NEW YORK, Jul 19 (APP): Former US President Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination Thursday night, at a time when his Democratic rival Joe Biden is struggling to fight off growing doubts about his ability to run a successful campaign and serve another four-year term.
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin , he recounted the moment he was hit in the ear with a bullet at Saturday’s rally where one attendee died and two others were injured.
Trump said he felt safe because he felt he had “God on my side.” Many speakers throughout the 3-day convention expressed their gratitude that Trump. survived the assassination attempt
“I stand before you this evening with a message of confidence, strength, and hope,” Trump told a boisterous crowd of supporters. “Together, we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, colour, and creed,” he said as he voiced confidence in winning the November presidential election.
At the start of his address he gave a unity call, but then targeted the democrats, criticizing some of their policies and action..
“This election should be about the issues facing our country and how to make America successful, safe, free, and great again,” Tump said.
“We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement, He said. “In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the Justice System and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy, especially since that is not true, in fact, I am the one saving democracy for the people of our country.”
In the course of his 90-minute address, the 78-year-old former president threatened to raise tariffs on imports, including those from China and pledged to bring auto and other manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
Trump also vowed to end every international crisis that he accused the current administration of creating, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.
“War is now raging in Europe and the Middle East. A growing specter of conflict hangs over Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines and all of Asia,” he said.
On North Korea, Trump said that when he was previously in office, he “got along very well” with Kim Jong Un and his administration managed to stop the country’s missile launches.
“Now North Korea is acting up again, but when we get back, I get along with him. He’d like to see me back, too. I think he misses me, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said.
While accepting his third consecutive presidential nomination by the party at an arena packed with Republicans, just days after surviving an assassination attempt, Trump called for national unity to make the United States stronger, safer and more prosperous.
In a departure from his trademark aggressive rhetoric, Trump, whose injured right ear was covered with a white bandage, said, “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,” he said, opening his remarks with an uncharacteristically calm demeanor.
In later parts of the long speech, he repeated his claim that the country was in a far better position domestically and internationally when he was in office than it is under the Biden administration.
Trump assailed the Biden administration’s handling of immigrants, the economy and many other issues. But, in a rare move, he used Biden’s name only once to criticize his policies.
“I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates and lower the cost of energy. We will drill, baby, drill,” to be more energy independent, he said.
The Republican convention fanfare, culminating with Trump’s speech, came as more Democrats are calling for Biden to drop out of the presidential election race.
The 81-year-old president’s mental and physical fitness has come under intense scrutiny since his shaky performance in a television debate with Trump in late June.
But the pressure Biden is facing now seems much stronger after U.S. media reports that Democratic leaders, including former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have privately told him of their concerns about his ability to defeat Trump and the risk that their party could fail to regain control of the lower chamber.
The Washington Post and other leading U.S. media outlets said former President Barack Obama, a close ally of Biden, has also told associates in recent days that the likelihood of the incumbent winning the election has greatly diminished.
In contrast with the show of unity among Republicans, there are widening divisions among Democrats, although Biden has been the presumptive nominee for months after cruising through the party’s primaries with little opposition and its national convention in Chicago is just a month away.
The newspaper said Pelosi has told some Democrats in the lower house she believes Biden can be convinced “fairly soon” to withdraw from the presidential race.
Citing several top Democrats, online news website Axios said his decision to exit the race could come as early as this weekend.
