Republican Convention | Touched by ‘God’s grace,’ Trump calls for unity

(Milwaukee) Before thousands of delegates convinced of his greatness, Donald Trump became Thursday evening in Milwaukee the first convicted felon to accept the nomination of one of the major American parties as presidential candidate.

Five days after escaping an assassination attempt, the former president marked this historic step towards a possible return to the White House in a lengthy speech delivered in a hushed tone that was intended to be both personal and unifying, at least in its first part.

Read the column “Trump watered down, but triumphant”

A speech in which Donald Trump claimed that he owes it to God that he is still alive. The 78-year-old candidate made this confession after recounting in detail last Saturday’s attack, for the last time, he told an emotional crowd that drank in his words.

“I am not supposed to be here tonight. I am standing before you in this amphitheater only by the grace of God Almighty. Many people say it was a providential moment,” he said, his right ear still covered with a bandage, before recalling his reaction after being injured.

“As I stood up, surrounded by the Secret Service agents, the crowd was confused, for they thought I was dead, and there was a great sadness on their faces until I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands of people waiting with bated breath, and began to shout, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!'”

The crowd interrupted the former president by repeating the same word: “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Donald Trump continued: “Once my clenched fist was raised high in the air, the crowd realized I was okay and roared with pride for our country like no crowd I have ever heard before. For the rest of my life, I will be grateful for the love shown to me by that enormous crowd of patriots who stood courageously on that fateful night in Pennsylvania,” he added before asking for a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the attack that also injured two others.

Before Donald Trump took the stage to deliver the final speech of the Republican convention, his wife, Melania, made her first appearance this week at the Fiserv Forum.

She listened with the rest of the crowd to a speech that Trump’s entourage said was written by the candidate. Trump emphasized his desire to unify the United States, a goal he had never seemed to treat as a priority.

“The discord and division in our society must be stopped,” he said at the beginning of his speech.

As Americans, we are bound by a common destiny. We rise together. Or we fall together. I am running for president for all of America, not for half of America, because there is no victory to be won for half of America.

Donald Trump, Republican candidate

After welcoming his wife’s call for “national unity” in a letter released the day after Butler’s shooting, he added: “I am here tonight to present a vision for the entire nation. To every citizen, young and old, male and female, Democrat, Republican and Independent, black and white, Asian and Hispanic, I extend a hand of loyalty and friendship.”

Despite his call for unity, Donald Trump could not help but attack Democrats, accusing them of using the Justice Department as a tool. He also welcomed the controversial decision by Florida Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss his trial in the classified documents affair.

He later promised to stem the “inflation crisis,” stop illegal immigration and end “all international crises created by the current administration, including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine, and the war caused by the attack on Israel, which would never have happened if I had been president.”

He returned at the end of his speech to the assassination attempt of which he was the target.

“Just a few days ago, my time with you almost ended,” he said. “And yet here we are tonight, gathered together to talk about America’s future, its promise, and its renewal. We live in a world of miracles.”

His speech came at the end of another extraordinary day of political action in the United States. Rather than dominating the conversation, it was overshadowed in part by the debate within the Democratic Party over Joe Biden’s future.

Donald Trump did not mention this debate and only mentioned Joe Biden’s name once.

“And I often say, if you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States — think about it, the 10 worst — and you added them up, they wouldn’t have done the harm that Biden has done,” Trump said, exiting the text he was reading on the teleprompter.

He then appeared to correct himself: “I’m only going to use the term once, Biden, I’m not going to use it again, just once.”

He deviated from his text on several other topics, including renewing his false allegations about the 2020 presidential election and mentioning the name of Hannibal Lecter, a fictional film character.

The former president was preceded at the microphone by two symbols of a certain American hypermasculinity: Hulk Hogan, former professional wrestler, and Dana White, big boss of the UFC (United Fighting Championship).

“Ultimately, with our leader, my hero, this gladiator, we’re going to bring America together,” Hulk Hogan said before ripping off his shirt, a gesture that electrified the crowd.

Donald Trump and Dana White reunited in public for the first time since a UFC party in New Jersey two days after the former president’s conviction in the Stormy Daniels case on May 30.

The former president was then received as a hero by a crowd composed partly of young men whose support he hopes to obtain in November.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was also among the speakers at the evening’s event, which was marked by nationalism and populism. After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, he spoke about last Saturday’s attack.

“At that moment, Donald Trump, a few months before the presidential election, became the leader of this nation, that was the most obvious thing to me. And I have to say, you know, I think it changed him,” he said in an impromptu speech.

“He refused the most obvious opportunity in politics to ignite the nation. It was the most responsible and unifying behavior by a leader I have ever seen,” he added.

Also among the tough-talking list of speakers was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who could inherit the Pentagon if his former boss wins the presidential election.