Donald Trump officially accepts GOP nomination for POTUS, recounts assassination attempt

Former President Trump
delivered his highly anticipated speech on Thursday night as he accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination on the convention’s final evening. The emotional speech came after his decision earlier in the week to abandon his original 20-page speech due to Saturday’s attempted assassination.

“So many people have asked me what happened, and therefore, I’ll tell you what happened,” Trump said. “And you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell.”

As such, Trump began recounting the events from Butler, Pennsylvania over the weekend where the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire. The shot narrowly missed, hitting the former president’s skull and instead pierced his right ear while he was turning to look at one of his immigration charts displayed on a screen at the event.

“In order to see the chart, I started to turn to my right, and was ready to begin a further turn, which I’m lucky I didn’t, when I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me, really hard, on my right ear,” Trump recalled. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that—it can only be a bullet,’—and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down, and my hand was covered with blood, just blood all over the place. I immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack, and in one movement, proceeded to drop to the ground.”

“There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe, because I had God on my side,” Trump continued. “The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be with you tonight.”

Despite shots ringing out at the crowded rally, attendees did not “run for the exits or stampede,” Trump noted, but instead “tens of thousands of people stood by and didn’t move an inch. In fact, many of them bravely, but automatically, stood up looking for where the sniper would be, and then began pointing at him.”

Because of this, Trump said, “many lives were saved.”

“But that isn’t the reason they didn’t move—the reason is that they knew I was in serious trouble, they saw all of the blood, and thought I was dead, and they just didn’t want to leave me, and you can see that love written all over their faces,” he said.

“I am not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said, as the crowd shouted back, “Yes you are.”

“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” Trump said. “In watching the reports over the last few days, many people say it was a providential moment.”

“The crowd was confused because they thought I was dead,” Trump said. “And there was great great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked up. They didn’t know I was looking out they thought it was over. When I could see it I wanted to do something to let them know I was okay. I raised my right arm looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting and started shouting, ‘fight, fight, fight.’

Then, Trump recounted the moment the iconic fist-in-air photo was snapped by Associated Press photojournalist, Evan Vucci, as he was being carried off the stage surrounded by Secret Service.

“Once my clenched fist went up, high into the air, the crowd realized I was okay, and roared with pride for our country, like no crowd I have ever heard before,” Trump said. “For the rest of my life, I will be grateful for the love shown by that giant audience of patriots that stood bravely on that fateful evening in Pennsylvania.”