MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump called for unity during his first public speech since the assassination attempt at the Republican National Convention Thursday night.
Trump was met with cheers as he took the stage, entering while Lee Greenwood sang a live version of “God Bless the U.S.A.,” a popular song on the Trump campaign trail.
“The discord and division in our society must be healed,” Trump said, addressing the crowd at Fiserv Forum. “As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together, or we fall apart.”
Trump recounted the assassination attempt on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, a story he said will not be heard a second time because “it’s too painful to tell.”
“As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life,” Trump said. “Despite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever.”
Trump stepped away from the podium for a moment to kiss the helmet of Corey Comperatore’s firefighter uniform. Comperatore was one of the victims slain at Saturday’s rally.
At one point in his speech, Trump said, “I am not supposed to be here tonight.” The crowd responded with chants of “yes, you are! Yes you are!”
While Trump started his speech with a call for unity, it didn’t take long for the former president to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, both of which he said never would have happened if he was president.
It also didn’t take long for Trump to go off script, hitting key talking points like immigration policy and border security, the “stolen” 2020 election and inflation under the Biden administration.
After over an hour and a half of speaking — the prepared speech was supposed to be only 40 minutes in length — Trump officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination for a third time.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @annakleiber03.
