Trump pitches unity message and anti-immigration formula to Republican delegates
Trump RNC features celebrity endorsements from Kid Rock, UFC chief Dana White, and WWF wrestling legend Hulk Hogan tearing his shirt off to reveal a Trump-Vance t-shirt
Donald Trump pitched a message of unity and strength just a week since an assassination attempt on him, as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Milwaukee.
Trump appeared on stage after celebrity endorsements from Kid Rock, an introduction from Ultimate Fighting Championship chief Dana White, and WWF wrestling legend Hulk Hogan tearing his shirt off to reveal a Trump-Vance t-shirt.
With his name written in giant lights behind him, the former president spoke for 90 minutes in what observers said was a relatively subdued tone.
Detailing the recent attempt on his life, he suggested he had been saved by divine intervention.
“As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life,” he told assembled Republican delegates.
He said he turned his head slightly to view a chart about immigration projected on a teleprompter screen. “In order to see the chart, I started to – like this – turn to my right, and was ready to begin a little bit further turn, which I’m very lucky I didn’t do, when I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me, really, really hard, on my right ear.”
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” he said. “Many people say it was a providential moment. It probably was.”
Early on in the speech he told the crowd: “Together, we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, colour, and creed.”
“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.”
But he still criticised top Democrats and the leadership of the United Auto Workers, one of the country’s largest unions.
In addition to his criticism of President Biden, he called Nancy Pelosi – the former House speaker – “crazy”.
Trump made just one direct mention of Joe Biden’s name, calling him one of the worst presidents in history. “The damage he has done to this country is unthinkable,” he said, “just unthinkable.”
He called illegal immigration an “invasion that is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year” and promised the “largest deportation operation in the history of our country – even larger than that of President Dwight D Eisenhower many years ago”.
More than one million Mexican immigrants were deported from the US in 1954.
In a lengthy section of one of the longest convention speeches in memory, he blamed immigrants for crime, and said: “We have become a dumping ground for the world, which is laughing at us, they think we’re stupid.”
Trump pledged once again to build the rest of the American southern border wall, “most of which I have already built” – yet fewer than 500 miles was constructed during his first term.
Trump also mentioned at several points his baseless assertion that fraud in the 2020 election cost him the presidency.
The convention ended with Trump’s family gathering on stage. Trump’s sons, Eric and Don Jr, were given high-profile speaking slots, while Eric’s wife, Lara Trump, took to the stage, being also the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Trump’s wife Melania turned up on the final night in a rare public appearance, but she did not take to the podium to speak as US candidates’ wives usually do on such occasions.
Neither did Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who – with her husband Jared Kushner – only attended the convention on the final day.
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