Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he’s changing his upcoming speech at the Republican National Convention, saying his speech will focus on uniting the nation after surviving an assassination attempt.
The 45th president told The Washington Post on Sunday that he was “abandoning” his “very tough speech” to adopt a new approach following Saturday’s shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump, 78, is due to formally accept the Republican presidential nomination and deliver a speech at the party’s convention on Thursday.
“I want to bring the country together,” Trump said aboard his private jet en route to Milwaukee, “but I don’t know if that’s possible. We’re a very divided nation.”
“I had a really great speech prepared, very tough, talking about a corrupt and awful administration,” he told The Post about the Biden administration, “but I threw it away.”
During the rally, a gunman shot Trump in the ear, nearly killing him.
The shooting left one protester dead and two injured.
Trump said his policy stance, which focuses on immigrants and transgender Americans, could make it harder to heal the country’s divisions.
“Some people want the borders to be open, some people don’t,” he said.
“Some people want men to be able to play on women’s sports teams, some people don’t,” he said, emphasizing that success would bring the ultimate unity.
Biden, 81, has delivered a similar message of unity, saying from the Oval Office on Sunday night that “we are not enemies.”
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“We are neighbors, we are friends, we are colleagues, we are citizens, and above all, we are fellow Americans. We must come together,” the president said.
Additional reporting by David Propper
