MILWAUKEE — Closing out the Republican National Convention days after surviving an assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for the president saying America must turn the page on hatred.
“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,” Mr. Trump said.
“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,” Mr. Trump said. So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States.”
Mr. Trump’s address was his first since narrowly escaping death at a campaign rally and amid reports that President Biden is edging closer to leaving the race.
Mr. Trump had planned to deliver a sharp rebuttal of President Biden but said he switched gears after the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. He rewrote his address to strike a unifying tone.
“Four months from now, we will have an incredible victory, and we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country,” he said. “Together, we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed.”
The recent series of events has helped the party coalesce around Mr. Trump’s candidacy, a feeling that was missing when he first ran for the party’s nomination in 2016.
Mr. Trump recounted the shooting, and said it is clear he had “God on my side.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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