Posted on 07/14/2024 5:56:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Former President Donald Trump has completely rewritten his convention speech in light of the assassination attempt against him on Saturday and will call on Thursday for a new effort at national unity.
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner a day after being hit by a sniper’s bullet, Trump said he wanted to take advantage of a historic moment and draw the country together.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” he said, “Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches” aimed mostly at the policies of President Joe Biden. “Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now.”
He has switched, he said, from planning to excite his voter base to one that demonstrates his belief that the attack on him at a rally in Pennsylvania had changed the election campaign entirely. Both Republicans and Democrats have acknowledged this in the aftermath of Saturday’s shocking incident.
Trump said people all across the country from different walks of life and different political views have called him, and noted that he was saved from death because he turned from the crowd to look at a screen showing data he was using in his speech.
“That reality is just setting in,” he said. “I rarely look away from the crowd. Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today would we.”
Talking as he boarded his plane in Bedminster, New Jersey, for Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention starts Monday and lasts through Thursday, Trump said his speech will meet the moment that history demands. “It is a chance to bring the country together. I was given that chance.”
Early Sunday morning, Trump had posted on Truth social that it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” and that he would “fear not.” Again, in talking to the Washington Examiner, he invoked”God” for his deliverance.
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” he said.
The Washington Examiner interview with Trump had been due to take place on his airplane on the return flight from the rally to Bedminster. That arrangement put this reporter just feet from Trump when he was shot.
Trump hailed Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief who was shot and killed at the rally, and two other supporters, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were wounded and are recovering at a local hospital in stable condition.
Trump said his decision to raise his hand when the Secret Service was leading him off stage was to let the people there know he was okay, “And that America goes on, we go forward, that we are strong,” he said.
The photograph of him holding his fist in the air, blood streaming across his face as the agents surrounded him has already become the iconic image of the 2024 election.
If he speaks in Milwaukee of uniting the country it would echo President Ronald Reagan, who in 1981 projected strength has he too recovered for wounds — far graver than Trump’s — inflicted by a would-be assassin in Washington D.C.
Trump said when he stood up and saw the crowd had not moved, he needed tell them that he and the country were going to be okay, “The energy coming from the people there in that moment, they just stood there, its hard to describe what that felt like but I knew the world was looking, I knew that history would judge this and I knew I had to let them know we are okay.”
Unity. I am already hating that term.
As long as the point of unity is MAGA.
I don’t think we will be disappointed.
That is a croc. So they try to take him out and we are supposed to feel it is okay, maybe you will do better next time.
I say pedal to the metal. They got caught and it is time to spank dat a$$!!
He has to say it. There’s no way to unite with the demonrats. They have to change, it’s too late for them I fear.
Romans 1:28-32
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Ugh.
How about “harmony”?
Jesus came to divide.
Jesus came to unite.
How is that possible? The point of division and unification is the same point. What is that point regarding Jesus?
Trump is following the same model. MAGA
I was thinking “tolerance”. I believe we are past the point of return on that, too. I find it truly sad that many on our side can’t see that we are not going in reverse on relations in this country. The left is not stepping backwards. EVER! they made their major move the past four years, and the country is in a death spiral. Far too many on the right want to place nice and do the right thing ... all the way to the boxcar lines.
It’s smart politics.
A relatively small number of loudmouth Leftists get all the coverage telling the public that Trump is Hitler, he’s a racist, he’s a liar, he’s a crook, he ignores the Constitution, etc.
Most people — even most people who might tend to lean toward the Democrats (’cause Mom and Dad loved JFK ...) are not really sold on the message of “hate Trump”. They can see the disunity. They know it’s coming from their own side. Now the Left is actually trying to kill Trump.
A message of peace and unity would help people see that Trump is not a monster. And, if he’s not a monster, why not step away from Biden the crazy old guy and just take another dance with Trump? It wasn’t really all that bad last time, was it?
Trump should speak from his heart. And if he wants to talk about his ideas on unity, I’m all for it.
Maybe Trump expects he will be facing some other opponent in the general election.
I love the idea of unity. But I’m not naive enough to believe unity is possible with the demon-possessed on the left. You can’t reason with people who have made their mind up that they want you enslaved or dead.
This is no time for unity.
Unity of Americans to bring the traitorous Demonicrats and DeepStaters to Justice in trials, convictions, and sentencing to a short drop and quick stop.
Focusing less on Biden, not nothing on Biden. Focusing more on merit and policies, less on insults. It’s going to be great.
“I was thinking “tolerance”. I believe we are past the point of return on that, too.”
Perhaps the path forward should be chosen based on our goals while adapting to prevailing conditions, ensuring that obstacles are overcome.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.