Donald Trump promised at his national rally last night that he would give the United States “the best four years in the country” if he is elected president in November. Then he spoke in detail about the bullet that struck him last Saturday.
Delegates at the Republican National Convention sang “Proud to be an American” as the presidential candidate took the stage at 4:30 a.m. Norwegian time on Friday.
Trump said: I want to be a president for all Americans.
Then he said he wanted to talk for the first and last time about the attack that nearly took his life.
He said he heard a sound before feeling a sharp pain in his right ear. He touched his ear and there was blood everywhere. He realized he had been shot and was being attacked.
“God was on my side,” Trump said.
“I really shouldn't have been here tonight,” he continued.
Just before Trump spoke, his wife, Melania Trump, also entered the hall and made her first appearance at the national meeting.
As classical music blared from the National Assembly Hall speakers, she was introduced as “the next First Lady of the United States.”
You will make up
Trump already announced on Sunday that he would rewrite his national convention speech and call for reconciliation and unity among the American people, after he was nearly killed by a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania.
He continued in his speech:
– The campaign should be about policy, about what it takes to make America free and great again. “We have to remember that we are all citizens under God, and we have liberty and justice for all,” Trump said.
Who will save democracy?
But then came the punch to the Democrats, his political opponents:
“We must stop demonizing political debate, even if it happens,” Trump said, in an apparent reference to the numerous lawsuits now being filed against him.
He asked his political opponents to stop litigating and instead use the time to improve America.
He echoed President Joe Biden's claim that American democracy is at stake if Trump wins the election:
Trump said: I am the one who saves democracy for the country and the people.
In the hours leading up to the speech, multiple media outlets received information that Trump would not mention his opponent, President Joe Biden, by name, but would refer to the “administration” and “current leadership.”
People dressed up for the Trump party at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee before heading into the final day of the convention to celebrate their presidential candidate.
Corona patient and stressed
While President Joe Biden is battling COVID-19, isolated and under pressure from many in the Democratic Party to resign, Trump held his national rally to great cheers on Friday night, Norwegian time.
He took his place in the VIP box twice during the evening, before ascending to the podium.
According to the national meeting programme, the speech was scheduled to last just over an hour.
Hulk warmed up
Wrestler Hulk Hogan and musician Kid Rock were among those warming up for the national rally ahead of Trump's speech.
Hogan waved the American flag as he entered the stage. He ripped off his shirt to reveal the new red campaign shirt of Donald Trump and his new running mate J.D. Vance that he was wearing underneath.
– He tried to kill him.
Then his son Eric Trump was also on stage and launched a blistering attack claiming that “they” — Trump’s political opponents — had mobilized every court in the United States to silence and stop the father.
– They even tried to kill him, Eric Trump said – without identifying them.
“Organizer. Social media geek. General communicator. Bacon scholar. Proud pop culture trailblazer.”