Missouri lawmakers head to Milwaukee for Republican National Convention

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Republican National Convention kicked off Monday, two days after an assassination attempt was made against former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump announced his running mate as Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.

In an interview with ABC 17 News, Missouri state Sen. Bill Eigel (R-St. Charles County) discussed a prayer vigil he held for Trump in Saint Charles on Monday before he started traveling to Milwaukee.

"We just had a great event, we had 150 people here. We came together for a prayer service, a kind of a rally for Trump. And it was it was fantastic," Eigel said.

Eigel -- who is also running in Missouri's gubernatorial race -- expressed his hope to move forward with strength and unity.

"I think that you'll see Americans rally around a leader like Donald Trump that is talking about an America, that's going to be strong, that's talking about an America that is coming together and uniting." Eigel said, "I think there's a huge appetite for that. So I'm just excited to be a part of it."

U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) will head to Milwaukee on Tuesday morning, ahead of his speech at the RNC later that evening.

Schmitt said he spoke with Trump on Sunday.

"He was in great spirits after every, you know, everything that happened on Saturday, just a little more than 24 hours after that, amazingly. But he was in good spirits. He's ready to go," Schmitt said.

Like Eigel, Schmitt also expressed his hopes unity while reflecting on Saturday's events.

"What makes this country unique is that we resolve our differences by speaking our minds and persuasion and in voting and free speech and those sorts of things," Schmitt said. "There's just no room for political violence. And hopefully that's something that as a country we can come together and reaffirm."

Trump will accept his nomination to be the Republican party's presidential candidate in a speech on Thursday. Both Schmitt and Eigel expressed their eagerness to hear Trump's speech.

"I'd fully expect for, you know, on Thursday for him to deliver that message about unity and and again, bring this country together to give more people more opportunity to succeed and live the American dream," Schmitt said.

"Trump is already talking about the fact that he completely rewrote his nomination speech to focus on unity. There's some silver linings there, and I'll look forward to that," Eigel said.

Schmitt and Eigel also said Saturday's shooting will not affect security protocols for their own political events.

"We're going to continue to go into these events with a sense of optimism and excitement, not concern for safety," Eigel said. "So right now, we're focused on on our optimistic message and we're excited to continue to share it."

"I think that's important for people to know that they can talk to their, to their senator and bring their needs you know, to, to Washington, D.C. and be a voice and so I don't expect anything to change for me personally. But certainly it's always, you know, something that you're mindful of," Schmitt said.