Donald Trump’s allies said he had emerged from his assassination attempt a changed man, rewriting his Republican National Convention speech to call for national unity. As he began his one hour and thirty-three minute address Thursday night, it seemed that vision was coming to pass. Trump recounted in vivid detail the shooting that nearly took his life. “There was blood pouring everywhere and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” he said. “I’m not supposed to be here tonight.” The epilogue of his survival tale was a plea for Americans to come together. “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” he said. “We must heal it quickly.”
But once he concluded the choreographed spectacle, Trump transitioned back to the Trump we all know. He falsely accused the left of stealing the 2020 election. He called the former Democratic Speaker of the House “crazy Nancy Pelosi.” He said U.S. cities were “flooded with illegal aliens.” He portrayed President Joe Biden’s America as a dystopian hellscape on the verge of irreversible decline. “The damage Biden has done,” Trump said. “I will only use the word once. I won’t use the word again.”
It was a reminder that Trump remains the same guy, with the same grievances and fixations. Even as he gestured toward conciliation, he maintained his brand of full-throttle politics that has transformed the Republican Party. That was largely a consequence of impulse: Trump’s attacks and provocative asides were not written into the speech.
When he improvised, Trump converted what was supposed to be an unconventional convention speech into a MAGA rally. When he stuck to the teleprompter, he was faithful to a message of coast-to-coast cohesion. “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America,” Trump said, “because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”
Trump’s speech came at a moment of uncertainty. Since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, there’s been a wave of Democratic backlash to remove him from the ticket. The revolt seemed to freeze after the Trump rally shooting, but on Thursday it began to pick up steam. Party leaders such as Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have reportedly encouraged him to step aside. The New York Times reported hours before Trump took the stage that Biden was “more receptive” to relinquishing power. (The Biden campaign says he won’t bow out of the race.) Trump, in other words, had another reason to mention Biden’s name only once. The sitting President may not be his ultimate opponent.
The accelerating Democratic panic marked a stark contrast to the scene on the floor of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum. Trump’s latest triumph left his supporters elated. They were dancing in conga lines between speeches. They often shouted “Fight! Fight! Fight!,” echoing Trump’s chants to the Pennsylvania crowd after being shot. Some wore bandages on their right ears in a show of solidarity.
Trump fed off an audience that recognizes his return to the White House is well within grasp: He’s currently leading in most polls; Biden’s standing in swing states has fallen sharply since the debate; and the attempt on Trump’s life gave him a fresh wave of momentum.
In his speech, Trump recognized the hand he’d been dealt. For someone who so often blames others, he seems to know that his greatest obstacle to a second term could be himself. “I better finish strong,” he said. “Otherwise we’ll blow it and I can’t let it happen.”
Trump concluded the confab on a triumphant note. He’s on the cusp of an unprecedented political comeback, both for himself and the right-wing populist movement he spawned. Thursday night was a moment few could imagine on Jan. 7, 2021, a day after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. “Nothing will sway us, nothing will slow us, and nothing will ever stop us,” he said.
To that end, his speech reaffirmed something many had suspected: No matter what, Trump will always be Trump.
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