In his first major speech since a failed assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for the third time and told a boisterous crowd he would “usher in the rich and wonderful tomorrows that our people truly deserve.”
Trump vowed he would secure that future for all Americans, “citizens of every race, religion, color and creed.”
“I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America,” Trump said, “because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”
“So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States,” he added.
On the final evening of the Republican National Convention, a night themed “Make America Great Once Again” — a play on his well-known campaign slogan — Trump said it was time to rescue America from the “failed leadership” of President Biden and Democrats.
“Under our leadership, the United States will be respected again,” he said. “No nation will question our power. No enemy will doubt our might. Our borders will be totally secure. Our economy will soar. We will return law and order to our streets, patriotism to our schools, and importantly, we will restore peace, stability, and harmony all throughout the world.”
Trump describes his brush with death
Early on in his speech, Trump spoke in detail of the attempt on his life at a Butler, Pa., campaign rally last weekend.
Trump said it was the only time he’d ever address the incident, “because it’s actually too painful to tell.”
Trump described his remarks at the rally – he was mid-speech at the time, boasting of his administration’s efforts to secure the southern border – when he heard “a loud whizzing sound, and felt something hit me really, really, hard in my right ear.”
“I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that?’ It can only be a bullet.”
Trump praised the Secret Service agents “who pounced on top of me so that I would be protected.”
“There was blood pouring everywhere, but in a certain way, I felt very safe because I had God on my side.”
Trump noted how close the sniper’s bullet came to hitting its target.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he said. “I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Yes you are! Yes you are!” the crowd erupted.
Trump later led the crowd in a 15-second moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old engineer, volunteer firefighter and father who was killed while diving on his family to protect them at the rally.
A temporary appeal for unity
Sources familiar with the president’s remarks Thursday evening said the speech — written by Trump himself — was dramatically altered by his brush with death.
Speakers preceding Trump, like Tucker Carlson, the former Fox primetime star fired by the network last year, described Trump as a “changed” man and praised him for focusing on unity in the days following the shooting.
“In an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens — we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Trump said.
“We must not demonize political disagreement,” he added.
In that spirit, Trump said, “the Democratic Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system” and drop ongoing investigations against him — cases Trump describes as “witch hunts.” Trump has been indicted in both state and federal court and has himself threatened to turn the Justice Department against his enemies if elected.
Trump also praised his wife, Melania, who made her first appearance in Milwaukee Thursday evening, for a statement days ago urging Americans to “ascend above the hate.”
“Thank you also for your beautiful letter to America calling for national unity. It captivated so many,” he said.
Later, Trump said of the assassination attempt, “We live in a world of miracles. None of us knows God’s plan, or where life’s adventure will take us.”
“But if the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on earth is a gift from God,” he added. “We have to make the most of every day for the people and country we love.”
Trump returns to familiar rhetoric
Joy for Trump’s safety — a moment multiple speakers on Thursday attributed to divine intervention — punctuated a celebratory week for Republicans, who rejoiced in the opportunity to send Trump back to the White House.
Earlier in the evening, Eric Trump Jr. roused the crowd by describing the moment in Pennsylvania when his father lifted his fist in the air, blood streaming down his face.
Amid chants of “fight, fight, fight,” the new Trump rallying cry, Trump Jr. said of the former president: “Our country misses you, and on Nov. 5, our country will reelect you as the 47th president of the United States!”
After opening with his description of the assassination attempt to a largely hushed crowd, Trump went on to spend much of his hour-and-a-half-long speech criticizing Biden administration policies and its efforts to roll back those of his own administration.
That meant describing the United States, as Trump often has since first running for office in 2016, as a country ravaged by rising crime and economic decline — a country in need of saving, he said.
“This will be the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said. “Under the current administration, we are indeed a nation in decline.”
Trump described cities strained by illegal immigration, American savings accounts wiped out by inflation, and a middle class in “a state of depression and despair.”
“We cannot, and will not, let this continue,” he added.
Concern over the strain of illegal immigration on communities across the country, and the vilifying of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, was a common thread in speeches throughout the week.
‘A planet of war’
In addition to security at home, Trump also vowed to bring stability abroad Thursday night.
Trump said Democrats “inherited a world at peace and turned it into a planet of war.”
And he criticized Biden administration’s controversial withdrawal from Afghanistan, a chaotic end to America’s longest war in which 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing. On Wednesday, relatives of some of those service members appeared on stage at the RNC.
Trump described the withdrawal as “the worst humiliation in the history of our country.”
The withdrawal was actually part of a deal Trump himself put in place, which the Biden administration carried out.
“With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness and chaos will be over,” Trump said.
He closed his address by returning to his pitch for unity — and for votes in November.
“We are Americans. Ambition is our heritage. Greatness is our birthright,” Trump said. “But as long as our energies are spent fighting each other, our destiny will remain out of reach.
“Tonight, I ask for your partnership, for your support, and I am humbly asking for your vote.”
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