Silence and tears in the room as Trump recalls near-death experience

Jul 19, 2024

Donald Trump, always the showman, was never going to wrap up his speech at the Republican National Convention quickly.

After all, it was his first major address since he escaped an assassin’s bullet at a rally in Pennsylvania, only days earlier.

In the end, he spoke for 90 minutes, making it the longest convention speech of a party nominee in modern American history.

Follow live: Trump speaks – as Biden ‘close’ to stepping aside

Party faithful and Trump loyalists, including legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan expressed their adulation for the man they see as their leader and the only person who can lead them to victory in November.

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As he recalled his near-death experience, there was silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop – there were even tears.

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Mr Trump said. “Yes you are,” they chanted back.

We were told Mr Trump tore up his original speech following the assassination attempt and wanted to focus on unity. He lowered his tone, speaking slowly, he said he wanted to be a president for all America, not just half of it.

And while I’ve continued to hear all week that coming close to death changes people, including from Trump’s son, Eric Trump – I was curious to see if this experience had in fact changed the former president in any way.

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Over the 1.5-hour speech, we saw different versions of Donald Trump, including the one who rambles and attacks his opponents, not missing the opportunity to describe Nancy Pelosi as “crazy Nancy”.

What is clear is American politics is the most extraordinary drama on earth – and we still have three months left before the election.

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