Trump’s ‘Unity’ Speech After Shooting Turns Into 93-Minute Ramble

Donald Trump began the week feeling “spiritual” after a failed assassination attempt ,and publicly stated that he wanted to use his speech at the Republican National Convention—ostensibly to accept the party’s presidential nomination—to unify the country rather than attack his successor, President Joe Biden.

So much for that plan.

Donald Trump did begin his lengthy, hour-and-a-half-long speech by recounting the shooting that came millimeters from claiming his life in Butler, Pennsylvania—repeatedly invoking religious imagery in his description of the event.

The former president, taking the stage after a series of bombastic performances by professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, musician and right-wing culture warrior Kid Rock, and UFC CEO Dana White, claimed he would only describe his experience once publicly because “it is actually too painful to tell.”

“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? It can only be a bullet.’ I moved my right hand to my ear, I took it down, my hand was covered with blood,” he recalled. “Absolutely blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack. In one movement I proceeded to drop to the ground, bullets were continuing to fly, as very brave Secret Service agents rushed to the stage.”

Trump declared that he had “God on my side” during the ordeal, which claimed the life of one rallygoer and injuries to two others.

“There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side. I felt that,” Trump said.

“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” he declared later, in line with how some MAGA leaders have reacted .

“Watching the reports over the last few days many people say it was a providential moment. It probably was. When I rose, surrounded by Secret Service, the crowd was confused because they thought I was dead,” Trump continued.

“There was great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked out. They do not know that I was looking out they thought it was over. But I see it I wanted to do something to that them know that I was OK. I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’”

The unifying message stopped there, with the 2024 Republican nominee quickly pivoting back to a long list of his greatest hits from the campaign trail—starting with an odd promise to “end the electric vehicle mandate,” despite the fact there is none .

He also touted his economic record (before COVID hit the U.S.), and his record of draconian border policies—blasting his successor, President Biden, for rescinding some of those policies. Trump also argued that inflation is currently at its highest level in history—despite it being nowhere near.

In addition to his policy talk, Trump also reiterated several of his false claims about election fraud in the 2020 election.

Since Trump’s last appearance at the GOP convention, the 78-year-old has added elements to his biography that had been unprecedented for a major political party’s presidential candidate.

After being voted out of office, Trump pushed false claims about the election he lost and was indicted for dozens of felonies in four jurisdictions—many having to do with his effort to remain in power. He then became a convicted felon in New York after a unanimous jury verdict found him guilty of falsifying business records to help his 2016 campaign.

Another case, concerning his alleged hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was dismissed last week in the wake of a monumental Supreme Court decision which declared that U.S. presidents were legally immune for official acts taken while in office.

Trump predictably characterized the indictments of him as “witch hunts” in a lengthy aside.

Read more at The Daily Beast.