Trump recounts assassination attempt: 'I had God on my side'
Former President Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention about the attempt on his life.
MILWAUKEE – Five days after surviving an assassination attempt, former President Trump pleaded for national unity as he formally accepted the GOP presidential nomination during the culminating moment of the 2024 Republican National Convention.
"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," Trump emphasized as he addressed the thousands of delegates, party officials and activists packed into Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum and to the national audience of Americans watching the convention from home.
"The discord and division in our society must be healed. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart," the former president noted.
The shooting, at Trump's rally Saturday in western Pennsylvania where one spectator was killed, along with the gunman, instantly impacted the tone and message of the convention, and as Trump has acknowledged, altered his convention address.
MCCARTHY SAYS TRUMP SHOWING 'REAL LEADERSHIP' TO THE WORLD AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Former President Trump arrives for the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
"Let me begin this evening by expressing my gratitude to the American people for your outpouring of love and support following the assassination attempt at my rally on Saturday," Trump said. "As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life."
The former president and GOP presidential nominee said that "so many people have asked me what happened, and therefore, I’ll tell you what happened."
"You’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell," he said.
Trump recounted the shooting, saying he knew "we were under attack."
Trump praised the "very brave Secret Service agents who rushed to the stage and pounced on top of me for protection."
"There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way, I felt very safe, because I had God on my side," Trump said. "The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be with you tonight."
"I am not supposed to be here tonight. I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God. Many people say it was a providential moment," Trump said.
But the crowd chanted: "Yes you are! Yes you are!"
And he acknowledged that "none of us knows God’s plan, or where life’s adventure will take us. But if the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on earth is a gift from God. We have to make the most of every day for the people and country we love."
EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO COREY COMPERATORE DURING RNC SPEECH: 'SPIRIT THAT FORGED AMERICA'
Former President Trump embraces the turnout coat and helmet of former Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department chief Corey Comperatore, who was killed at his rally last week, as he gives his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 18, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)
Trump also pointed to the helmet and firefighting jacket of Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief killed at the rally, which were placed on the stage by the former president. And he asked the audience to observe a moment of silence.
He said he has raised more than $6 million in recent days for Comperatore's family, and the families of the two men who were seriously wounded in the shooting.
The former president also took time to thank his wife, former first lady Melania Trump.
"On this journey, I am deeply honored to be joined by my amazing wife, Melania," Trump told the crowd in Milwaukee during an emotional speech.
He then referred to her letter to America, in which she called for unity in the wake of the assassination attempt against her husband.
"I am thinking of you, now, my fellow Americans," she wrote. "Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now."
Former President Trump is joined by his wife Melania Trump following his address at the Republican National Convention, on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)
The former president praised the letter.
"And Melania, thank you very much. You also did something really beautiful. A letter to America calling for national unity. And it really took the Republican Party by surprise. I will tell you, it was beautiful,' he said.
"Some very serious people said that we should take that letter and put it as part of the Republican platform. That would be an honor, wouldn't it?"
The former president also thanked his family, especially his children and grandchildren.
Former President Trump arrives at the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But in the wake of his brush with death, the former president called for a lowering of the temperature in a political climate seared with heated rhetoric from both the right and the left.
"In an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens – we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," Trump stressed.
"We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement. In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the Justice System and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy, especially since that is not true," Trump claimed.
Making a pitch "to every citizen, whether you are young or old, man or woman, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, black or white, Asian or Hispanic," Trump repeatedly criticized the administration of the Democratic incumbent in the White House, but only mentioned President Biden's name once.
"They will not have done the damage that Biden has done, only going to use the term once," Trump said. "Biden. I'm not going to use the name anymore. Just one time."
Former President Trump shakes hands with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance at the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
But Trump, who delivered the longest acceptance speech in modern political history - weighing in at over 90 minutes - repeatedly went off script, riffed and rambled throughout his address. And in many ways, an address that started on a very somber note with an emphasis on unity transformed into a more familiar partisan Trump rally speech, full of grievances that energize his supporters.
Trump often reverted to MAGA mode, at one point calling the streets of the nation's capital a "killing field" and cracking a joke about the movie character Hannibal Lecter: "He would love to have you for dinner."
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Pointing to inflation, the crisis at the nation's southern border with Mexico, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, Trump argued that "it is time for a change. We simply cannot sustain four more years of this administration."
Trump reminded his supporters that the MAGA movement "has never been about me, it has always been about you."
"It has always been about the hardworking, patriotic citizens of America," he said.
Trump was joined on the podium following his address by his family and by his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, and the senator from Ohio's family.
The former president announced on Monday as the convention kicked off that the 39-year-old Vance, a one-time Trump critic who has transformed into a leading America First disciple, would serve as his running mate.
"I am thrilled to have a new friend and partner fighting by my side: the next Vice President of the United States, the current Senator from Ohio, J.D. Vance, and his incredible wife, Usha," Trump said minutes earlier as he gave a shout-out during his address to his running mate.
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Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance gestures to former President Trump during the Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republicans used their convention as a venue to reunite the party and energize delegates and activists ahead of the final stretch of the campaign in Trump's 2024 election rematch with Biden.
The push for party unity was on display throughout the convention and included former GOP presidential rivals Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – who both battled Trump in a contentious primary season – delivering speeches from the podium in support of the former president.
The Biden campaign took aim at Trump, Vance, and Republicans as the GOP convention wrapped up.
Republican presidential candidate former President Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
"Over the course of the last four days, Republicans have offered their vision for the country. And now it’s never been more clear that Americans will face a stark choice, a contrasting vision for this country," Biden principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks emphasized.
"The Biden-Harris ticket who’s focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs or the Trump-Vance one – with a harmful agenda of taking away Americans’ rights, hurting the middle class, and making life more expensive – all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations benefit," Fulks argued.
And following the speech, Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon argued that Trump "rambled on for well over an hour" and that he "failed to mention how he had inflicted pain and cruelty on the women of America by overturning Roe v Wade. He failed to mention his plan to take over the civil service and to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. He sought to find problems with America, not to provide solutions. But after all, it was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, ripped away rights, and failed middle class families. Now he pursues the presidency with an even more extreme vision for where he wants to take this country."
Trump's convention address comes less than two months after he was convicted of 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial of a former or current president in the nation's history. But the Supreme Court ruled on the issue of presidential immunity – a question stemming from charges brought against Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The high court ruled that a president is immune from "official acts." Trump is using that Supreme Court precedent in an effort to overturn the verdict and appeal.
A judge delayed Trump's possible sentencing until September.
Last month, though, Biden severely stumbled with a disastrous debate performance against Trump, which has led to a rising chorus of calls from within the Democratic Party for the president to end his 2024 re-election bid and bow out of the race.
President Biden waves as he walks down the steps of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Reports over the past 24 hours indicated that top Democrats – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – have had frank conversations with Biden about him ending his campaign.
And as Trump delivered his convention address, speculation was rampant that the president could bow out of the 2024 election within days.
But Biden campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo told Fox News Digital those reports are "entirely inaccurate."
And another Biden aide tells Fox News Digital that Biden "is more committed than ever to winning this election."
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