(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump delivered his first public address since surviving a failed assassination attempt, relating an incident in detail that he called “too painful to tell.”
Trump took to the stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday, donning one of his signature red ties and sporting a bandage over his right ear, where he was struck by a gunman’s bullet just five days ago.
A firefighter’s jacket and helmet, meant to represent Corey Comperatore — who was slain at the rally — was brought out on stage. After accepting his party’s presidential nomination, Trump spoke at length about how he survived the attempt on his life — an outburst of political violence that may be the defining moment of the race.
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear. I said to myself ‘wow,’ what was that?,” Trump said. “If I had not moved my head at that very last instance, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark.”
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” a somber Trump said, leading the crowd to chant “Yes you are.”
Trump exited the Saturday political rally by pumping his fist, delivering an iconic image that served to rally Republicans behind the party standard-bearer as supporters headed into the convention week.
Trump led the audience on the final night in a moment of silence for Comperatore and kissed the helmet on stage.
The speech comes amid one of the most dramatic stretches in US political history and marks a stunning turnaround, four years after Trump lost the White House. That was followed by unprecedented legal challenges, including charges for attempting to overturn that election loss, and a conviction in a Manhattan hush-money trial that made him the first former president found guilty of a felony.
Recent weeks have brought polls showing Trump extending his lead in swing states and registering improved numbers even in Democratic strongholds.
Ending ‘Division’
On Thursday, Trump called for ending the “discord and division” in American society, while also laying out a conservative vision that vows to deport illegal migrants and restore “law and order.”
“As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said.
The call for unity though was coupled with sharp criticism of President Joe Biden’s administration, with the Republican nominee calling the US “a nation in decline.”
While the speech assailed Biden’s record, the US has seen solid job growth under the current administration and a boom in clean energy and infrastructure investments.
“We must first rescue our nation from failed leadership and even incompetent leadership,” Trump said, calling November’s vote “the most important election in the history of our country.”
Trump’s 2024 White House run has seen him cement his grip on his party, while his rival Biden is struggling to retain the support of his.
The president faces enormous pressure from fellow Democrats to end his campaign. Speculation over Biden’s exit intensified after a series of leaks detailed how Democratic leaders have told him he cannot win. In another blow, Biden was forced off the campaign trail Wednesday after testing positive for Covid-19.
The images of Trump triumphantly walking onto the stage, just five days after a shooting, while Biden is isolating in Delaware, threaten to inflict even more damage on the incumbent’s campaign.
Trump’s address highlighted two of Biden’s biggest political liabilities — the pain of inflation and the surge in migrants across the US-Mexico border, which has taxed communities across the country.
“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,” Trump said.
While inflation hit a peak in 2022, it has cooled substantially over the past year.
Trump also touted his plan to bolster domestic energy production, saying it would help lower prices. And he vowed to end support for electric vehicles and redirect money for clean-energy projects to infrastructure for roads and bridges.
Trump called the border crisis an “invasion,” which the former president cast as spreading “misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction” to communities across the country.
Trump has vowed repeatedly to finish building his border wall and carry out mass deportations of migrants. He has said he is willing to use the military to carry out that policy.
The Biden administration has pointed to data that show the number of crossings has dropped since the president took executive action to curb asylum claims.
Political Rebound
If elected, Trump is promising an agenda that portends to upend political norms and test the boundaries of presidential power.
Biden has cast Trump as a threat to democracy at home and abroad and warned that a Supreme Court decision that presidents have some immunity from criminal charges will only empower the Republican.
In his speech, Trump signaled his intentions to take a tougher stance with Beijing, saying that under his tenure the US economy was “beating every country, including China.” He said he would bring auto jobs back to the US by deterring manufacturers from putting plants in countries like China or Mexico.
His potential return to office has rattled some foreign capitals with Trump vowing new tariffs on allies and adversaries, and questioning whether US partners should shoulder more of the defense burden. He’s criticized US support for Ukraine, claiming he could broker an end to the war.
Trump on Thursday said the US was facing a world “teetering on the edge of World War III” with war “raging” in Europe and the Middle East and “a growing specter of conflict” hanging over Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and all of Asia.”
The former president said he would “end every single international crisis that the current administration has created — including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine” and “the war caused by the attack on Israel.”
--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron, Julie Fine, Nancy Cook, Jennifer Jacobs and Billy House.
(Updates with additional remarks, background throughout)
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