Trump’s new MAGA call puts unity in focus
Speaking on the final night of the Republican National Convention, Trump also painted a picture of America in decline
Milwaukee Donald Trump, the official Republican nominee for president of the United States, declared that he wished to be a president for all Americans and not just half of America, recounted the story of the assassination bid on him and credited God’s grace for being alive, “humbly” asked voters for support, and painted a picture of an America that was prospering and of a world that was at peace in his first term and promised to “Make America Great Again”.
Trump, speaking on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday night local time, also painted a picture of America now in decline. He cast Joe Biden, who he named only once directly, as the worst president in American history and blamed the Biden administration for inflation, an “invasion” by “illegal aliens”, lawlessness on the streets, the “humiliating” withdrawal from Afghanistan, wars in Ukraine and West Asia, pushing climate policies at the cost of American jobs, and weaponising America’s justice system against political opponents.
In a 90-minute long speech at the end of a four day convention that has been marked by his complete takeover of the Republican Party and a unified and charged base confident of a victory in November, Trump also reiterated his policy platform.
“I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates and lower the cost of energy…We will drill, baby, drill…I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing our border and finishing the wall…I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created…we will restore vision, strength, competence and we’re going to have a thing called common sense,” Trump said.
‘Too painful to tell’
Preceding Trump on the stage were former wrestler Hulk Hogan, the head of a fighting championship Dana White, and the singer Kid Rock, all of whom recalled Saturday’s assassination bid to showcase Trump as the toughest man they knew.
Trump’s entry was almost theatrical with his name flashing in the backdrop and neon lights flashing. But Trump then began in the most uncharacteristic of ways, adopting a sombre tone and speaking softly.
Declaring that he came with a message of “confidence, strength and hope”, and that they were headed for an “incredible victory”, Trump promised “safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, colour and creed”. “The discord and division in our society must be healed…I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”
Trump said that many had asked him what happened on Saturday, when an assassin’s bullet came “within a quarter of an inch” of taking his life. He said that he will recount the story, but only once, for it was “too painful to tell”.
The former president began with recounting that moment with the enthusiastic crowds in Pennsylvania’s Butler county, and said that there was a large screen behind him displaying a chart of border crossings. “In order to see the chart, I started to turn to my right, and was ready to begin a little bit further turn, which I am very lucky I didn’t do, when I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard. On my right ear. I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet’,” Trump said, as the images from the evening flashed on the large screen in the background. He added that he moved his right hand to his ear and his hand suddenly was covered with blood, which is when he knew that they were “under attack” and dropped to the ground. He lauded Secret Service agents for pouncing on him to protect him. “I felt very safe because I had God on my side. I felt that.”
Trump said he was not supposed to be at the convention tonight, to which delegates responded with a chant of “Yes, you are”. Trump replied, “But I am not. I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God.”
Trump then narrated the making of what has become an iconic image right after he got up. “The crowd was confused because they thought I was dead. And there was great, great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked out. 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 that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, ‘Fight, fight, fight’.”
Trump also paid homage to Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who died after throwing himself on his wife and child to protect them, and went up to kiss the late supporter’s helmet and uniform that had been brought to the stage. “In an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens — we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Trump said, once again in a rare call of unity.
Trump also used the unity plank to say that Biden must stop “criminalising political dissent” and drop all the charges against him, citing his recent legal wins. “If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts. And they should do that without delay and allow an election to proceed that is worthy of our people. We are going to win it anyway.”
Trump 1.0, Biden 1.0 and Trump 2.0Trump then shifted gears and returned to the political rhetoric that he is widely known for, with what many would suggest was a revisionist history of his record in office, the projection of an almost apocalyptic state that America supposedly is in under Biden, and the promise of a “new golden age” for America under him. Three issues in particular animated him the most and these form the core of the Republican campaign in 2024.
The first was the economy and energy, where Trump claimed he had left the best economy ever in history and made America energy independent. Under Biden, he said, inflation had crushed people and ravaged the working class, with high grocery and gas prices, high interest rates, and unaffordable housing. If he returned to power, Trump promised to bring inflation under control, and said his key tool to do so would be energy policy. “We will drill, baby, drill…By doing that, we will lead a large-scale decline in prices…We will start paying off debt and start lowering taxes even further.”
After digressing, Trump returned to the economy and promised to stop what he called Biden’s “green new scam” to denote his climate policies, give domestic American manufacturing a major push, sign trade deals which required countries to buy from America, end any electric vehicle mandates, and offer tax cuts to workers including ensuring that there were no taxes on tips.
Trump devoted most of his speech, however, to the issue of illegal immigration across the southern border that he said was “at the heart of the Republican platform”. Claiming that the border had never been as secure as it was under him, Trump said about the present: “It’s a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction to communities all across our land. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it…Our cities are flooded with illegal aliens.”
In a clear attempt to pit America’s poorer minority citizens against immigrants and win their support, Trump said, “You know who is being hurt the most by millions of people pouring into our country? The Black population and the Hispanic population. Because they are taking the jobs from our Black population, our Hispanic population. And they’re also taking them from unions. The unions are suffering because of it.”
And he continued to portray illegal immigrants as having come from prisons and mental institutions, claiming that crime in Latin America countries had dropped since they had sent all their criminals to America and narrating the specific cases of crimes that illegal immigrants had allegedly committed. “Tonight, America, this is my vow. I will not let these killers and criminals into our country. I will keep our sons and daughters safe.”
And finally, Trump focused on how the world was at peace under him and he could “stop wars with a telephone call”, how American weakness under Biden had caused global chaos, and how only he could resolve all of the world’s crises.
“Under Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under the current administration, Russia is after all of Ukraine. Under Trump, Russia took nothing,” Trump said, countering what is often the sharpest foreign policy criticism against him on being too soft on Russia. He claimed he defeated ISIS, got along with North Korea which helped stopped their missile launches, and broke Iran’s economy. And he accused Biden of inheriting this “world of peace” and turning it into a planet of war”.
Trump concluded his speech by tracing back the days of the American revolution, and promising “all of the forgotten men and women who have been neglected, abandoned and left behind” that they will be forgotten no longer. “We will press forward, and together, we will win, win, win,” as Republican delegates, smelling a victory, joined in to chant “win, win..”
At the end, Trump and joined by his family, inducing his wife Melania, who made a rare appearance at the end of the convention and at the end of what has been among the most dramatic week in Trump’s already dramatic political life.
