President Donald Trump’s speech on Thursday at the Republican National Convention accepting his party’s presidential nomination was notable for three reasons.
1. He shared his moving story of surviving an assassination attempt. 2. He broke the record for the length of an acceptance speech, speaking for 92 minutes. 3. He spoke after UFC president Dana White and wrestler Hulk Hogan.
But it was also simply a remarkable speech.
Here are 17 notable lines, not all of which were spoken by Trump — in fact, one of them was a moment of silence.
- I’m running to be President for all of America, not just for half of America, because winning for half of America is not a victory.
- As you know, an assassin’s bullet nearly took my life. Many people have asked me what happened. “Tell me what happened.” So I’m going to tell you exactly what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me again, because it actually hurts too much to tell.
- This wonderful crowd just didn’t want to leave me. They knew I was in trouble. They didn’t want to leave me. And you can see that love written all over their faces.
- I shouldn’t be here tonight. I shouldn’t be here. [Crowd chants “Yes, you are.”]
- You saw my fist go up in the air, and the crowd realized I was OK. They let out a cheer filled with the greatest pride for their country that they had ever heard.I’ve never heard of such a thing.
- So now we would like to hold a moment of silence in honor of our friend Corey. [Comperatore]. [SILENCE] There is no greater love than to give your life for another. This is the spirit that forged America in our darkest hours. This is the love that will lead us back to the pinnacle of human achievement and greatness.
- And we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement, as we have seen recently in our country at a level we’ve never seen before. In that spirit, Democrats should immediately stop weaponizing the judicial system and labeling their political opponents as enemies of democracy. That is particularly not true. In fact, I am the one who is saving our democracy for the people of my country.
- I’m so honored to have my incredible wife, Melania, join me on this journey. And Melania, thank you so much. You also did something really wonderful: a letter calling on America to come together. That really surprised the Republican Party. That was really wonderful. In fact, some very serious people have said that the letter should be part of the Republican platform.
- We beat them on impeachment. We beat them on indictment. We beat them on prosecution. But the time you have to put in, the time you have to put in. If they would dedicate their genius to helping our country, we would be a stronger, better nation.
- It was an honor to be selected [JC Vance]He was a brilliant student at Yale, his wife was a student at Yale, they met at Yale, and they’re both very smart people. JD, you’re going to be at this for a long time, so enjoy it.
- And by the way, in Wisconsin, we’re spending over $250 million to create jobs and other economic development in our state. I hope you’ll remember that and vote in November. I’m trying to buy your vote, I’ll be honest with you. And I am committed to making Wisconsin great again.
- Imagine if you could name the 10 worst presidents in American history. The 10 worst. The combined total of those wouldn’t do the damage that Biden has done. I’m only going to use this word once. Biden. I will never use that name again. Just this once. The damage he has done to this country is unimaginable. It is unthinkable.
- So who do you think is suffering the most from all the millions of people flooding into our country? Black and Hispanic populations. Because they’re taking jobs away from our black people, our Hispanics, and they’re taking jobs away from our unions, and the unions are suffering because of that.
- They come from prisons, they come from jails, they come from mental hospitals and psychiatric hospitals. And when I say this, the media always takes notice. Has anyone seen “Silence of the Lambs”? The late, great Hannibal Lecter, who wants to invite you to dinner. It’s the psychiatric hospitals. The psychiatric hospitals are emptying out. And we have more terrorists than we’ve ever seen. Bad things are going to happen.
- And I say this to everyone in the world. We want the hostages home, and if they aren’t returned before I take office, there will be a very heavy price to pay.
- We live in a world of miracles, and no one knows where God’s plan or life’s adventure will take us. But if the events of last Saturday demonstrated anything clearly, it’s that every moment we spend on earth is a gift from God. We must make the most of each and every day for our beloved people and country.
- You have been told to lower your expectations and accept less for your family. Tonight I am here with the opposite message: Your expectations are not high enough.
Here’s a link to the full recording speechCourtesy of The New York Times.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
