Trump assassination attempt raises stakes for GOP convention TV coverage

Former President Trump at his Butler, Pa., rally after an assassination attempt. “I think an awful lot of people will be tuned in when he first appears, ‘cause they want to see what he’s going to say, how he seems and how’s he going to react to this,” said Brit Hume, senior political analyst for conservative outlet Fox News, said in interview. “The debate a few weeks ago and the intense questions around whether Joe Biden should be the nominee — that was going to be overhanging this whole convention up until what happened Saturday.” President Reagan is shoved into his limousine by Secret Service agents after being shot outside a hotel in Washington, D.C., in 1981. Klein said TV news organizations were well prepared on the ground in Butler as many correspondents and news crews were on hand in anticipation of Trump’s announcement of his vice presidential running mate at the rally.. “If this had been a one-off campaign event, we might not have had the same resources,” Klein said. “I wanted to make sure we weren’t just drilling people for answers.” Fox News, which was presenting the rally live, had the most viewers for its breaking coverage of the shooting Saturday, averaging 7.1 million viewers in prime time, according to Nielsen.