From invocation of God to diatribes against illegal immigrants, Republican Donald Trump ranged the full spectrum of American dreams and grievances in the longest presidential nomination acceptance speech in history.
Ad libbing and speaking from a prepared script, he spoke for 93 minutes, surpassing the previous longest, 74-minute oration he delivered when he accepted the nomination in 2016.
Facing an adoring crowd at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday (July 18) night, Trump took the stage with Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA”.
“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.
“So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States,” he said to cheers and applause.
Attempt on his life
Donald Trump began his speech by describing the attempt on his life at the rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday (July 13):
“As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life. So many people have asked me what happened, tell us what happened, please. And therefore, I’ll tell you what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell.”
The assembled guests and delegates heard him in rapt silence.
“I had God on my side,” he said.
“The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark and I would not be here tonight,” Trump said.
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God.”
He honoured the other victims, walking over to the firefighting gear of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter killed at the rally.
Kissing the fireman’s hat, he announced that $6.3 million had been raised for the slain firefighter’s family and asked for a moment of silence.
Donald Trump’s Resolve unbroken, purpose unchanged
After describing the assassination attempt, Trump launched into his speech, saying, “Our resolve is unbroken and our purpose is unchanged: to deliver a government that serves the American people better than ever before.”
He complimented his running mate, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha, and said “he’ll be a great vice president”.
“JD, you’re going to be doing this for a long time, enjoy the ride,” he added.
Trump said Republicans were spending more than $250 million in Milwaukee on the convention, “creating jobs and other economic development all over the place”.
“I hope you will remember this in November and give us your vote,” he added.
In his speech, Trump urged Democrats to “immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labelling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy”, alluding to the cases against him.
‘Nation in decline’
Donald Trump blamed President Biden, saying “we are a nation in decline”.
He accused “Bidenomics” of fuelling inflation.
“We have an inflation crisis that is making life unaffordable, ravaging the incomes of working and low-income families, and crushing, just simply crushing, our people,” he said.
He said he would end the inflation crisis “immediately” and lower interest rates, but that lies within the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve, which operates independently.
Promising “massive tax cuts” for workers, Trump said incomes would skyrocket, inflation would vanish, jobs would increase, and the middle class would prosper like never before under him.
The former president claimed that he delivered the largest tax cut in US history and had the greatest economy in history, but these are debatable issues, according to Bloomberg.
Immigration
Trump thundered on the immigration issue. He claimed immigrants were taking jobs from African Americans, Hispanics and unions.
He spoke of crimes by illegal immigrants and promised to launch the largest deportation programme in US history if elected.
Trump said he would do two things on day one of his presidency: “Drill, baby drill. And close the border.”
He said he would divert money from the “green new scam” — government policies to fund renewable energy projects –, to infrastructure projects like bridges and dams.
He also promised to end support for electric vehicles and “bring auto jobs back to our country” and not allow auto manufacturing plants to be built in Mexico, China, or other countries.
Not shying away from the culture war, he said: “We will not have men playing in women’s sports. That will end immediately,” he said.
Foreign policy
Trump spoke about Afghanistan, North Korea, China and his transactional foreign policy.
He claims wars can be averted by having a relationship with adversaries like the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“It’s nice to get along with someone who has a lot of nuclear weapons,” he said.
“Under President Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under President Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under the current administration, Russia is after all of Ukraine. Under President Trump, Russia took nothing,” he said.
“I will never let you down,” he told the audience.
Glorious future
He conjured a glorious future with ringing rhetoric.
“Nothing will sway us. Nothing will slow us. And no one will ever stop us. No matter what dangers come our way, no matter what obstacles lie in our path, we will keep striving toward our shared and glorious destiny, and we will not fail. We will not fail.”
“Together, we will save this country, we will restore the Republic, and we will usher in the rich and wonderful tomorrows that our people so truly deserve.”
“America’s future will be bigger, better, bolder, brighter, happier, stronger, freer, greater and more united than ever before. And quite simply put, we will very quickly make America great again.”