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Donald Trump recounted the assassination attempt that nearly ended his life last weekend, as he accepted the Republican party’s nomination for president for a third time.
“I stand before you, in this arena, only by the grace of almighty God,” Trump said on Thursday, as he called for national unity and healing on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
His formal acceptance of his party’s nomination for president at the convention came less than a week after a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed his right ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The party faithful have rallied around the former president, who has sported a gauze bandage on his ear during appearances at the four-day convention. Some delegates have worn bandages on their ears in solidarity.
“Despite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever. Our resolve is unbroken, and our purpose is unchanged — to deliver a government that serves the American people,” Trump said.
The show of Republican unity marks a stark contrast with the Democratic party, which is riven with division over whether President Joe Biden should stand for another term after a disastrous performance in last month’s presidential debate.
Moves to convince the president to step down have gained momentum since Trump’s assassination attempt, with a new CBS/YouGov poll putting the former president five points ahead of Biden.
In front of an adoring crowd, Trump has repeatedly called on his party and the wider nation to come together in the aftermath of the shooting.
But his allies have also adopted “fight, fight, fight” as their rallying cry, in an homage to what the former president could be heard saying as US Secret Service agents ushered him off the stage immediately after the attack.
Fighting was a theme of the final night of the RNC as Trump and his allies sought to convey a message of strength. Warm-up speakers for Trump included professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and Dana White, chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the mixed martial arts juggernaut.
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality, and evangelical leader Franklin Graham also spoke, as well as one of Trump’s adult sons, Eric Trump.
Several of Trump’s immediate family members, including his daughter-in-law Lara, eldest son Donald Jr and granddaughter Kai, spoke at the convention earlier in the week in support of the former and possible future president.
Notably absent from the jamboree have been his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka, though both appeared in the VIP box to support the former president on Thursday night. Neither of them were expected to speak to the delegates.
With less than four months to go until polling day, Trump has become the odds-on favourite to win the White House in November. Betting markets on Thursday put the odds of Biden winning re-election at an all-time low.
Biden remained out of the public eye on Thursday as he isolated with a case of Covid-19 at his Delaware holiday home. But the president could not hide from the mounting pressure campaign for him to suspend his re-election bid and let another Democrat run in his place.
Biden has for weeks resisted calls for him to abandon his campaign as questions swirl about his age and fitness for office. But those calls have intensified this week as top Democrats began to fear that Biden would not only lose the White House but undermine the party’s candidates for Congress and local offices.
Many influential Democratic party operatives and donors now believe Biden could step aside as soon as this weekend and upend the presidential contest.
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