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Donald Trump<\/a>, somber and bandaged, accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday at\u00a0the Republican National Convention<\/a>\u00a0in a speech that described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a\u00a0sweeping populist agenda<\/a>, particularly on immigration.<\/p>\n The 78-year-old former president, known best for his bombast and aggressive rhetoric, began his acceptance speech with a softer and deeply personal message that drew directly from his brush with death. Moment by moment, the crowd listening in silence, Trump described standing onstage in Butler, Pennsylvania, with his head turned to look at a chart on display when he felt something hit his ear. He raised his hand to his head and saw immediately that it was covered in blood.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin\u2019s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd I would not be here tonight. We would not be together.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s address, the longest convention speech in modern history at just under 93 minutes, marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features\u00a0two deeply unpopular candidates<\/a>. Sensing political opportunity in the wake of his near-death experience, the often bombastic Republican leader embraced a new tone he hopes will help generate even more momentum in an election that appears to be shifting in his favor.<\/p>\n \u201cThe discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,\u201d Trump said, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he sustained in\u00a0the Saturday shooting<\/a>. \u201cI am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.\u201d<\/p>\n While he spoke in a gentler tone than at his usual rallies, Trump also outlined an agenda led by what he promises would be the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. He repeatedly accused people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally of staging an \u201cinvasion.\u201d Additionally, he teased new tariffs on trade and an \u201cAmerica first\u201d foreign policy.<\/p>\n Trump also falsely suggested Democrats had cheated during the 2020 election he lost \u2014 despite a raft of federal and state investigations proving there was no systemic fraud \u2014 and suggested \u201cwe must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,\u201d even as he has long called for prosecutions of his opponents.<\/p>\n He did not mention abortion rights, an\u00a0issue that has bedeviled Republicans<\/a>\u00a0ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federally guaranteed right to abortion two years ago. Trump nominated three of the six justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump at his rallies\u00a0often takes credit for Roe being overturned<\/a>\u00a0and argues states should have the right to institute their own abortion laws.<\/p>\n Nor did he mention the\u00a0insurrection at the U.S. Capitol<\/a>\u00a0on Jan. 6, 2021, in which Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has\u00a0long referred to the people jailed for the riot<\/a>\u00a0as \u201chostages.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, Trump barely mentioned Biden, often referring only to the \u201ccurrent administration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, ripped away rights, and failed middle class families,\u201d said Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon, the Biden campaign chair, in a statement after the speech. \u201cNow he pursues the presidency with an even more extreme vision for where he wants to take this country.\u201d<\/p>\n With less than four months to go in the contest, major changes in the race are possible, if not likely.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s appearance came as Biden, the\u00a081-year-old Democratic incumbent<\/a>, clings to his party\u2019s presumptive nomination in the face of unrelenting pressure from key congressional allies, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fear he may be unable to win reelection after his disastrous debate.<\/p>\n Long pressed by allies to campaign more vigorously, Biden is instead in isolation at his beach home in Delaware after having been\u00a0diagnosed with COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hours before the balloons were scheduled to rain down on Trump and his family inside the convention hall, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks appeared nearby in Milwaukee and insisted over and over that Biden would not step aside.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not want to be rude, but I don\u2019t know how many more times I can answer that,\u201d Fulks told reporters. \u201cThere are no plans being made to replace Biden on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s RNC program seemed designed to project strength and masculinity in an implicit rebuke of Biden.<\/p>\n Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White called Trump \u201ca real American bad ass.\u201d Kid Rock performed a song with the chorus, \u201cFight, fight!,\u201d\u00a0echoing the word Trump mouthed on stage<\/a>\u00a0in Pennsylvania as Secret Service agents surrounded him. And wrestling icon Hulk Hogan described the former president as \u201can American hero.\u201d<\/p>\n Hogan drew a raucous response when, standing on the main stage, he ripped off his shirt to reveal a red \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d shirt.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an entertainer, I try to stay out of politics,\u201d Hogan said as he briefly broke character. \u201cI can no longer stay silent.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many speakers during the convention, former Fox<\/a> News host Tucker Carlson suggested that recent events were divinely inspired and that he wondered \u201cif something bigger is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it changed him,\u201d Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not lashing out in anger afterward.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did his best to bring the country together,\u201d Carlson added. \u201cThis is the most responsible, unifying behavior from a leader I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Former first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president\u2019s elder daughter and former senior adviser, joined Trump in the convention hall ahead of his speech, making their first appearances there. Neither woman spoke.<\/p>\n At nearly 93 minutes, the former president\u2019s speech eclipsed the 74 minutes for which he spoke eight years ago, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n The convention has showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party\u2019s grassroots on his way to the party\u2019s 2016 nomination. Rivals Trump has vanquished \u2014 including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis \u2014 put aside their past criticisms and gave him their unqualified support.<\/p>\n Even his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump\u2019s choice to carry his movement into the next generation,\u00a0was once a fierce critic<\/a>\u00a0who suggested in a private message since made public that Trump could be \u201cAmerica\u2019s Hitler.\u201d<\/p>\n Security was a major focus in Milwaukee in the wake of Trump\u2019s near-assassination. But after nearly four full days, there were no serious incidents inside the convention hall or the large security perimeter that surrounded it.<\/p>\n The Secret Service, backed by hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the nation, had a large and visible presence. And during Trump\u2019s appearances each night, he was surrounded by a wall of protective agents wherever he went.<\/p>\n\nThe RNC ends at an uncertain moment in the race<\/h4>\n
Strength on the program<\/h2>\n
Republicans leave their convention united<\/h2>\n