It was the final night of the Republican National Convention last night in Milwaukee and Donald Trump delivered a mammoth 90-minute speech with his survival of an assassination attempt heavily featured.
Republicans were seen experiencing emotional outbursts during the former president’s monologue, with members of the audience dripping with sweat and visibly crying.
He told the audience: “I’m not supposed to be here” which attracted cries of “You are!” in response from the crowd.
The end of his speech was marked by the formal acceptance of his party’s nomination – a campaign trail that was accelerated rather than marred by the assassination attempt against him five days earlier.
Here are five of the more eyebrow-raising moments from his speech:
Trump describes his near-miss with death
Mr Trump used his speech to describe in detail the moment he had felt the bullet glide over his ear during a gunman’s attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania last Saturday.
He said: “I felt something hit me really really hard on my right ear. I said to myself, wow what that – it can only be a bullet.
“And moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down.
“My hand was covered with blood. Just absolutely blood all over the place.”
Though he declared he would only mention the details of the incident once due to the pain it incurs and said that despite the incident, he felt safe because “I had God on my side.”
Vowed to carry out one of the largest deportation efforts in history
Harking back to his days in the Oval Office, Mr Trump hailed the “great job” his administration did at the US-Mexico border.
US Border Patrol had nearly 250,00 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023 according to government statistics.
The border crossings chart displayed on-screen during his Butler rally was duly noted where he described the figures as being “absolutely amazing.”
But he claimed that under Joe Biden, the nation faced “an illegal immigration crisis” that was unlike anything the country had ever endured.
Adopting conflict rhetoric, he described immigration as a “massive invasion […] that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction to communities all across our land.”
He surmised his anti-immigration testimonial declaring that under a Republican leadership: “I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing our border and finishing the wall, most of which I’ve already built.”
The wall which was halted under the Biden administration and by several judges overspending in the US Supreme Court.
Biden who? Trump only makes two jibes at his opponents
Though minimal, his comments packed a punch.
Mr Trump made a jibe against Joe Biden’s tenure, stating: “The damage that he’s done to this country is unthinkable. It’s unthinkable.”
While he described the current president’s administration as worse than the 10 worst presidencies combined, he avoided highlighting recent concerns over Mr Biden’s mental fitness.
He only mentioned the incumbent president one more time in the speech, telling the crowd: “Biden. I’m not going to use the name anymore. Just one time.”
Kamala Harris was also omitted from his statements.
Prices are up and again, it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before – oh and it’s false.
Mr Trump was quick to blame Mr Biden for Americans feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: “Inflation, remember, it’s called a country buster. You can go back to Germany from 100 years ago. You can go back to any country that’s suffered great inflation. We’ve suffered the worst inflation we’ve ever had. But go back and see what’s happened to those countries. We’ve had the worst inflation we’ve ever had under this person.”
Trump highlighted that the “inflation crisis is making life unaffordable” using harsh rhetoric to describe how the pinch is “ravaging” low-income families and “eating you alive”.
He even said that he could make inflation “vanish completely” sending incomes skyrocketing at a rapid rate – comments which would appeal to us all if they could be realistically achieved.
Inflammatory statements on the economy were epitomised in his false claims that record inflation persisted under Mr Biden.
Inflation in the US stood at 3 per cent in June, while Mr Trump claimed it was at a massive 23.7 per cent (something not seen since the Great Depression).
Celebrities on board to welcome Trump to the stage
Several celebrities were on hand to mark Mr Trump’s confirmation as the Republican candidate for president.
Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and singer Kid Rock took to the stage to fire up the crowds, with the former tearing his tank top to reveal a Trump/Vance shirt underneath.
Trump described Kid Rock’s desire to get involved: “I want to be a part, because, you know, Kid does this great song. Big, big monster song. I had no idea. You know, he became a friend of mine over the last 10 years. And, uh, he’s amazing. Everyone loves him.”
Last but not least: Trump uses Hannibal Lecter to vilify immigrants
Trumps used a bizarre Silence of the Lambs analogy to vilify migrants during his speech.
“You know, the press is always on me because I say this […] Has anyone seen Silence of the Lambs? The late great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner. That’s insane asylums, they’re emptying out their insane asylums.”
This villainous dichotomy is not a stunt he’s pulled as a means to creating division in the US but as expected, Anthony Hopkins was shocked and appalled, according to the Hill.
