Ben Carson? So I think there's different paths we can take. I'll leave that up to him.
Before we go, is there a particular issue in the platform you'd like to see?
Ganahl: I believe we want to feel safe again. That's probably the highest priority for those that I'm hearing from. We're worried about the border, we're worried about the national conversation about political violence, we're worried about our children's future, we're worried about our role on the international stage. We're also worried about inflation in the economy. So I would say safety, the economy and our path forward in America.
