DDonald Trump’s allies said he emerged from his assassination attempt a changed man, rewriting his Republican National Convention speech to call for national unity. As he began his one hour and thirty-three minute speech on Thursday night, it felt like the vision was coming to fruition. Trump recounted in vivid detail the shooting that nearly took his life. “There was blood running everywhere, but in a way I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” he said. “I shouldn’t be here tonight.” The epilogue to his story of survival was a call for Americans to unite. “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” he said. “We must cure him quickly.”
But as soon as the choreographed spectacle concluded, Trump returned to the Trump we all know. He falsely accused the left of stealing the 2020 election. He called the former Democratic Speaker of the House “crazy Nancy Pelosi.” He said U.S. cities were “flooded with illegal aliens.” He portrayed President Joe Biden’s America as a dystopian hellscape on the brink of irreversible decline. “The damage that Biden has done,” Trump said. “I will only use the word once. I will not use the word again.”
It was a reminder that Trump is still the same guy, with the same complaints and fixations. Even as he pointed toward compromise, he maintained his brand of full-throttle politics that transformed the Republican Party. This was largely a consequence of impulse: Trump’s provocative attacks and asides were not included in the speech.
By improvising, Trump converted what was supposed to be an unconventional convention speech into a MAGA rally. When he latched onto the teleprompter, he was true to a message of cohesion from coast to coast. “I’m running to be president of all of America, not half of America,” Trump said, “because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”
Trump’s speech came at a time of uncertainty. Since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, there has been a wave of Democratic backlash to remove him from the ticket. The outrage appeared to freeze after the shooting at Trump’s rally, but on Thursday it began to gain momentum. Party leaders like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi reportedly encouraged him to step aside. O New York Times reported hours before Trump took the stage that Biden was “more receptive” to giving up power. (Biden’s campaign says he won’t drop out of the race.) Trump, in other words, had another reason to mention Biden’s name just once. The sitting president may not be his final opponent.
The growing Democratic panic marked a stark contrast to the scene on the floor of Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum. Trump’s latest triumph left his supporters jubilant. They danced in conga lines between speeches. They often shouted “Fight! To fight! Fight!”, echoing Trump’s shouts to the crowd in Pennsylvania after being shot. Some wore bandages over their right ears as a show of solidarity.
Trump has fed off a public that recognizes that his return to the White House is within our reach: he is currently leading in most polls; Biden’s standing in swing states has fallen sharply since the debate; and the attempt on Trump’s life gave him a new wave of momentum.
In his speech, Trump acknowledged the hand he was dealt. For someone who so often blames others, he seems to know that his biggest obstacle to a second term may be himself. “I better finish strong,” he said. “Otherwise we’re going to screw up and I can’t let that happen.”
Trump concluded the confab on a triumphant note. He is on the verge of an unprecedented political comeback, both for himself and for the right-wing populist movement he spawned. Thursday night was a moment few could have imagined on January 7, 2021, the day after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol. “Nothing will influence us, nothing will slow us down, and nothing will ever stop us,” he said.
To that end, his speech reaffirmed something many suspected: no matter what happens, Trump will always be Trump.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
