2024 RNC: Trump delivers a message of ‘unity’ — until he doesn’t

Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock rile up the crowd before former President Donald Trump recounts the recent attempt on his life and tries a new tone of unity. This is Yahoo News' succinct wrap-up of day four of the RNC in Milwaukee. Here’s what you need to know:

🖼 Big picture

At the end of an energetic convention, Trump — his ear still bandaged, his voice softer than usual — accepted his third-straight Republican presidential nomination by claiming, like many other speakers this week, that “the grace of an almighty God” saved him from assassination so that he, in turn, could save America. “There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way, I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” Trump said. “I felt that.”

📌 Key takeaways

A new tone? The big question heading into the closing night of the convention was whether the Trump who took the stage in Milwaukee would be any different than the Trump who took the stage in Butler, Pa. five days earlier. Or at the very least, whether he would sound any different.

"[I] prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible [Biden] administration,” Trump told the New York Post over the weekend. “But I threw it away.”

Why? “I want to try to unite our country,” he said. Trump’s aides told reporters he wouldn’t even mention Biden in his remarks.

Regardless of whether Trump has truly been transformed, it was plain to see the second he stood up Saturday, with blood staining his cheek and his fist raised in defiance, that he now had a rare opportunity to transform his message — an opportunity he seemed to recognize. But would he have the self-control to seize it?

Strong start: Trump started strong, reluctantly revisiting Saturday’s trauma to share his experience. “As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life,” he said. “So many people have asked me what happened, and therefore, I’ll tell you what happened — and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell.”

As Trump spoke — with dramatic photos of that day displayed on huge screens above his head — he did seem pained. "I'm not supposed to be here tonight,” he confessed at one point. “Yes you are!” the crowd roared back.

Trump went on to say that he is now “running to be president for all of America, not half of America,” because “there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

Teleprompter Trump vs. Stump Trump: But it wasn't long before he relapsed. Students of Trump’s political career are accustomed to the way he tends to toggle, in certain campaign contexts, between half-heartedly reciting his prepared remarks and eagerly reverting to familiar, crowd-pleasing riffs — often multiple times in the span of a single sentence.

On Thursday, scripted lines like “we rise together or we fall apart” and “the discord and division in our society must be healed” got the bland Teleprompter treatment, while improvised interruptions about “crazy Nancy Pelosi… destroying our country” and Democrats “cheating on elections” constantly shifted focus back the discord and division Trump had seemingly just decried. The rally-style detours didn’t just distract from whatever point Trump was trying to make about unity — they often directly contradicted it.

Ultimately, Trump couldn’t resist. About halfway through the nearly 100-minute speech, after lengthy digressions on the border "invasion" and Hungary's Viktor Orbán, he finally attacked his Democratic opponent by name. “If you took the ten worst presidents in the history of the United States and added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done,” he said. “I will only use the name once… Biden.”

Holding a grudge: How does Trump propose to unite America? It’s up to his opponents, he said Thursday. “If Democrats want to unify our country,” he explained, “they should drop these partisan witch hunts [that] I have been going through without delay.”

For years, the former president has portrayed himself primarily as a victim — of (in his view) snooty elites, unelected judges, crooked election officials, "deep state" bureaucrats and the vast, hidden machinery of a hostile Biden administration, all arrayed against him.

Although such conspiracy theories have been repeatedly and thoroughly debunked, Trump’s persecution strategy has served two useful purposes. First, it has given him a way to transfer all responsibility for his troubles and transgressions — criminal, civil, electoral, financial or otherwise — onto his political opponents. Second, it has solidified his bond with voters who feel victimized themselves.

On Saturday, Trump was literally victimized, through no fault of his own; his camp reportedly told convention speakers not to dial up outrage over the shooting. But those closest to him still tiptoed right up to the edge Thursday night.

“My father has been persecuted [and] targeted by far-left Democrats,” his son Eric said on stage — to the point where he “even became the target of an assassin.”

“The swamp is terrified of this incredible movement,” Eric continued. “They’re terrified of you. They’ve tried everything to keep him from you: to destroy his legacy, to destroy his family. They have failed and they will not win.”

Lucky streak: Trump’s speech Thursday capped a run of good fortune — both personal and political — unlike anything in U.S. campaign history. A Supreme Court stocked with three of his appointees created a new rule about presidential immunity that cast doubt on whether he would ever stand trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election. In Florida, another Trump appointee dismissed all of his classified-documents charges. Trump’s rival, the incumbent president of the United States, self-destructed so spectacularly during their first debate that the entire Democratic Party went into crisis mode over whether he should even continue his candidacy. Then Trump dodged a literal bullet in Pennsylvania.

But none of these lucky breaks changes the fact that America is a intensely polarized country; that Trump has never won the popular vote, or topped 47%, in either of his previous two presidential campaigns; that he left office in 2021 with a much higher disapproval rating (nearly 58%) than any of his modern presidential predecessors; and that even now, after all that has gone his way, he’s still only earning the support of 43% of Americans. Those dynamics may prove more powerful — and durable — than Trump’s new tone.

Fighting words: In politics, celebrity endorsements rarely go viral. But by thinking big — and retro — Thursday night, Trump’s team might have managed just that. In the 1980s, wrestling icon Hulk Hogan was famous for dramatically ripping off his shirt as he entered the ring. Stepping to the mic in Milwaukee, Hogan told the crowd that the “vibe was so intense” that felt like he was about to wrestle again. Then, true to form, he tore off his T-shirt to reveal a red Trump-Vance tank top. “When they took a shot at my hero and they tried to kill the next president of the United States, enough was enough,” Hogan shouted. “I said let Trumpamania run wild, brother! Let Trumpamania rule again! Let Trumpamania make America great again!” A few minutes later, Kid Rock performed his 2000 hit “American Badass,” replacing some of its raunchy original lyrics with pro-Trump phrases; then he introduced Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship. “I know President Trump is a fighter,” he said. “I’m in the tough-guy business.” These weren’t the hip Hollywood stars of the Obama era, but that was the point.

The last Trumps finally arrive: Unlike Eric (who spoke Thursday) and Don, Jr. (who spoke Wednesday), the most prominent Trump women, daughter Ivanka and wife, Melania, were absent for most of the week. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, may have served in the highest echelons of the Trump White House; Melania might have lived there as first lady. But all of them have been remarkably reluctant to reengage this time around. “I'm choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family,” Ivanka has said. Melania has skipped all but three campaign events. Yet Thursday afternoon the trio was spotted boarding Trump's private plane in Newark, and they arrived in Milwaukee just in time to catch the former (and possibly future) president’s remarks. Melania’s entrance was announced to the dulcet tones of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She went straight to the VIP box and did not speak, but Trump name-checked her in his speech — and she received a standing ovation.

Make Trump Nice Again: Thursday’s official theme was “Make America Great Once Again,” but its unofficial theme might as well have been “Make Trump Nice Again.” Never seen as the cuddliest or most caring figure — his signature line on The Apprentice was “You’re fired!” — Trump and those around him seemed intent this week on recasting the former president as empathizer in chief. Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO, recalled how Trump once let his granddaughter muss his careful coif; Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, remembered her kids cruising around in Trump’s golf cart. Most substantively, Steve Witkoff — who befriended Trump in 1986 — recounted giving Trump his son’s guitar after the boy died of an opioid overdose. It’s been prominently displayed at one of Trump’s resorts ever since. “You don’t see this man’s reverence, his steady loyalty, his true empathy in the TV coverage,” Witkoff said. “But this is the truth about President Trump.” Empathy has long been considered one of Biden’s political superpowers. Perhaps Trump thinks he can change that.

🗣️ Thursday’s notable speakers

• Sen. Steve Daines of Montana

• Linda McMahon, former administrator of the Small Business Administration and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment

• Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State

• Alina Habba, Donald Trump's attorney

• Tucker Carlson, former Fox News host and founder of Tucker Carlson Network

• Hulk Hogan, professional entertainer and wrestler

• Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

• Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump

• Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship

• President Donald Trump

📖 Political terms you should know

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• ‘Economic nationalism’ at the RNC clashes with Trump’s pitch to donors. “Trump is trying to present a more worker-friendly vision of the Republican Party at this week’s convention, but he has continued to make clear in private that he views himself as the best choice for billionaires and big business, according to donors who have attended fundraising events.” [Washington Post]

• Joe Biden reportedly more open to calls for him to step aside as candidate. “The president has reportedly started asking questions about negative polling data and whether the vice-president, Kamala Harris, considered the favorite to replace him if were to withdraw, fares better.” [The Guardian]

• Project 2028: A parade of Republican officials jockeys during the RNC for future White House runs. “For now, the 39-year-old Vance starts as a potentially seamless understudy. But he has plenty of company among Republicans who assume a wide-open 2028 primary, because Trump will either be a term-limited president or an 82-year-old who would not run again.” [Associated Press]

• What it would take to deport millions of immigrants. “The consensus among immigration experts and former homeland security officials is that logistical, legal, bureaucratic and cost barriers would make it virtually impossible to carry out the mass deportations Trump seeks in the span of a four-year presidential term.” [New York Times]