Trump pitches unity but revives old grievances

Former President Donald Trump toggled between somber messages of harmony and his favorite red meat rhetoric in a lengthy and charged speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination.

Trump, just days removed from surviving an assassination attempt at a Saturday rally, had forecasted a unifying, and largely delivered at the beginning, reliving details of the shooting that had some audience members in tears. As the speech went on, however, the former president switched back to the GOP's regularly scheduled programming, veering into unscripted tangents on everything from immigration to foreign policy, occasionally swiping at Democrats by name.

"The first half was perhaps one of the best speeches I have heard in a long time, really driven by emotion and brought a lot of people in. The second half was a rally speech that so many people love," one GOP strategist said. "It was really two separate speeches in one."

Trump appeared subdued at the start of the speech Thursday, pushing the country to turn the page on divisions that have ravaged the nation's politics.

"The discord and division in our society must be healed, we must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart," he told an emotional crowd.

He then recounted the details of the shooting, when a shooter grazed his right ear, injured two others and killed one rallygoer at his Pennsylvania rally. Trump said it would be the only time he would discuss the specifics of the assassination attempt because "it's actually too painful to tell."

"I'm not supposed to be here tonight," he told an emotional crowd. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God."

Trump also announced that $6.3 million had been raised to help the families of those killed and wounded in attack.

"Despite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever," Trump declared.

The opening had less of the trappings of a classic, raucous Trump rally, though that was to be expected, given the subject matter.

Quickly, however, the speech reverted back to more typical rhetoric.

Despite his team advertising beforehand that he wouldn't mention President Joe Biden by name, Trump shouted him out, dubbing him one of the worst presidents in American history.

"If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst, added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done. Only going to use the term once, Biden. I'm not going to use the name anymore, just one time. The damage that he's done to this country is unthinkable," Trump said to a crowd that was visibly getting more amped up.

He went on to mention "crazy Nancy Pelosi" and downplayed the current administration's ability to tackle the nation's problems -- though he said they were capable to fixing elections, reviving unfounded conspiracies about election fraud.

"We're dealing with very tough, very fierce people, they're fierce people. And we don't have fierce people, we have people that are a lot less than fierce, except when it comes to cheating on elections and a couple of other things, then they're fierce," he said, mentioning another topic that was not thought to be on the agenda for Thursday night.

The rest of the speech ping-ponged between the two trends.

Trump adlibbed extensively on immigration, repeating warnings that the country was facing an "invasion" at the Southern border and vowing to "drill, baby, drill" for oil and natural gas on his first day in office.

Toward the end of the remarks, he again sprinkled in messages of unity.

"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," he said. "Love, it's about love."

Taken together, the speech left the impression less of a candidate fundamentally changed by Saturday's tragic events as much as one recognizing its historicity, while still eager to energize his most fervent supporters.

"He's playing the greatest hits from 2016 -- Trump has not changed, he has not moderated, he has gotten worse," one Biden adviser said. "And he is making no appeal to moderates."

Republicans, meanwhile, praised the speech, saying it marked a blend that could be featured in future stump speeches.

"I thought it was a good blend," said Marc Lotter, an official on Trump's 2020 campaign. "I think it's one of the reasons why people like him, because he's not just reading off the teleprompter, the perfectly prepared, well- crafted, poll-tested talking points. He's adding that context, that commentary."

Other Republicans swatted away Democratic criticism that the speech was more of the same old, same old from Trump.

"He united the party and country," said another former Trump campaign official. "Same old led to one of the largest economic expansion in generations. Same old led to zero wars. Same old rebuilt the military."

Still, some Republicans were seeking more of an emphasis on unity -- and that dishing out red meat offered Democrats a chance to swing back at him and go on offense right as they're convulsing over Biden's place atop the 2024 ticket.

"Tone was what I expected, typically for these speeches he’s much more on teleprompter, some of his riffs were too long," one former senior Trump administration official said. "Overall, it doesn’t change anything, but they missed an opportunity to put this out of reach."