Trump calls for unity in somber RNC speech

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

President Donald Trump arrived at Thursday night’s convention to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president but, more importantly, to inspire a nation with hope.

The president started his much anticipated speech by retelling the events of the attempt on his life at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“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 told the crowd.

As he walked through the events that day, attendees cried and laughed with the president — who retained his sense of humor after the senseless attack. He praised the crowd in Pennsylvania for their courage and calm amid the bullets, saying their refusal to stampede “saved many lives.” The famous image of Trump raising his fist as blood ran down the side of his face flashed on the screen and the crowd chanted with him, “fight, fight, fight!”

In a somber tone, Trump remembered the supporter, Corey Comperatore, who lost his life at the hands of the would-be assassin while shielding his family from bullets. His firefighter uniform and helmet were propped up on the stage behind him. There was an emotional moment of silence for this hero.

Reports were that Trump completely rewrote his speech after the assassination attempt, in order to call for national unity.

“In an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens,” he said. He called on the Democrats to drop their indictments against him in the service of allowing the election to play out without interference. “I am the one saving democracy,” he said in response to accusations to the contrary.

After promising to continue to fight for the country and never back down, Trump ran through his agenda: securing borders, getting tough on crime, revamping the economy, ending international conflict, and restoring American energy dominance.

“We will not let countries come and take our jobs and plunder our nation,” Trump said to chants of “USA.”

Per usual, Trump went off the teleprompter and essentially chatted with the audience. He spoke on the issue of immigration and put up the famous chart that saved his life in Butler as he turned his head at the last moment, causing the bullet to hit his ear rather than his head.

“Last time I put up that chart I didn’t really get to look at it,” he said with a smile. “But without that chart I wouldn’t be here today.”

The speech was arguably thirty to forty-five minutes too long but that’s nothing new for Trump and it didn’t ruin the night, as some online pundits erroneously suggested. I got the sense that Trump was genuinely grateful to have this time with the audience at all and was relishing the fact that he got to be there.

It was a fitting end to a convention filled with excitement and joy. Every Republican we spoke to described this week as a “vibe shift” that warranted great optimism. As the balloons came down over the Fiserv Forum, the contrast with the chaos wracking the Democratic Party, with reports and leaks that Biden is not long for the nomination, could not have been clearer.