Former US President Donald Trump accepted the Republican party nomination for his third run for the White House with a speech that began with a sombre retelling of the assassination attempt on him.
On Thursday night, Trump spoke for over an hour and thirty minutes, speaking about immigration, inflation, and weaker America on the world stage.
Trump himself had promised in the aftermath of surviving an assassination attempt on July 13, saying he had cast aside a tough speech prepared for him for the acceptance speech as he wanted one that would call for unifying the country.
"I am here tonight to lay out a vision for the whole nation," he said. "To every citizen, whether you are young or old, man or woman, Democrat, Republican or independent, Black or white, Asian or Hispanic, I extend to you a hand of loyalty and friendship."
The first 10 or 15 minutes was a sombre re-telling of the shooting that was heard with rapt attention by the attendees.
The former president himself sounded somewhat overwhelmed, reliving those harrowing moments when he survived death with the slightest turn of his head.
He then directed the attention of the audience to a chart on immigration and his long-running complaint about the 2020 election defeat.
"And then we had that horrible, horrible result that we'll never let happen again. The election result. We're never going to let that happen again. They used Covid to cheat," he said.
The former president was widely touted to present a softer, milder Trump, which would have helped him seal the race, with his Democratic rival President Joe Biden struggling to stay in the contest in the face of expanding revolt against him in the party, which is concerned he may not only lose himself but could cause the defeat of Democrats running for the House of Representatives and the Senate.
"Our opponents inherited a planet at peace and turned it into a planet at war," he said, referring to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. And then he went on to say, "Our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III, and this will be a war like no other."
(With inputs from IANS)
