Trump re-accepts Republican nomination in highly personal speech, days after assassination attempt

MILWAUKEE — Donald Trumpgloomy and bandaged, he accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for president at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday Republican National Convention in a speech in which he detailed the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier, and then outlined sweeping populist plans, notably on immigration.

The 78-year-old former president, best known for his bombastic and aggressive rhetoric, began his acceptance speech with a softer and deeply personal message that drew directly from his brush with death. In moments, as the crowd listened in silence, Trump described standing on a stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, with his head turned to look at a chart on display, when he felt something hit his ear. He raised his hand to his head and saw immediately that it was covered in blood.

“If I hadn’t moved my head at the last second, the bomber’s bullet would have hit me perfectly,” Trump said. “And I wouldn’t be here tonight. We wouldn’t be together.”

Trump’s speech, one of the longest convention speeches in up-to-date history at just under 93 minutes, was the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day GOP rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to the key swing state of Wisconsin as voters weighed the election they are now in two very unpopular candidatesSensing a political opportunity in the wake of his near-death experience, the often bombastic Republican leader has adopted a recent tone that he hopes will facilitate generate even more momentum in an election that appears to be swinging in his favor.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound by one fate and one destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said, wearing a immense white bandage over his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he suffered in shooting on saturday“I’m running to be president of all of America, not half of it, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

Though he spoke in a softer tone than at his usual rallies, Trump also outlined an agenda that includes what he promises will be the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. He has repeatedly accused people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally of staging an “invasion.” He has also pledged recent trade tariffs and an “America first” foreign policy.

Trump also falsely suggested that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election they lost — despite multiple federal and state investigations that found there was no systemic fraud — and suggested that “we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,” even though he has long called for the prosecution of his opponents.

Trump has rarely mentioned Democratic President Joe Biden, often referring only to the “current administration.”

RNC ends at uncertain moment in race

With four months left until the end of the competition, major changes are possible, although rather unlikely.

Trump’s emergence comes as Biden, 81, He is clinging to his party’s presumptive nomination despite continued pressure from key allies in Congress, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fears he will lose re-election after a disastrous debate performance.

Long urged by allies to campaign more vigorously, Biden has been isolated at his Delaware beach home after I was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Hours before a shower of balloons was scheduled to descend on Trump and his family in the convention hall, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, appeared nearby in Milwaukee and repeatedly assured the crowd that Biden would not concede.

“I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times I can answer that question,” Fulks told reporters. “There are no plans to replace Biden on the ballot.”

Power in the program

Thursday’s RNC show seemed designed to showcase strength and masculinity while implicitly criticizing Biden.

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White called Trump a “true American tough guy.” Kid Rock performed a song with the chorus, “Fight, fight!” referencing a line Trump shouted onstage in Pennsylvania as Secret Service agents helped him offstage. And wrestling icon Hulk Hogan described the former president as an “American hero.”

Hogan caused a stir when he ripped off his shirt on the main stage to reveal a red T-shirt with the Trump-Vance “Make America Great Again” slogan.

“As an artist, I try to stay out of politics,” Hogan said, briefly stepping out of character. “I can’t stay silent any longer.”

Like many speakers at the convention, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that recent events were divinely inspired and wondered “if there’s something bigger going on.”

“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not exploding in anger afterward.

“He did everything he could to unite the country,” Carlson added. “It was the most responsible, unifying behavior from a leader I’ve ever seen.”

Former first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter and a former senior adviser, joined Trump in the conference room before his speech, making their first appearances there. Neither woman spoke.

Republicans leave their convention united

The convention showcased a Republican Party transformed by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party’s grassroots en route to the party’s nomination in 2016. Rivals Trump defeated — including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — put aside their earlier criticisms and gave him unconditional support.

Even his vice presidential running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s choice to carry his movement into the next generation, was once a fierce critic who suggested in a private message that was later made public that Trump might be “the Hitler of America.”

Security was a major focus in Milwaukee after Trump’s near assassination. But after nearly four full days, there have been no major incidents inside the convention hall or the immense security perimeter surrounding it.

The Secret Service, backed by hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the country, had a immense and noticeable presence. And during Trump’s appearances, he was surrounded by a wall of security agents wherever he went every night.

Meanwhile, Trump and his campaign have undisclosed information about his injury or the treatment he received. The former president on Thursday described his story of surviving the attack — and vowed not to talk about it again.

“I shouldn’t be here tonight,” Trump told a packed conference room. The crowd of thousands who had listened in silence shouted, “Yes, you are.”

Get in Touch

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related Articles

Latest Posts