It’s the big night at the Republican National Committee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Big Man himself will officially accept the GOP nomination for an historic third time.
In addition to former President Donald Trump, tonight’s line-up includes Tucker Carlson, Eric Trump, retired wrestler Hulk Hogan, UFC President Dana White, Rev. Franklin Graham, and a performance by Kid Rock.
But the main event will be Trump himself, who will be addressing the nation for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt last Saturday.
His speech will take place just two blocks away from the site where President Teddy Roosevelt survived an assassin’s bullet in 1912. Trump’s now iconic raised fist in the face of a killer calls to mind the manly swagger of that earlier Republican populist president from New York who famously said, “It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”
The former president—who since Saturday is being called an “American lion” rather than a “Bull Moose”—has reportedly re-written his convention speech since his brush with death because—as he told the Washington Examiner—he sees what happened as “a chance to bring the country together. I was given that chance.”
This positive and unifying messaging is on display in an ad the Trump campaign has been running on X/Twitter:
The Trump campaign is running this ad on X/Twitter with an ad buy.
Featuring various scenes from the last eight years. pic.twitter.com/aa8iP0mKMl
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 18, 2024
Speaking of X, its owner (and now Trump donor) Elon Musk tweeted this out today:
They’re taking Biden fishing soon … pic.twitter.com/5DrBdDnj17
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2024
Mike Allen’s Axios reports that the “walls” are “closing in” on President Joe Biden, who is back in his basement sick with COVID. The donkeys are in total disarray the likes of which we haven’t seen since John Podesta told the sobbing crowd at the Javits Center to go home. The news today is full of leaks and rumors of leaks, whisperings, mutterings, backstabbings, denials, non-denials, perfidy, obduracy, and generally all manner of Democrat despair.
The New York Times, which has been on a full jihad against Biden since his disastrous debate performance, reports that un-named people “close to President Biden” believe “he has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win in November and may have to drop out of the race.” And Mark Halperin reports that “multiple sources” told him that Biden could announce a withdrawal as early as Sunday.
But, as Breaking Biden author and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow explained on X today, “[T]here is nothing in Joe Biden’s character that will compel him to stand down.” There is “only one way to get him out,” Marlow believes, and it’s not a fishing trip. It’s a bag of cash big enough for the whole Biden syndicate.
As I’ve been saying for years, there is nothing in Joe Biden’s character that will compel him to stand down.
Not a single member of his inner circle has broken with him publicly.
He DGAF about what the media says about him, even the NYT (or the Obama pod bros).
He obviously…
— Alex Marlow (@AlexMarlow) July 18, 2024
Finally, on a sad note, Lou Dobbs passed away today at the age of 78. The legendary conservative commentator was among the first to sound the warning about the economic impact open borders have on American workers. In a statement on Truth Social, Trump referred to him as “The Great Lou Dobbs” and called him a “friend, and truly incredible Journalist, Reporter, and Talent.” Dobbs, Trump writes, “understood the World, and what was ‘happening,’ better than others. Lou was unique in so many ways, and loved our Country.”
And now, we turn our gaze to the stage in Milwaukee.
Follow Breitbart News for live updates below, all times Pacific.
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8:02 p.m. PT
“I am here tonight to lay out a vision for the whole nation,” he says. “To every citizen, whether you are young or old, man or woman, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, black or white, Asian or Hispanic, I extend to you a hand of loyalty and friendship.”
Trump now gives the crib note version of all the thing he accomplished in his first term.
8:00 p.m. PT
He gives a shout out to JD Vance and his wife, Usha.
He asks Wisconsin to “give us your vote” and jokes “I am trying to buy your vote” with all of the money they are spending in Wisconsin.
7:56 p.m. PT
“We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,” he says. “The Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their opponent an enemy of democracy. Especially since that is not true.”
“I am the one saving democracy for the people of our country,” he said. “If Democrats want to unify our country, they should stop these witch hunts” and allow the political process to continue without interference.
He says he’s honored to have his wife, Melania, with him on this journey and thanks her letter to America after Saturday’s shooting. He jokes that it should be part of the Republican platform.
He greets his children and his 10 grandchildren.
7:48 p.m. PT
Trump asks for a moment of silence for Corey, and he paraphrases the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for others.
7:32 p.m. PT
Trump is speaking in front of a backdrop facade of the White House. He says that we will launch a new area of prosperity. He says, “I am running to be president for all of American, not half of America.”
He begins by thanking the American people for the outpouring of support after the assassination attempt.
Now he talks about what happened, and he says this is the only time he will talk about it because “it is too painful” to tell this story.
He says that after he was pulled down to the stage and was bleeding he felt “very safe because I had God on my side.”
He praises the rally crowd who didn’t panic or stampede. He said that they were concerned that because they knew he was hurt. He calls them “incredible people.” He praises the Secret Service agents who put themselves in peril to protect him.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he says. And the crowd chants back, “Yes, you are!”
He says, “I stand before you in this arena only by the grave of Almighty God.”
He explains that he wanted to do something to show the crowd that he was okay and that is why he shouted “Fight, fight, fight!” He said, the crowd realized he was okay and “roared with pride for our country.” He says that “for the rest of my life” he will be grateful to that crowd.
He now talks about Corey Compertore, who was killed, and David Dutch and James Copenhaver who are in critical condition from the shooting.
What a fine man he was,”Trump says about Corey. And the crowd chants, “Corey!” And Trump shows them Corey Compertore’s firefighter uniform and helmet which is on stage. Trump kissed his helmet.
7:30 p.m. PT
Lee Greenwood sings “Proud to Be an American,” as Trump enters the stage with fanfare.
7:23 p.m. PT
UFC CEO Dana White introduces Trump, which he says Trump characterized as “the ultimate fight for our country.” He says, “I know President Trump is a fighter”… and says that now we have all seen. “The higher the stakes, the harder he fights.”
7:17 p.m. PT
Michigan’s own Kid Rock takes the stage to sing his a Trump “fight” song.
This ain’t your granddad’s Republican Party.
(This is definitely not Melania’s style of tunes, when the camera pans to her, but, of course, she’s polite. She’s sitting next to JD Vance who’s nodding his head along to Kid Rock.)
7:12 p.m. PT
Former First Lady Melania Trump enters to Beethoven’s 9th symphony. Classy!
6:44 p.m. PT
Now Trump’s son Eric Trump takes stage and talks about his father’s love for the country and concern for what is happening to it. He talks about all the attacks the Trump family has endured, including to the business they have worked to build. He explains the issues confronting the country and why his father ran in 2016.
He says that big divine intervention and a guardian angel Trump survived the assassination attempt. Eric leads the crowd in a “Fight, fight, fight!” chant.
6:37 p.m. PT
The Rev. Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse talks about how God spared Trump’s life on Saturday. He says that for as long as he’s known Trump, he has been a man of his words. When he promised to defend religious liberty, he did. When he said he would appoint conservative justices, he did. Graham talks about how Trump stood up for religious freedom.
He says, he knows that Trump will keep his word to the American people to make America great again.
And now Rev. Graham asks everyone to stand for a prayer. In his prayer, Rev. Graham thanks God for sparing Trump’s life. He prays for the comfort of the victims on Saturday. He thanks God for His blessings on America. He asks God to help us fix the complexity of America’s problems and asks the God grant Trump wisdom and good people around him. He mentions Trump’s family and his wife, Melania, and JD and Usha Vance.
6:27 p.m. PT
Here we go — it’s Hulk Hogan. He gets a chant of “USA!”
He calls Trump “my hero, that gladiator!” Trump, a yuuuuge wrestling fan, is smiling.
Hogan says “all the real Americans” will be called “Trumpites” when Trump gets elected and all the “Trumpites” will get America back on track.
He pulls off his shirt to reveal a “Trump/Vance” t-shirt and shouts about Trumpamania.”
(Photo: Wendell Husebo/Breitbart News)
He says that he’s known Trump for over 35 years and that recalls how he won the world title when Trump was in the audience ring side. He says that Trump “has always been the biggest patriot, and he still is.” He says Trump has always told us “exactly what he thought” and that with Trump America “will start winning again.”
He says “Donald Trump is the toughest of them all.” He lists all court cases and says Trump “is still standing and kicking their butts.”
6:26 p.m. PT
Trump enters again to “I’m a Soul Man” accompanied by his all kids and grandkids.
6:16 p.m. PT
The New York Times photographer snapped a photo backstage of none other than former First Lady Melania Trump with her husband.
5:54 p.m. PT
Annette Albright, from North Carolina, who is an advocate for safe schools, speaks next. She says she was a “life-long member of the Democratic Party”… but adds “don’t worry, it gets better from here,” which earns her a laugh. She tells the story about how, as a former teacher and corrections officer, she experienced firsthand the chaos in our schools when she was attacked by a group of students in 2016. She talks about how an Obama-era program put violent kids back in the classroom. She says that she is now a registered Republican and will “proudly” vote for Trump. She says, “Only together, we will make America’s schools great again.”
5:50 p.m. PT
Carrie Ruiz, the general manager at Trump’s Doral club, talks about how Trump worked to make that iconic resort “great again.” She says Trump works with his employees, encourages them, really listens, and provides “unwavering support.” She says appointing her to the job at Doral was “an out of the box choice,” but Trump “welcomes the unconventional” and regularly promotes women.
(Side note: This is something that even Trump’s liberal haters cannot deny about him. He has regularly advanced the careers of women throughout his years in business. This was conveniently forgotten when he decided to run for president as a Republican.)
5:30 p.m. PT
Get ready — next up is Tucker Carlson. This should be good.
Tucker says, “I feel like I know half the people in the room.” He gives a big shout out to Peter Navarro who “suffered the fate” of many of Trump’s friends.
He says he watched the video of Trump’s assassination attempt 50 times and realized that “everything was different” after that because Trump became “the leader of the nation.” He explains how that moment conveyed “legitimacy” on Trump as a “leader” because “a leader is the bravest man as “a fact of nature” throughout human history. And he feels that this moment changed Trump. When he talked to Trump that day, Trump only talked about how proud he was of the crowd at the rally for not running or panicking, instead of talking about himself. And Tucker notes that instead of inflaming people or taking any pot shots at his opponents after that–which he easily could have done–he has not at all. All he said afterwards was talk about unity.
Tucker says that actual democracy requires the leaders to represent the actual desires of the people. The attacks on the Trump movement as a “threat to democracy” are ridiculous, he explains, because the point of the MAGA movement is to get leaders to actually do the will of the people.
He talks about the deaths from fentanyl on our streets, which he says has killed more Americans than died in World War II, but our leaders have done nothing to stop the drugs from being trafficked in by the cartels.
He says Trump has shown that he actually cares about these things. And Tucker talks about JD Vance, who he describes as his friend, and explains that Vance actually agrees with Trump’s positions which makes him the perfect choice for VP.
Tucker talks about the day Antifa thugs came to his house and terrified his wife. And Trump called his wife the next day and said, “I’m going to stand guard outside your house.” And then he said, “There’s a lot of hate out there, but there’s also a lot of love.”
Tucker Carlson on the moment Trump was shot:
“A leader is the bravest man. That’s who the leader is. That is true in ALL human organizations. That is a law of nature. And in that moment, Donald Trump — months before the presidential election — became the leader of this nation.” pic.twitter.com/wDiwWv1Ewt
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 19, 2024
5:18 p.m. PT
President Trump’s attorney Alina Habba, a regular on Breitbart radio, says that “as a devout Catholic and proud Arab American woman” (right on, sister!) and wife of a Jewish American husband and daughter of American Iraqi parents, she wants to explain what Trump is like as a “friend” — and she gets choked up when she calls him her friend.
She says that despite the left’s lawfare, “There is no bulldozer big enough or strong enough to remove the legacy that he has build or the future he is creating.” She talks about the country her family fled 40 years ago because of oppression and came to America because it is a beacon of opportunity and why we must keep this “the greatest nation on earth.” This earns chants of “USA!” from the crowd.
She says, “Every attack on President Trump strengthens our movement.” She says, “The only crime President Trump has committed is loving America. And America, we are winning.”
She talks about Trump’s love of music that he played for her his new favorite song playing in the background — “Hold on, I’m coming.” She said, “America, we don’t have to hold on. We just have to show up.”
5:04 p.m. PT
Zach Witkoff introduces his father New York real estate developer Steve Witkoff.
Steve Witkoff enters the stage to Elvis’ “An American Trilogy,” and he explains that Trump loves his playlist and this is the song that he feels best captures Trump. He says he thought of this song and the line “his truth is marching on” when he heard Trump was shot on Saturday. He said he called Trump right after he heard the news on Saturday and expected to get Trump’s voice mail, but instead Trump picked up and asked how Steve was doing. He talks about how warm Trump is with total strangers. He talks about the pain of losing his son, Andrew, to an opioid overdose and how Trump invited him to talk about Andrew at a conference at the White House. He says that Trump put his hand on his shoulder that day and said, “Steve, Tell the world about your boy,” He talks about how Andrew–who helped people in the community–had the same kindness towards people he’s seen in Trump. He talks about how he gave a keepsake belonging to Andrew, who like Trump loved music, and that Trump proudly displays it on his property for everyone see.
This is a lovely humanizing speech, which like Trump’s granddaughter’s speech yesterday, shows a different side to Trump than the one the media portrays.
4:56 p.m. PT
Now we hear from John Nieporte, the top golf professional at one of Trump’s clubs. He talks about what a great golfer and boss Trump is. He says Trump won 21 club championships to Joe Bidens’s 0. He talks about how he started out as a caddy to Trump, and Trump gave him a chance to be a pro.
4:55 p.m. PT
And here he comes wearing his trademark MAGA red tie tonight! Trump is in the house! He enters to AC/DC’s “Back in Black.”
Trump, the New York Times notes, picks all of his music and loves his playlist.
4:53 p.m. PT
Detroit Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who was born and raised on the East Side of Detroit, takes the stage and talks about how Jesus changes lives. He talks about how Trump came to Detroit to his church in a “Democrat stronghold” and came to “not to speak to us, but to listen to us.” And he says that Trump came on his birthday weekend “to the hood” because “he cares about average Americans.” He says that what Trump asked for that day on his birthday was prayers. And he says that “Only God knew that 30 days later” after they prayed for him “there would be a miracle by a millimeter.” He explains how that “millimeter” allowed Trump to be here today.
He gives a great riff about that “millimeter” from death that allowed everyone to be here. Now he talks about God’s providence. He quotes from Ephesians 6:10: “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” And asks if Trump was kept alive for just such a time as this (an homage to the Book of Esther). And Pastor Sewell has got the Spirit now. He’s preaching it. And the crowd is on their feet showing, “Amen!”
Pastor Sewell took us all to church!
4:34 p.m. PT
Former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks about the honor of working for Trump. He lists the accomplishments, starting with “no new American wars.” He adds the closed southern border, the defeat of ISIS and its caliphate, no Chinese spy balloon, and we “never lost our secretary of defense for two weeks.” He denounced “the indecent” Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan and acknowledged the Gold Star families of the 13 service members who died in the Kabul airport bombing. He says we can’t trust the Biden administration.
4:27 p.m. PT
Linda McMahon tells the story of how Trump visited her hometown of New Bern, North Carolina, after hurricane Florence and talked with the small business owners, understanding the challenges they faced in rebuilding. She explains how she understand small businesses and that he “would stand at the gates of hell” to defend America because he loves it. She says she knows he can make America great again because he already did it once before.
4:20 p.m. PT
Next, we’ll hear from Linda McMahon, the administrator of the Small Business Administration under Trump, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
4:19 p.m. PT
Trump campaign volunteer Diane Evans takes the stage. She says she’s never used a teleprompter before, but if Joe Biden can, she can too. She talks about how she was energized to get involved in politics during the 2020 election. She says she volunteered at the local Trump campaign office to do whatever odd job needed to be done, including taking out the garbage. She says, “And now I’m trying to take out the garbage at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” She encourages everyone to get out and vote “and tell 20 people to tell 20 people” to go vote.
4:11 p.m. PT
Diane Hendricks, Wisconsin business owner, says that she’s “living proof that the American dream is possible with hard work and determination.” She talks about being a single mom without a college degree who worked two jobs and founded the roofing distributor company, ABC Supply. She says she was recently recognized as “the most successful self-made woman in America.” To aspiring entrepreneurs, she says, “If I can make it, you can make it too.” Now she talks about how hard it is now for building trying to build a business. “We need a builder back in the White House,” she says.
4:08 p.m. PT
North Carolina’s Rep. Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, talks about what the House Republicans have done since winning the majority. He says, “We need backup. We need to grow our majority, and we need Donald Trump back in the White House.”
3:54 p.m. PT
Montana’s own Sen. Steve Daines, who sat down for an interview with Breitbart News yesterday, talks about how the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of which he is the chair, is working to get a Senate majority in this year’s election.
3:50 p.m. PT
Mary Millben gave a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. She gave a shout out that “America is the greatest country in the world.” And she added the beautiful extra verses made famous in the 1980s by the gospel singer Sandi Patty, when she sang it for the 100th anniversary celebration for the Statue of Liberty. Wow! Mary was amazing! Now that’s how you sing the “Star Spangled Banner”!
3:45 p.m. PT
The the fourth night is gaveled in. The benediction is given, and it’s the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel “to defend us in battle and “be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.”
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