A stern-faced, bandaged Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, describing in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life five days earlier and then A comprehensive populist agenda was proposed, particularly on immigration.
The 78-year-old former president, known for his bombast and aggressive rhetoric, began his acceptance speech with a tender and deeply personal message that came directly from his brush with death. Trump described that he was standing on the podium in Butler, Pennsylvania, and turned his head to look at the charts on display when he suddenly felt something hit his ear. He raised his hands to his head and immediately noticed they were covered in blood.
“If I hadn’t moved my head at the last moment, the assassin’s bullet would have hit its target perfectly,” Trump said. “And I wouldn’t be here tonight. We wouldn’t be together.
Trump’s speech, the longest convention address in recent history at just under 93 minutes, marked the culmination and end of four days of massive Republican rallies that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials. In the swing state of Wisconsin, voters are weighing the results of an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates. The often bombastic Republican leader, sensing political opportunity after his near-death experience, has embraced a new tone that he hopes will help in an election that appears to be shifting in his favor. generate more power.
“The disharmony and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it as quickly as possible. As Americans, we breathe the same fate. We rise together. Otherwise we will collapse,” Trump said, posing on his right ear Wearing a large white bandage, as he had all week, to cover the wounds he sustained in Saturday’s shooting. “I’m running for president for all of America, not half of America, because winning half of America doesn’t mean victory.”
While Trump’s speech struck a softer tone than usual at rallies, he also outlined an agenda that he promises will be the largest mass deportations in U.S. history. He has repeatedly accused those who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border of “invasion.” Additionally, he teased new trade tariffs and an “America First” foreign policy.
Trump also falsely suggested that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election he lost – despite numerous federal and state investigations proving there was no systemic fraud – and suggested that “we cannot criminalize dissent or demonize political differences,” This is despite his longstanding calls for the prosecution of his opponents.
He made no mention of abortion rights, an issue that has dogged Republicans since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federally guaranteed abortion rights two years ago. Trump nominated three of the six judges who overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump has often taken credit for overturning Roe at rallies and argued that states should have the right to enact their own abortion laws.
He also did not mention the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters tried to prevent the certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has long referred to people imprisoned as a result of riots as “hostages.”
In fact, Trump barely mentioned Biden, often referring only to the “current administration.”
“It was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, stripped us of our rights, and failed middle-class families,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement after the speech expressed in. “Now, he’s running for president with a more extreme vision of where he wants to take the country.”
Republican National Committee ends in uncertain moment for race
With less than four months to go, major changes to the game are possible, if not unlikely.
Trump’s appearance comes as the 81-year-old Democratic incumbent Joe Biden clings to his party’s presumptive nomination in the face of sustained pressure from key congressional allies, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who worry he could Can’t win re-election.
Biden, who has long been urged by allies to campaign more aggressively, is quarantining at his beach house in Delaware after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Hours before the balloon was scheduled to land in the convention hall with Trump and his family, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fox appeared near Milwaukee and repeatedly insisted that Biden would not step down.
“I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times I can answer that,” Fulks told reporters. “There are currently no plans to replace Biden on the ballot.”
Program strength
Thursday’s Republican National Committee plan seemed aimed at projecting strength and masculinity by implicitly condemning Biden.
Ultimate Fighting Championship chairman Dana White called Trump “a true American bad guy.” Kid Rock sang “Fight, Fight!” in a song that echoed Trump’s words as he was surrounded by Secret Service agents on stage in Pennsylvania. Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan described the former president as an “American hero”.
There was a raucous response when Hogan stood on the main stage and ripped off his shirt to reveal a red shirt that read “Make America Great Again.”
“As an entertainer, I try to stay away from politics,” Hogan said during a brief break from character. “I can’t stay silent any longer.”
Like many speakers during the convention, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said recent events were divinely inspired and he wondered “if something bigger is happening.”
“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not lashing out in anger afterwards.
“He did his best to bring the country together,” Carlson added. “This is the most responsible and united behavior I have ever seen from a leader.”
Former first lady Melania Trump and the president’s eldest daughter and former senior adviser Ivanka Trump made their first appearance in the chamber before Trump’s speech. Neither woman spoke.
The former president’s speech lasted nearly 93 minutes, surpassing the 74 minutes he spent eight years ago, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Republicans leave convention united
The convention showcased Trump’s reshaping of the Republican Party since he stunned the Republican establishment and won over the party’s grassroots in winning the 2016 nomination. The rivals Trump defeated — including Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and Florida Sens. Marco Rubio, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — put aside Past criticism gave him unconditional support.
Even his chosen vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, once a fierce critic of Trump’s choice to continue his movement into the next generation, has hinted at Trump in private messages since going public. Putin may be “America’s Hitler.”
After Trump’s assassination, security became a major focus in Milwaukee. But nearly four days later, there have been no serious incidents inside the conference hall or within the large security cordon surrounding it.
The Secret Service is large and visible, backed by hundreds of law enforcement officers across the country. During Trump’s nightly appearances, he was surrounded by a wall of protective personnel wherever he went.
Trump and his campaign, meanwhile, have not released information about his injuries or treatment. The former president told his story of surviving the attack on Thursday and vowed he would never talk about it again.
“I shouldn’t be here tonight,” Trump told the packed chamber. Thousands of people listened in silence, shouting back, “Yes, you are.”
