Trump closes out RNC with charged speech after assassination attempt

MILWAUKEE — Former President Trump on Thursday closed out an emotionally charged Republican National Convention with an appeal for the country to heal “discord and division” days after he was injured in an assassination attempt — even as he mocked and attacked his opponents.

The large white bandage on Trump’s right ear was a reminder of the shooting that has galvanized the Republican Party this week and put Trump squarely in control of the presidential race roughly 100 days from Election Day.

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight. Not supposed to be here,” Trump said, eliciting chants of “Yes you are” from supporters packed into the city’s Fiserv Forum.

Trump’s address lasted more than 90 minutes, making it the longest acceptance speech by a major party candidate in history.

Trump and his advisers said throughout the week that he had ditched his original draft for his convention speech following the shooting, which left one rally attendee dead, in favor of remarks that would strike a more subdued tone and show a more sympathetic version of the polarizing former president. 

But Trump struggled to maintain that tone for much of the night, instead delivering something akin to a rally speech with an intensely somber opening as he recounted in detail the attempt on his life. He simultaneously urged Americans to stop fighting among themselves while railing against Democrats and frequently going off script.

He ripped “Crazy Nancy Pelosi” and referred mockingly to the CBS Sunday morning show as “Deface the Nation.” He name-checked Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban and joked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might miss him. He claimed Democrats cheated in elections and ripped President Biden as the worst president in the country’s history, in what he said would be his only mention of his successor’s name.

Trump referred to an “inflation crisis,” an “illegal immigration crisis” and an “international crisis” that he blamed on “the current administration.” He described a bleak state of affairs in the four years since he left office, calling the country a “nation in decline.”

And while he blasted what he saw as the failures of the Biden administration, he extended an olive branch to skeptical voters to come into the fold.

“Tonight, whether you’ve supported me in the past or not, I hope you will support me in the future, because I will bring back the American Dream. That’s what we’re going to do. You don’t even hear about the American Dream,” Trump said. “With great humility, I am asking you to be excited about the future of our country.”

Trump described the assassination attempt at length in his speech, saying he would only do so once because it was “too painful to tell.”

He described how a slight turn of his head to observe a video board likely saved his life. He praised the courage of Secret Service agents who rushed to cover him and expressed relief that his supporters did not stampede amid the chaos.

Trump honored Corey Comperatore, a rally attendee who was killed in the shooting, displaying the man’s fire department jacket and helmet on stage and holding a moment of silence.

Trump pledged to be a president for all Americans, likely a difficult sell given the divisiveness of his first four years in office. And he said the upcoming campaign should focus on the issues, a bold proclamation given his repeated attacks on Biden as “incompetent” and “stupid.”

“I am here tonight to lay out a vision for the whole nation,” Trump said. “To every citizen, whether you are young or old, man or woman, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, black or white, Asian or Hispanic, I extend to you a hand of loyalty and friendship.”

Trump said he would bring down prices by opening up drilling, suggesting lower energy costs would trickle down to lower other costs. He vowed to block funding for climate-friendly programs, and he said he would deploy tariffs to bring jobs back to the country, though experts have said Trump would risk spiking inflation by imposing tariffs on imports.

He said he would complete construction of the border wall to curtail immigration, and he promised without specifics to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

While Trump hardly mentioned Biden by name in his speech, others who took the stage throughout the week blamed the president by name for inflation, for wars abroad and for surges in migration at the southern border. Multiple speakers questioned if Biden was lucid enough to be making decisions.

Moments before Trump took the stage, his son Eric delivered a bleak speech in which he echoed the theme of Trump’s 2016 RNC address when he said, “I alone can fix it.”

There was a concerted effort throughout the week to soften Trump’s image. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway praised him as a champion of women and working mothers. His granddaughter described him as a “normal grandpa.” And businessman Steve Witkoff recounted Trump’s empathy when he lost his son to an opioid overdose.

This week’s convention could hardly have gone better for Trump. The assassination attempt on Saturday helped unite and energize the party. Trump received a rapturous reception on Monday when he entered the arena, making his first public appearance since the shooting.

He revealed Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate on Monday, providing another jolt of energy to the proceedings. 

Polls this week showed Trump with a solid lead in battleground states and in some cases expanding his margin over Biden. By Thursday, the Democratic Party was in shambles as President Biden was isolating with COVID-19 and facing a fever pitch of speculation that he could soon bow out of the 2024 race amid pressure from top Democrats.