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Donald Trump accepted his party’s presidential nomination for the third time on Thursday night in the longest political convention speech in modern US history.
Here are five key takeaways from his 92-minute speech that capped off a dramatic four-day Republican National Convention that came just days after he narrowly avoided death by a would-be assassin’s bullet.
Trump made a pitch to center. . .
Trump opened and closed his speech with a call for national unity and healing, saying, “The divisions and divisions in our society must be healed.
“I’m running for president for all of America, not for half of America, because a victory for half of America is no victory at all,” Trump said early on, in an apparent effort to win over thousands of passionate supporters. to pack the arena in Milwaukee, but also the millions of Americans who were expected to tune in for prime time from home.
. . . but also to alert the world to the “America First” agenda.
Trump has hinted that the trade fights that have rocked markets and businesses around the world during his time in the White House would return if he is elected for another four years as president.
“Other countries have been using us for a long time. . . often these other countries are considered so-called allies. They abused us for years. We lose our jobs, we lose our income, and they get everything and wipe out our businesses, wipe out our people. I stopped it for four years. . . and I’m going to stop it again,” Trump said in remarks that underscored the GOP’s populist and protectionist shift under his leadership.
“We’re not going to let countries come in and take our jobs and loot our nation,” Trump added. “The way they’re going to sell their product in America is to make it in America and only in America.”
Trump invoked God as he recounted his near-assassination
Trump repeatedly invoked God on Thursday night as he recounted the attempt on his life last weekend, insisting that a higher power saved him from an untimely death.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” he said before describing what happened when a gunman tried to kill him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. This drew cheers from the crowd, “Yes you are.”
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” Trump added.
Divine intervention was a perennial theme at the four-day Republican National Convention, with countless speakers crediting God for saving Trump’s life.
Before Trump’s keynote address Thursday night, Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelical pastor Billy Graham, led the arena in prayer for the Republican nominee.
Melania and Ivanka finally showed up
Trump was accompanied by nearly all of his close family members as he formally accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for president. That included a rare public appearance by his wife, Melania Trump, who has avoided the campaign trail since her husband launched his final bid for the White House in November 2022.
Melania, who is Trump’s third wife, entered the convention arena alone as a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony blared over the speakers.
The appearance of Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner was also notable. The couple was a fixture in the Trump White House as senior advisers to the then-president. But Ivanka decided not to publicly support her father’s latest bid for the White House until Thursday.
She joined three of her four siblings — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump — along with their partners and several of her nieces and nephews on stage with the family patriarch after his speech.
Trump’s delivery was flatter than usual
Trump’s delivery on Thursday night was in many cases darker than usual, apparently reflecting the gravity of the assassination attempt he survived just days earlier.
Trump did, however, revive some of the jokes and one-liners he often uses on the campaign trail, including: “The late, great, Hannibal Lecter. We would like to invite you to dinner.”
His energy level seemed low at times. His voice was muffled and inaudible to some in the huge Milwaukee arena at some points.
Still, the crowd still cheered him on, and the display of endurance — Trump spoke for more than 90 minutes, often deviating from his prepared remarks — offered a contrast to Joe Biden’s recent struggles.