Trump RNC Speech: Key Quotes From Trump’s Big Moment

In his first speech since his assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump urged for unity, safety and another four years in the Oval Office.

Trump’s key note speech closed out the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday. The former president formally accepted the GOP’s nomination for the 2024 election, and stood next to a mannequin dressed in a firefighter’s uniform in honor of former fire chief Corey Comperatore, who was killed by gun fire in the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

The week has been marked with speeches from several notable figures, including Senator JD Vance, Trump’s vice president pick who he described during his speech as a “new friend and partner fighting by my side.” Trump also praised “our great speaker” of the House Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana in his address.

Thursday was the first day that former First Lady Melania Trump made an appearance at the RNC, as well as Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump. Trump’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric, gave speeches earlier in the week.

Trump was welcomed on stage with a performance from country artist Kid Rock, who encouraged the crowd to follow along by making a fist pump, mimicking the gesture that Trump made after being grazed by the gunman’s bullet. UFC president Dana White also gave a speech praising Trump as his “dear friend” before introducing the former president, who appeared on stage in front of big, light-up letters that spelled, “TRUMP.”

Below are some of the key quotes from Trump’s address.

‘I’m Not Supposed to Be Here’

Trump opened up his speech by retelling his experience from Saturday’s rally, which he said he would never tell “a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell.”

He praised the “very brave Secret Service agents” who “rushed” to protect him after he was hit, and described the “beautiful crowd” that “didn’t want to leave me” even after shots rang out.

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump told attendees, who started chanting in unison, “Yes, you are.”

“Thank you, but I’m not,” he continued. “And I’ll tell you, I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.”

Trump has previously said that his life was spared from the assassination attempt because of the way he moved his head to turn toward a chart being displayed during his rally. His supporters have said that he was saved due to “divine intervention.”

If Dems Want Unity, They Should Drop the ‘Witch Hunts’

With talks of unity coming from both sides of the aisle, the former president put blame on the Democratic Party for fueling political division “at a level that nobody has ever seen before” among the American electorate.

“In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling the political opponent as an enemy of democracy, especially since that is not true,” Trump said. “In fact, I am the one saving democracy for the people of our country.”

The former president praised U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who on Monday dropped the Justice Department’s case against Trump’s handling of classified documents retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump was also convicted of 34 felony counts in connection to a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels and faces two other criminal indictments related to his actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

“If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts, which I have been going through for approximately eight years, and they should do that without delay and allow an election to proceed that is worthy of our people,” Trump added.

Trump again said on Thursday that Democrats are “cheating on elections,” a call back to his baseless claims of voter fraud in 2020 when he lost to President Joe Biden.

The White House has said that Biden has no involvement in the criminal cases against Trump.

‘I Will Bring Back the American Dream.’

Trump repeated his campaign promises on Thursday for a stricter border policy, a better economy and an end to foreign conflicts. He also mentioned Biden’s name, but only once, saying that the president had done more “damage” to the country than “the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States” added up.

“I’m not going to use the name anymore just one time,” Trump said after mentioning the president. “Damage that he’s done to this country is unthinkable, unthinkable. Together, we will restore vision, strength, competence and we’re going to have a thing called common sense making most decisions.”

Trump also called for voters from all sides of the aisle to back him in November, promising to reignite the feeling of the “American dream.”

“With proper leadership, every disaster we are now enduring will be it will be fixed very, very quickly,” Trump said. “So tonight, whether you’ve supported me in the past or not, I hope you will support me in the future, because I will bring back the American dream.”

“With great humility, I am asking you to be excited about the future of our country,” he added. “Be excited.”

Trump Appeals to the ‘Neglected’ and ‘Abandoned’

As his speech came to a close, Trump again made an appeal to “come together” and move forward as “one people” amid political division.

“Tonight I ask for your partnership, for your support, and I am humbly asking for your vote,” Trump said from the podium.

“To all of the forgotten men and women who have been neglected, abandoned and left behind, you will be forgotten no longer,” the former president added. “We will press forward, and together, we will win, win win.”

The crowd followed his comments by breaking out in cheers and chanting, “Win, win.”