RNC 2024 Day 4 updates: Trump pitches unity, but revives old grievances

Trump leaned into his usual talking points during his RNC speech.

ByMeredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira, Alexandra Hutzler, Chris Boccia, and Tal Axelrod
Last Updated: July 19, 2024, 12:29 AM EDT

On the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention, former President Donald Trump gave a highly anticipated speech, which he said beforehand would call for unity following his assassination attempt.

However in his first speech since the incident, Trump leaned into his usual talking points, slamming President Joe Biden, Democrats and other critics on a wide variety of issues from the economy, immigration and crime.

For over an hour, Trump went off script much to the crowd's delight. The former president told them he was grateful for their support after his brush with death but argued that the country needed to be fixed due to Biden's policies.

The night also included wild speeches from guests such as Hulk Hogan and Eric Trump, who echoed some of the former president's rhetoric bashing Biden and the Democrats.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Jul 18, 2024, 10:06 PM EDT

Fact-checking Hulk’s off-script recollection of Trump

Some fact-checks are more important than others. But when a professional wrestler whose career is based on making things up speaks, you listen.

Enter Hulk Hogan, who went off the script with this memory during his remarks in Milwaukee: “You know guys. I've known Donald Trump for over 35 years ... I just had a flashback. Man, this is really tripping. You know, the last time I was up on stage, Donald Trump was sitting at ringside in the Trump Plaza. I was bleeding like a pig. Now … I won the World title right in front of Donald J. Trump, and you know something, he's gonna win in November, and we're all gonna be champions again when he wins.”

Is the Hulk’s memory that good?

His story checks out. Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, won the WWF heavyweight championship in April 1989 during WrestleMania V. Hogan pinned "Macho Man" Randy Savage to reclaim the title.

In the crowd that night, one Donald Trump. He’s even listed as a character on IMDB.

—PolitiFact’s Aaron Sharockman

Jul 18, 2024, 10:05 PM EDT

Crowd chants, 'We want Trump!'

During Eric Trump's speech, the crowd broke out into a "We want Trump!" chant.

They also chanted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Jul 18, 2024, 10:04 PM EDT

Eric Trump brings red-meat rhetoric to primetime

Eric Trump's speech included a couple lines designed to get a reaction out of this Republican base crowd. First, he decried "guys my height — 6' 5" — swimming in women's sports." And he claimed, falsely, that Democrats are letting immigrants into the country so they can vote in U.S. elections.

He's not the first speaker at this RNC to invoke these favorite conservative talking points, but he is the first to do so in primetime. Up until now, the RNC has kept the red-meat rhetoric confined to earlier in the evening, while primetime has been more focused on reaching out to swing voters.

—538's Nathaniel Rakich

Jul 18, 2024, 10:03 PM EDT

'We no longer trust our elections': Eric Trump slams father's critics

Eric Trump, the former president's second oldest son, took the stage and went after his father's critics and Democrats.

He cited the "made up Russia hoax, sham impeachments" and "the efforts to cancel us, to silence him, to gag his free speech, and to drag him through every radical left courthouse in America," and last week's assassination attempt as examples of how his father was attacked.

"The swamp is terrified of this movement," Eric Trump said.

Son of Former President Donald Trump Eric Trump speaks during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Eric Trump did not directly name President Joe Biden or former President Barack Obama in his speech.

Eric Trump argued that his father was "censured" and "persecuted" referencing his removal from social media platforms following the Jan. 6 attacks.

"We no longer trust our elections. We no longer trust our judicial system, and we no longer believe that our government is working in our best interest," he claimed.

"The greatest retribution will be our success," Eric Trump added.