Trump comes out fighting after rally shooting: 5 takeaways from RNC’s final night

Former President Trump turned the 2024 Republican National Convention into a campaign rally in his first speech since surviving an assassination attempt, claiming God was on his side during the shooting and calling for his party to unify to “save this country.”

Trump divulged the details of his near-death experience as he addressed thousands in attendance in Milwaukee and formally accepted the GOP presidential nomination.

Here are the five big takeaways from the final night of the convention:  

Trump went into detail about assassination attempt

After four days of suspense, Trump opened his convention-capping speech by telling the story of his experience during the attempted assassination at Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania, where gunman grazed his ear with a bullet, killed one rally attendee and wounded two others.  

“As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life. So many people have asked me, ‘What happened? Tell us what happened, please,’” Trump said. 

He promised to tell the crowd “exactly what happened” but swore he would “never” share it a second time, “because it’s actually too painful to tell.”   

Trump waxed poetic about the “warm, beautiful day in the early evening” and the “cheering” crowd in Pennsylvania, which then he said was cut off by a “loud, whizzing sound” and the feeling of the bullet hitting his ear “really, really hard.”

Trump was wearing a white bandage over the ear that had been wounded in the incident. In the crowd, some convention attendees sported similar ear coverings, which one woman said was done “in solidarity” with the former president.

Though he described a “terrible evening” and a tense brush with death as “many bullets” were fired, he said he felt “serene.” He thanked God for his survival and said it was “probably” a “providential moment.”

The crowd was riveted by Trump’s tale and broke into chants of “fight” as the now-viral photo of the former president surrounded by Secret Service agents and raising his fist in the air flashed on the screen behind him.  

Trump was his old self

Earlier speakers had seemed to lay the groundwork for a softer version of Trump to take the stage. 

A Wednesday night appearance from Trump’s 17-year-old granddaughter, Kai Madison Trump, presented the former president as a “normal grandpa” who “gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking” and “always wants to know how we’re doing in school.”

On Thursday, Linda McMahon, who served as Trump’s small business administrator during his time in the White House, shared an anecdote about Trump and his 4-year-old granddaughter at his Mar-a-Lago residence, in which he “smiled with the love that only a grandfather could have given” when the girl “mussed his hair.”

McMahon acknowledged the anecdote was “probably not the typical Donald Trump story” and said the former president was “a good man” with “the heart of a lion and the soul of a warrior.” 

But the Trump who spoke Thursday night was the same one seen at every rally since he launched his campaign in 2015.

Text of the speech released ahead of time mostly focused on Trump’s plans for a potential second term and discussions about the problems he views as facing the country, but he strayed from the planned remarks frequently, pivoting instead to praise allies and attack his enemies.

Even though the script as written did not include President Biden’s name, Trump seemingly couldn’t resist taking a direct jab at his opponent, saying, “If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States … added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done.” 

He also dinged former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), calling her “crazy Nancy” and yielding boos from the audience toward her. A spokesperson for Pelosi later responded that Trump did not take a “new tone” as some expected him to, and is the same candidate that he was. 

Trump also slammed the leader of United Auto Workers for jobs being sent abroad to countries such as China, saying he should be “ashamed” and “fired.”  

At the same time, Trump leaned in to the “unity” theme of the week, especially toward the end of his speech when he was back on script, saying the country’s “destiny” will be out of reach if people spend their energy fighting each other. 

“We must instead take that energy and use it to realize our country’s true potential — and write our own thrilling chapter of the American story,” he said. 

The event was like a rock concert

The crowd was electric throughout Thursday night’s lineup, which included celebrity appearances from music star Kid Rock, fight promoter Dana White and wrestling legend Hulk Hogan. 

Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, prompted chants of “USA” during remarks that praised Trump and his newly-named running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “the greatest tag team of my life.” 

He also pointed out the raucous, celebratory crowd.  

“When I came here tonight, there was so much energy in this room, I thought maybe I was in Madison Square Garden getting ready to win another title,” Hogan said. “But what I found out was I was in a room full of real Americans, brother.”

Kid Rock, meanwhile, had the audience chanting “fight” and “Trump” as he sang his song “American Bad Ass.” 

At the end of the night, Trump made a flashy entrance to a live performance of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and wandered the stage, waving at the audience and clapping his hands as the song wrapped up before taking the podium.  

The night ended in a cinematic drop of reportedly more than 100,000 red, white, blue and gold balloons as Trump’s family joined him on stage and the Fiserv Forum crowd went wild.  

Hulk Hogan almost stole the spotlight

It’s a tall task to outshine Trump, but Hogan almost did it.

The wrestler brought the house down in Milwaukee while delivering a speech praising the former president.

The crowd burst into a “USA” chant as soon as Hogan came to the stage. 

But perhaps the most thrilling moment during his appearance came when the wrestling legend tore his shirt off while speaking to the crowd, unleashing an almost deafening collective roar from the audience.

“When they tried to kill the next president of the United States, enough was enough, and I said, ‘Let Trumpamania run wild, brother,’” he said to thunderous applause, in a play on the catchphrase “Hulkamania.”

Hogan later sat in Trump’s box with the former president’s family, and Trump himself appeared to acknowledge how much Hogan energized the crowd. 

“How about the Hulkster?” Trump asked later in the night, which attendees responded to with cheers. 

Biden’s woes were an undercurrent 

As Republicans reveled in Trump’s first post-shooting speech and celebrated his formal acceptance of the party nomination, Democrats continued to see internal battles about Biden and their 2024 ticket.

In the middle of the convention, Montana Sen. Jon Tester became the second Democratic senator to call on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

Tester, a vulnerable Democrat running for reelection in a red state, said he appreciates the incumbent’s “commitment to public service and our country,” but that Biden “should not seek reelection to another term.” 

The Montana senator’s move added to ongoing Democratic drama that had been dulled slightly in the wake of the rally shooting but was renewed when more prominent party names piled on earlier this week. 

On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) shared “serious concerns” about Biden’s ability to beat Trump in November, and Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) joined the calls, saying it’s time for Biden to “pass the torch.”

Trump brought up Biden by name just once in his convention speech — though the reference was notably not in the remarks that were released ahead of time. 

“Only gonna use the term once: Biden. I’m not gonna use the name any more. Just one time,” Trump said, and though his speech went after the administration, he avoided talk of the drama playing out across the aisle. 

Talk is ramping up about Vice President Harris potentially replacing her boss at the top of the ticket, and Democratic Party insiders are murmuring that a decision about Biden’s political future could come in a matter of days as their own August convention nears.