Trump recounts attempt on his life, accepts Republican nomination

MILWAUKEE (TND) — Former President Donald Trump recounted the moments a would-be assassin fired at him while delivering a speech during a campaign rally in his first public comments since the shooting last weekend as he accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination in a speech focused on uniting the party and country.

“I'm not supposed to be here tonight," he said, giving a detailed breakdown of his experience of having gunfire rain down as he was just minutes into one of his signature rallies.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We just heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart," Trump said. “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.”

The four-day convention in Milwaukee has been ramping up to Trump’s speech with a lineup filled with speakers that have praised his accomplishments during his first term in office and said only he can lead the country forward. Trump entered the venue about two hours before he was set to speak, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear to cover a wound he sustained in the rally shooting that has inspired some of his supporters to wear bandages or other items over their ears in support.

He only mentioned President Joe Biden by name once and never referenced Vice President Kamala Harris by name, instead only making references to their administration. Trump's speech took a significantly softer tone than he is known for at the beginning, avoiding some of his more controversial stances on issues pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants or the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. He also never brought up abortion, an issue that has been difficult for Republicans to navigate since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a decision that he has taken credit for happening with the appointment of three justices who concurred with the decision.

While the speech started off with a softer tone, he later moved onto familiar themes to his campaign rallies like closing down the border, cutting taxes and ramping up the production of fossil fuels, frequently contrasting himself as the only person who can save the country from ruin being caused by Democratic politics.

“We’ve become a dumping ground for the rest of the world, which is laughing at us because they think we're stupid and they can't believe they're getting away with what they're getting away with,” he said.

Many speakers praised Trump’s response to an attempt on his life, describing the moment he rose up from the ground with his fist raised as emblematic of the strength he will provide the country if he’s elected to another four years in the Oval Office. Among them was conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who said the moment transformed Trump and made him into a national leader, also suggesting that it was divine intervention that Trump had survived the attack.

“He was no longer just a political party’s nominee, or a former president or a future president, this was the leader of a nation,” Carlson said.

Trump’s speech comes after his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, got his moment in the spotlight when he delivered the keynote address on Wednesday night and formally accepted his nomination to be vice president. Vance, a relative unknown on the national stage for most Americans, drew on his background and contrasted Trump with Biden in his speech in a push to show voters that the former president is the right man to lead the country to better days.

“Tonight is a night of hope — a celebration of what America once was in with God’s grace, what it will soon be again,” Vance said.

While Trump and Republicans came together to celebrate their ticket and present a vision for the future, Biden and Democrats are still dealing with the chaos in the fallout of the first debate that exacerbated lingering concerns about Biden's age and mental fitness to serve another four years in office. Biden is facing pressure from elected lawmakers, party leadership and even former President Barack Obama to consider dropping out of the race that has been turned on its head since the debate and attempt on Trump's life.

Biden's campaign said Trump's speech showed that he has not changed and that the entire focus on it "“all about him, no plan for future, exactly what people hate about politicians.”

"Donald Trump is just the greatest hits from 2016. He has not changed. He has not moderated. He has gotten worse - except now he talks about the "'ate, great, Hannibal Lecter,'" campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Prior to the shooting at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally, Trump was coming into the convention with a slew of positive political and legal developments. His opponent in the election is still facing an intraparty uproar about his candidacy after a disastrous debate performance and calls for him to drop out of the race for someone else.

He was also handed several wins in court after the Supreme Court made a ruling offering presidents absolute immunity in some cases, giving him grounds to appeal his felony conviction in Manhattan on 37 counts of falsifying business records and the judge in his classified documents case dismissed it on grounds that the special counsel leading it was appointed on improper grounds.Attorney Alina Habba, who represented Trump in some his legal cases, also spoke Thursday night.

Many speakers have assailed Biden and the justice system, claiming it has been rigged against Trump and other conservatives for political reasons. Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro spoke on Wednesday just hours after he was released from prison for defying a subpoena in the investigating of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and offered a grave warning to the crowd.

The theme for the final day of the convention was “Make America Great Once Again,” after speakers focused on the economy, crime and immigration and foreign affairs on the first three days. Many speakers gave Trump credit for providing the country strength through his leadership and the tone and backgrounds of the speakers took on a more forceful tone.

Wrestler and entertainer Hulk Hogan andUltimate Fighting Championship President Dana White were among the speakers who addressed the crowd. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, fired up the crowd with references to his wrestling days and at one point ripped apart his shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance tank top.

“When they tried to kill the next president of the United States, enough was enough, and I said let Trumpamania run wild, brother” he said.

Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Richard Hudson, who lead each chamber's campaign arms, both spoke Thursday night about how important it is for voters to give Trump Republican majorities to work with after the November election. Biden's decline in the polling has led Democrats to fret that his unpopularity could further endanger their odds of holding onto the Senate and flipping the House.

Daines shouted out several swing state Senate races like Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and others and gave his vision for“electing an America-first Senate majority” that will “stand with President Donald J. Trump.” He also attacked Democratic incumbents who voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials during his first term but did not offer much in the way of policies that would be taken up in a GOP Senate majority.

Hudson said a Democratic House would work every day to undermine Trump and his agenda.

“If Democrats control the House they’ll block every tax cut, budget, border bill and crime bill that he proposes. They’ll hold sham investigations and hearings to bog down his agenda. They’ll impeach him for doing his job,” he said. “But we’re not gonna let that happen.”