Kip Tom, who’s co-leading the Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition, literally had a front row seat at the Pennsylvania rally where former President Trump was shot at on Saturday.
Trump had invited Tom to the rally, and the two had a short meeting before the event, Tom told Agri-Pulse on Sunday.
“I knew right away that it was gunfire,” Tom said, describing the shots that occurred as Trump turned to look at some immigration statistics that were being displayed. Tom said he was impressed by the resolve of the rally attendees, many of whom had been there all day waiting for Trump’s late afternoon appearance. “They didn’t rush the gates. They stuck around. Trump got up and did the fist pump and the next thing, you know, folks are chanting ‘USA, USA,’ and applauding.”
Tom, an Indiana farmer who is a delegate to the convention, said he expected Republicans in Milwaukee this week to be even more energized as a result of the attack on Trump. “It can’t help but affect it in a positive way, I think,” he said.
On tap today: Today’s RNC theme is “Make America Wealthy Once Again.” The focus will be on the president’s economic policies.
Check out our coverage of the convention from Philip Brasher and Lydia Johnson at Agri-Pulse.com.
Biden condemns assassination attempt on Trump
President Biden said he spoke with Trump on Saturday after the shooting. “I’m sincerely grateful that he’s doing well and recovering,” Biden said Sunday.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence for that matter,” Biden said in a short statement. He and his wife, Jill, also said of the man who was killed, firefighter Corey Comperatore, “He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired, and he lost his life. God love him.”
The assassination attempt on Trump has relegated somewhat to the background the debate among Democrats over whether Biden should be his party’s nominee. But it hasn’t silenced it completely, even as Biden insists he is the best person to defeat Trump.
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Nineteen Democratic House members and one senator, Peter Welch of Vermont, have called on Biden to step aside.
Groups sue over BLM land management rule
Twelve agricultural, mining and energy groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management over its recent rule putting land protection and restoration on equal footing with grazing, energy development and other land uses.
BLM maintains that it has properly interpretated the intent of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, but the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and other groups allege in the lawsuit that by allowing leases for conservation, the agency has “converted a statute for managing the productive use of lands into one of non-use” and that it gives BLM “the power to set aside land for conservation, which Congress has reserved to itself or elsewhere has granted in tightly limited circumstances.”
The groups also argue the rule is “arbitrary and capricious” and “offers virtually no guidance as to when land can or will be set aside for mitigation or restoration and [areas of critical environmental concern].
"The BLM’s rule upends this multiple use system by creating a brand new use for federal lands without congressional approval and in conflict with existing federal law,” NCBA president Mark Eisele said in a press release.
Other groups on the lawsuit, which was filed in Wyoming, include the Public Lands Council, American Farm Bureau Federation, and American Sheep Industry Association
Milk marketing order proposal out for comment today
USDA’s proposal to revise milk marketing orders is out for formal comment in the Federal Register today until Sept. 13.
The proposal would restore a rule that makes the Class 1 milk price the higher of the price of Class 3 (milk sold for cheese) and Class 4 (butter and milk powder) for the month, plus a differential that would vary by location, Agri-Pulse reported July 1.
There also would be a new pricing formula for “extended shelf life” milk.
After USDA issues a final rule, probably this fall, producers get to vote on it.
The American Farm Bureau Federation said when the proposal was announced that it was disappointed in changes “that will benefit processors without regard for producers at a time when dairy farmers are struggling and many have gone out of business. USDA missed opportunities to improve and update price formulas.”
He said it: “An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation. Everything. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen.” – President Joe Biden on Sunday.
Philip Brasher and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
