Donald Trump’s speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination lasted one hour and 32 minutes, the longest speech in modern United States history. Here are five key moments and themes that clarify the often ambiguous speech.
fight fight!
Trump’s aides had said the speech signaled a new, softer tone for his speeches after he survived an assassination attempt last Saturday.
But the atmosphere was often rough and literally boxing-like.
Trump’s son Eric chanted “Fight, Fight!” before his big speech, in tribute to the words his father said on the rally stage last week as he rose from his injuries in a shooting.
The man introducing Trump to the stage was none other than his friend Dana White, the chief executive of the wildly popular and bloody UFC martial arts network.
Before White, the crowd got a chance to hear the music of 1980s professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.
kiss kiss kiss
There were kisses too.
One of these was uttered by Trump in praise of Hulk Hogan.
Trump also paid tribute by kissing the helmet of firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed during a shooting at last weekend’s rally. Trump asked the crowd to observe a minute of silence for the victim, whose firefighter uniform was displayed on stage.
At the end of the speech, Trump appeared alongside his wife Melania, who has been noticeably absent during his campaign to return to the White House in November. He held her hand and kissed her on the cheek.
God
Trump has never been a public churchgoer, not even while president, but he credited God for saving his life in the shooting.
He said, “I stand before you in this field only by the grace of Almighty God.”
“There was blood everywhere and yet in a way I felt very safe because God was with me.”
His narrow escape was seen by many supporters as a sign that Trump had also been chosen by God. One of the warm-up speakers was evangelist Franklin Graham – whose father was a spiritual adviser to several US presidents.
Don’t mention Biden
Aides had said Trump would not mention Biden at all. That’s consistent with the message being pushed by the campaign that Trump is moving forward while the Democratic president is struggling.
But Trump claimed that “the damage that Biden has done” is worse than that done by “the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States.”
He then added that he would “only use the word once.”
He said, “I will not use this name anymore.”
Certainly no well wishes were expressed for Biden’s recovery from Covid-19 by Trump or any other speaker.
A tale of two speeches
The speech was described as a serious, unity-oriented address, inspired by his experience of surviving an assassination attempt.
Something like this was heard for about fifteen minutes.
But for the next hour or so, Trump was his usual Trump self, telling his typical mix of anecdotes, jokes, sarcasm and outright false claims.
It began with a promise to be a president for “all Americans.”
This soon turned into a torrent of attacks on “crazy” Democratic former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including an immigrant “invasion” consisting of insane and dangerous criminals, and claims that he was denied victory in the 2020 election.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
