'I had God on my side': Donald Trump makes first speech since assassination attempt
Donald Trump took to the stage for the first time since almost losing his life at the weekend, US correspondent Dan Rivers reports.
Donald Trump said he had "God on my side" as he spoke for the first time since a failed attempt on his life.
The former president made a speech at the Republican National Convention, where he accepted his party's presidential nomination.
The 78-year-old used the opportunity to address the botched assassination attempt for the first time and said: “If I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark. And I would not be here tonight.”
The often divisive Republican leader embraced a new tone of unity as he looked to generate even more momentum in an election that appeared to be shifting in his favour.
“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly," he added.
"As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart.
“I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”
Trump also outlined an agenda led by what he promises would be the largest deportation operation in US history. He repeatedly accused people crossing the US-Mexico border illegally of staging an “invasion".
He was accompanied by Melania and Ivanka Trump, neither of whom gave speeches.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was among those in the audience to watch Trump's speech.
He wrote on X "Make America Great Once Again!" with pictures of him grinning in the crowd.
Trump also once again falsely suggested Democrats had cheated during the 2020 election he lost — despite a raft of federal and state investigations proving there was no systemic fraud.
He avoided mentioning abortion rights, and the insurrection at the US Capitol. He also scarcely mentioned US President Joe Biden by name, referring only to the “current administration.”
His address was among the longest convention speeches in modern history, at just under 93 minutes.
It marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates.
Trump's appearance comes as calls mount for Biden to stand aside, after a shaky debate performance and several high-profile gaffes led to concerns over whether the 81-year-old was fit for office.
Biden is instead in isolation at his beach home in Delaware after having been diagnosed with COVID-19.
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