MILWAUKEE — In his GOP convention speech, an introspective former President Trump shared his experience as the target of an assassin, telling how the “bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life.”
“I am not supposed to be here tonight,” Mr. Trump said, triggering the response, “Yes, you are!”
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God,” Mr. Trump said.
He said he rose to his feet on stage at the rally and chanted “fight, fight, fight” because he wanted his supporters to know he was OK.
“For the rest of my life I will be grateful for the love shown by that defiant audience of patriots,” he said.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the gunman opened fire on him at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, Mr Trump said he would talk about what happened at the RNC but never do it again “because it’s too painful to tell.”
Mr. Trump, who wore a bandage on his right ear, said he learned from doctors that day that ears bleed a lot.
He praised the people injured in the shooting and held a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who died in the shooting after wrapping himself around his wife and daughter.
“He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets,” Mr. Trump said.“What a fine man he was.”
He proceeded to walk over to a mannequin wearing Mr. Comperatore’s fire jacket and helmet and kissed the helmet. He announced he had raised millions for his family.
“Despite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever,” Mr. Trump said. “Our resolve is unbroken, and our purpose is unchanged — to deliver a government that serves the American People better than ever before.”
“Nothing will stop me in this mission,” he said. “Whatever obstacle comes our way. We will not break, we will not bend, we will not back down.”
The shooting in Pennsylvania helped generate a sense of unity around the Trump candidacy that was missing when he first ran for the party’s nomination in 2016.
Since then, Mr. Trump has established himself as the party’s de facto leader despite Republican setbacks in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections.
That reality was on full display at the convention, where speakers on the final day included UFC President Dana White, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, television news personality Tucker Carlson, and his golf instructor, John Nieporte, the head pro at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida.
“I am in the tough guy business, and this guy is the toughest, most resilient human being I have ever met in my life,” Mr. White said of the former president. “The higher the stakes the harder he fights, and this guy never ever gives up”
“Donald Trump, 21 club championships, Joe Biden zero,” Mr. Nieprote said. For non-golf folks out there, that is a really good record. That is not real good — that’s great.”
Detroit Pastor Lorenzo Sewell said Mr. Trump’s shooting survival was a “milimetter miracle.’
“You can’t deny that God protected him,” he said. “Could it be that Jesus Christ preserved him for such a time as this?”
Mr. Hogan described Mr. Trump as the “biggest patriot.”
“I have been in the ring with some of the biggest, some of the baddest dudes on the planet, I have squared off against warriors, ooooh yes, savages, and even body slammed giants in the ring, and I know tough guys, but Let me tell you something brother Donald Trump is the toughest of them all,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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