Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination for the third time Thursday night, less than a week after the attempt on his life.
“We rise together or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” Trump told the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“So, tonight with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States.”
Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, are supposed to take on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election, but Democrats are pressing Biden to step aside because of growing signs of his mental decline.
At the beginning of a convention speech that lasted just over 90 minutes and sounded more somber and less biting than his usual stump speeches, Trump recalled the immediate aftermath of the shooting Saturday evening at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“When I rose surrounded by Secret Service, the crowd thought I was dead. And there was great, great sorrow, I could see that in their faces,” Trump said. “I wanted to do something to let them know I was OK. I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people, and started shouting, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’”
The crowd in the convention hall chanted, “Fight, fight, fight.”
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said after recalling the details of the attempted assassination from his perspective.
The crowd responded with chants of “Yes, you are!”
Trump, who was hit by a bullet that grazed his right ear, said: “I stand in this arena only by the grace of God.”
The former president praised the actions of the Secret Service agents around him, amid widespread criticism of the agency’s leadership for a cataclysmic security failure that allowed the 20-year-old sniper to fire at him from a nearby rooftop. His bullets killed one man and wounded two others in the crowd.
Trump paid tribute to Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief killed at the rally.
“Tragically, the shooter claimed the life of one of our fellow Americans, Corey Comperatore—an unbelievable person, everyone tells me—and seriously wounded two other great warriors,” he said.
The crowd chanted, “Corey, Corey, Corey.”
Trump said, “I ask that we observe a moment of silence in honor of our friend, Corey.”
Trump also noted that the U.S. government’s classified documents case against him was tossed Monday by a federal judge in Florida.
“We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement, which is what’s been happening in our country lately,” Trump said.
He added: “In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy. I am the one saving democracy.”
Trump later referenced his two impeachments by the Democrat-run House and various other investigations by political opponents who sought to impede and derail his presidency.
“If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts and they should allow an election to proceed that is worthy of our people. We’re going to win it, anyway,” Trump said.
It was about 40 minutes into the speech that Trump mentioned the current president by saying “Biden” twice in a row.
“I’m only going to say it once, not going to say it again,” he said in repeating a frequent line that Biden has done more damage to the country than the worst 10 presidents combined.
Among other domestic and international issues, Trump addressed inflation—one of Biden’s biggest weaknesses in his reelection bid.
“I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates, and lower the cost of energy. We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump said, as the crowd chanted, “Drill, baby, drill.”
Trump made only a passing reference to what some supporters have asked him to avoid—the results of the 2020 election.
“We live in a world of very fierce people,” he said. “They are fierce people, and we don’t have fierce people. We have people who are a lot less than fierce, except when it comes to stealing elections and a couple of other things. Then they are fierce.”
Trump recalled that his father took him to huge events held by the Rev. Franklin Graham’s father, legendary evangelist Billy Graham, saying of the elder Graham: “He was a big rally guy, too.”
At one point, Trump assured the younger Graham that he was trying really hard to watch his language, as the Christian leader had advised.
Trump spent some time on his signature issue of preventing illegal immigration.
“I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing the border and finishing the wall, most of which I already built,” Trump said.
Trump noted that the Republican Party platform calls for the largest deportation effort in history. He said it would be larger than President Dwight Eisenhower’s mass deportation in the 1950s.
Illegal immigrants have been coming here from other nations’ prisons and insane asylums, he said.
“The greatest invasion in history is taking place in our country,” Trump said. “It is an invasion indeed, and this administration is doing nothing to stop them.”
The 45th president added: “We want people to come into our country, but they have to come here legally.”
Trump mentioned a chart depicting illegal immigration in recent years. It’s the same chart, prepared by the staff of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and enlarged at the Pennsylvania rally, that caused him to turn his head and literally dodge a bullet.
“That’s the chart that saved my life,” he said.
“Less than four years ago, I handed this administration the strongest border in American history,” Trump said. “But you can see on the chart that saved my life—look at it, I’m so proud of it.”
The now famous chart showing Border Patrol encounters with illegal aliens surging in the Biden years popped up on large screens behind him.
“Last time I put up that chart, I never really got a chance to look at it,” Trump said to laughter. “Without that chart, I would not be here today.”
Ken McIntyre contributed to this report, which was updated throughout Trump’s speech.
