Many were expecting to see a completely rebranded Donald Trump as he formally accepted his party's presidential nomination during the final day of the Republican National Convention. And they did -- briefly. Then "old Trump" showed up.
"The 'new' Donald Trump soothed and silenced the nation for 28 minutes last night. Then the old Trump returned and bellowed, barked and bored America for 64 minutes more," Axios' Zachary Basu reported.
The former president delivered the longest convention speech in modern history at just under 93 minutes, as he formally accepted the GOP's nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump began his speech Thursday night by recounting how he survived an assassination attempt five days earlier at a Pennsylvania rally, saying it would be the only time he did so because "it's too painful to tell." By most accounts, the crowd sat captivated in near silence as Trump described what happened in vivid detail and declared he was alive "only by the grace of almighty God," bringing many to tears.
After vowing to be a president for "all of America," Trump quickly veered off course and his speech became reminiscent of a typical campaign rally as he went off the teleprompter meandering about a nation in decline and attacking his political enemies.
"We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement, which is what's been happening in our country lately, at a level that nobody has ever seen before," he said. "In that spirit, the Democrat party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy."
The speech was "packed with the same false claims, vicious rhetoric and personal grievances that have defined Trump's political career," Basu reported for Axios. He described it as "a standard Trump rally performance — but one that most politically unengaged Americans probably aren't used to seeing."
Trump used the occasion to brand Joe Biden "the worst president in history," who has done more harm to the country than "the 10 worst presidents" combined.
Trump confidently asserted that he could "stop wars with just a telephone call." He painted a dire picture of the world under Biden's administration, which he claimed has brought the globe to the brink of World War III. He also promised a comprehensive restoration of global peace and stability, though his speech lacked specific details on his proposed methods.
Elsewhere, Trump talked about intimidating the head of the Taliban and bragged that he "got along very well" with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, saying he'd continue to reach out to Kim should he return to the Oval Office next year.
"It's nice to get along with somebody who has a lot of nuclear weapons," Trump added. "I think he misses me, if you want to know the truth."
Trump also attempted to vilify migrants who are "coming in from every corner of the earth" by comparing them to the "late, great Hannibal Lecter," a fictional serial killer from the 1991 film "The Silence of the Lambs."
"They're coming from prisons. They're coming from jails. They're coming from mental institutions and insane asylums," he said. "Has anyone seen 'The Silence of the Lambs'? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He'd love to have you for dinner. That's insane asylums. They're emptying out their insane asylums. And terrorists at numbers that we've never seen before. Bad things are going to happen."
Although the speech was generally well received, reporters noticed some people falling asleep while Trump was talking.
"I saw a lot of delegates around me as this speech stretched into just about an hour and a half, scrolling through their phones and looking at apps and kind of passing the time until they got to the big balloon drop at the end," said Associated Press Reporter Meg Kinnard.
Still, the crowd was anxious to hear from Trump and more than excited to see him officially accept the GOP nomination, his third in a row.
"I think it was the speech that people were expecting," said ABC News Radio Correspondent Jim Ryan. "[Republicans] thought they would see a softer Donald Trump, some of the edges sanded away, I suppose, by the event last Saturday, the attempt on his life... but there he very quickly swerved off, and this became, essentially, a campaign rally."
"And again, the crowd loved it inside the building," Ryan added.