Trump spoke extensively about hearing a “loud whizzing sound” as a bullet rushed by his ear in the last Saturday’s attempted assassination, telling a rapt audience at the Republican National Convention that he was only there “by the grace of Almighty God”.
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” he said on Thursday (US time) in Milwaukee, a thick bandage still covering his ear.
“I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet.”
It was his first speech since the shooting. Trump told the adoring crowd that he was “not supposed to be here”, with them chanting back, “Yes you are!”
With photos of a bloodied Trump showing on screens behind him, he praised the Secret Service agents who rushed to his side and offered a lengthy tribute to victim Corey Comperatore.
Trump stood on stage with what he said was Comperatore’s firefighting uniform, and kissed the dead man’s fire helmet. But the name on the back of the uniform was spelt “Compertore”, raising questions about its authenticity.
The mistake went unmentioned by Trump.
“I want to thank the fire department and the family for sending his helmet, his outfit and it was just something. And they’re gonna do something very special when they get it,” he said.
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others … This is the love that will lead America back to the summit of human achievement and greatness. This is what we need.”
The former US president struck an unusually conciliatory tone during the speech’s opening moments, when he formally accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
“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,” he said, in a marked shift in tenor for the typically bellicose former president.
But he swiftly pivoted to well-worn attacks on the Biden administration, claiming without evidence that his criminal indictments were politically motivated efforts to prevent his election.
The speech capped a four-day event in which Trump was greeted with adulation by a party that appears entirely in his thrall.
His entrance was befitting of a TV star or a pro-wrestler – a screen lifted slowly to reveal him standing in front of massive lights arranged to spell out his last name before an image of the White House was projected behind him.
Before Trump took the stage for his keenly anticipated speech, there was another big moment. His wife, Melania, who has rarely been seen during the campaign, entered the arena to classical music and waved to the crowd from a box next to Trump’s vice-presidential pick, Senator JD Vance.
Melania did not speak at the convention, but she did join Trump on stage at the end of his address.
Some of the eclectic group of speakers – including conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who received a huge ovation, and Trump’s son Eric – used heated language to denounce the Biden administration.
With his grip on the Republican Party never tighter, Trump will be in a much stronger position than in his 2017-2021 term to follow through on his agenda if he wins the election.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden faces increasing pressure to cede his position at the top of the ticket, and is reportedly mulling quitting.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate – Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer – have told Biden directly that he will not only lose the White House but also endanger their effort to win back the House, according to reports in multiple news outlets.
Opinion polls show four of the seven most competitive states looking increasingly out of reach for Biden. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, said it believes it is competitive in Democratic-leaning states including Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
Former president Barack Obama has told others that Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, should rethink his candidacy, The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources.
-with AAP
