MILWAUKEE — On the final night of the Republican National Convention, former President Donald Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination and claimed an “incredible victory” in November to raucous applause.
“I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” Trump said after he surprised the crowd by appearing onstage during the musical rendition of “God Bless the USA.” “So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States.
The address was his first since a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump during a Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which has cast a long shadow over the convention. Trump’s ear was bandaged from a gunshot wound, and delegates throughout the week began to bandage their own ears in a show of unity with the former president.
“As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life. So many people have asked me what happened, tell us what happened please, and therefore I’ll tell you what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time because it’s too painful to tell,” Trump explained.
“I had God on my side,” Trump said of his survival.
The Thursday night address represents Trump’s complete domination of the GOP eight years after he transformed American politics in the modern era. Most Republican dissension against Trump has turned into a whimper with many of his harshest critics losing influence in the national party or bending to Trump’s vision.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said, but the crowd roared back, “Yes you are!
“Thank you,” Trump answered. “But I’m not.”
UFC President and CEO Dana White introduced Trump, who appeared at the convention all three previous nights but didn’t speak instead portraying himself as a silent warrior figure who watched the crowd and speakers champion his legacy to the American public. “He is willing to risk it all because he loves this country,” White said in a laudatory remarks.
Trump previously told the Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito that he rewrote his convention speech in the wake of Saturday’s events. The former president wanted his new speech to reunite the country and meet the demand of this critical moment.
Several speakers referenced the miraculous nature that Trump survived on Saturday and attributed the former president’s refusal to cower as a sign of the fighting spirit that will propel him to victory in November against President Joe Biden.
“I have seen this man dragged through hell and back, in and out of courtrooms, indictments, impeachments, mug shots, and even an assassination attempt, and yet, he has never backed down,” Lara Trump, the Republican National Committee co-chairwoman and the former president’s daughter-in-law, said when she spoke on Tuesday.
“What was my father’s reaction when his life was on the line? Not to cower, not to surrender, but to show for all the world to see that the next American president has the heart of a lion,” Donald Trump Jr. said on Wednesday.
Several delegates told the Washington Examiner before Donald Trump spoke that they fully expected him to galvanize the crowd, which has been waiting to hear the former president since he appeared on the convention floor on Monday.
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“I hope that it’s a unifying speech. I hope that it puts America first,” Rachel Sikes, a Texas delegate wearing a bride-to-be sash, said. “I hope that it puts, even above America, I hope that it puts God first. I hope that he brings us together as a nation and does what he promises in his speeches and what he said up to this point.”
Trump also remains disciplined in not interjecting himself into the national conversation as Biden flounders and attempts to hold on to the Democratic presidential nomination despite growing calls from party members to step down.