MILWAUKEE (LifeSiteNews) — When GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump took to the massive stage at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, the atmosphere in the room was electric. One CNN panelist, Democrat activist Van Jones, pointed at the convention floor beneath the network’s sky suite broadcast booth and said, “The last time I was at a convention that felt like this was Obama 2008.”
“There’s something happening,” he added.
In contrast to the raucous festivities and enthusiastic speeches that built to a loud crescendo before his assent to the stage, the former president began in an uncharacteristically soft, self-reflective voice, frequently crediting God and God’s providence during his 90-minute speech, while – also uncharacteristically – mentioning the name of his opponent Joe Biden, just once.
He started by recounting what happened last Saturday when a sniper’s bullet nearly snuffed out his life at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He praised the Secret Service agents who rushed to the stage to protect him.
“I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” he said.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he continued, clearly profoundly humbled by his brush with death. “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.”
Moved by the near-fatal incident, Trump had reportedly scrapped his original acceptance speech – heavily laden with attacks on the policies of the Biden administration – and instead chose to use the opportunity to call for a renewed spirit of unity.
“I stand before you with a message of confidence, strength, and hope,” he declared. “I’m running to be president for all of America, not half of America because there’s no victory in winning for half of America.”
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Before turning his attention to matters of policy, Trump led the packed arena in a moment of silence for former firefighter, husband, and father Corey Comperatore who was killed at the rally when a bullet intended for Trump struck him.
In a touching scene, Trump walked over to Comperatore’s firefighter uniform jacket and helmet which had been brought to the stage and kissed the fallen hero’s helmet.
Trump then promised to heal the nation, saying, “Our resolve is unbroken, and our purpose is unchanged… to deliver a government that serves the American people better than ever before.”
“This election should be about the issues facing our country and how to make America successful, safe, free, and great again,” he said. “We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
“We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement, which is what’s been happening in our country lately at a level nobody has seen before,” he insisted. “The Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy.”
“If the Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts which I have been going through for approximately eight years [and] they should do that without delay.”
By that point, Trump had returned to his familiar campaign voice, frequently departing from the prepared remarks loaded onto his teleprompter.
“Under the current administration, we are a nation in decline. We have an inflation crisis that is making life unaffordable, ravaging the incomes of working and low-income families, simply crushing our people,” he lamented.
“We also have an illegal immigration crisis,” he said, describing it as “a massive invasion at our southern border.”
He said that the U.S. is faced with a dangerous “international crisis” with wars in Europe and the Middle East as well as a “growing specter of conflict” that “hangs over Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and all of Asia.”
“Our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III,” he declared.
To begin to resolve these multi-pronged threats bearing down on the nation, Trump said he would, on day one, “end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates, and lower the cost of energy.”
“We will ‘Drill Baby Drill!’” he exclaimed to the delighted cheers of the crowd.
“I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing the border and finishing the wall,” said Trump, “We have to stop the invasion into our country that’s killing hundreds of people a year,” referring to the deadly fentanyl drug being smuggled into the U.S., tragically impacting American families.
“I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created,” he promised, “including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine, which never would’ve happened if I were president, and the war caused by the attack on Israel, which never would’ve happened if I were president.”
Trump then snuck in a single mention of the current president’s name: “If you took the ten worst presidents in the history of the United States [and] added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done. The damage that he’s done to this country is unthinkable.”
“In less than four years, our opponents have turned incredible success into unparalleled tragedy and failure. Today, our cities are flooded with illegal aliens, Americans are being squeezed out of the labor force,” he said, returning to domestic economics. “Inflation has wiped out the life savings of our citizens and forced the middle class into a state of depression and despair.”
“Four years ago, we were a great nation and we’ll be a great nation again,” he proclaimed. “I will bring back the American dream.”
As he concluded, he said, “Every single moment we have on Earth is a gift from God.”
“You’ve been told to lower your expectations and to accept less for your families,” said Trump. “I am here tonight with the opposite message: your expectations are not big enough.”
“America’s future will be bigger, better, bolder, brighter, happier, stronger, freer, greater, and more united than ever before,” he promised, adding, “We will make America great again!”