The four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is now officially over. And what a week it was. I am not normally a political junkie who watches things like this in full. But this time I did watch a good majority of it. In part, this was because there were so many stirring, inspiring and powerful speeches. And as I said in yesterday’s piece, some of the best talks were those by “Everyday Americans.”
One key overall theme of the week was strength versus weakness. That sums up Trump versus Biden. Of interest, the Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator Van Jones said this yesterday: “Today is a terrible day. If you pull back and look at this thing, strength versus weakness, a bullet couldn’t stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden. You’ve got the nominees for this party getting their butts kissed. Biden’s getting his butt kicked by his own party. The Democrats are coming apart, the Republicans are coming together.”
And of course any day now we might hear that Biden has finally dropped out. Some twenty key Democrat leaders have already told him to get out, and many more will join that chorus in the days ahead. Then the fun will begin: Will they go with the cackling Kamala and risk perhaps even greater defeat in November, or do they quickly seek to find someone who can stand against a buoyant and rejuvenated Trump?
Let me here offer just some of the key quotes (out of many) that we heard over the past four days. I already shared a number of these yesterday, so check that piece out as well.
Donald Trump just finished his lengthy address, accepting the Party’s nomination and ‘humbly asking’ for the vote of the people. Early on he said this: “I am not supposed to be here tonight.” To which the crowd instantly roared back, “Yes you are, yes you are.”
He recounted what happened on that Saturday evening, and said, “I’m here by the grace of Almighty God.” He also said this: “If the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on earth is a gift from God.”
He spoke of the need to move forward in unity as a nation: “The discord and division in our society must be healed. 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 it.”
But he did have to highlight the mess that Biden has made: “If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst, added them up, they will not have done the damage Biden has done. Only gonna use the term once, Biden, I’m not gonna use the name anymore, just one time.”
His closing words included these: “Tonight I ask for your partnership, for your support, and I am humbly asking for your vote. To all of the forgotten men and women who have been neglected, abandoned and left behind, you will be forgotten no longer,” the former president added. “We will press forward, and together, we will win, win, win.”
Former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said this about Trump and his team:
My relationship with Mr. Trump was forged under fire in a foxhole in 2016 after he asked me to be his campaign manager. We had no idea that he was making history as the first successful presidential nominee ever to tap a woman to lead a campaign. But that was a natural for Donald J. Trump. He had elevated women in New York real estate decades before, when few people would. One morning I was in an early senior staff meeting in the White House, and as I glanced around the table, something caught my eye. In that meeting were Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mercedes Schlapp, Brooke Rollins, Ivanka Trump, and me. I soon realized that among us, we have 19 children at the time, ages two through 16. Show me a C-suite in America where five working moms of 19 young children could have the highest rank in the company and work alongside the president.
News commentator Tucker Carlson who has known Trump for a long time said this about the shooting: “Everything was different after that moment. This convention is different. The world is different. Donald Trump is different. When he stood up after being shot in the face, bloodied, and put his hand up, I thought at that moment, that was a transformation.”
Arizona politician and former television news anchor Kari Lake said this about a new awakening in America:
I learned something watching the Nature Channel, which is that the most dangerous place on planet Earth is between a mama bear and her baby cubs. And that’s where the radical left has found themselves, because they’ve awoken a sleeping giant. Tens of millions of moms and dads from sea to shining sea, they’re going to be showing up on November 5th. I can think of one thing more dangerous than a grizzly bear, and that’s a middle-aged, fed-up mother in Washington, D.C. … My daughter’s over there — selfishly, I want to fight for my kids, but I want to fight for your kids as well. They deserve a better future.
The famous neurosurgeon who served in the first Trump term, Ben Carson said this:
Like many of you, last week I watched with horror as the events unfolded in that Pennsylvania field. I saw President Trump, a dear friend, escape death by mere inches. And my thoughts immediately turned to the book of Isaiah that says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” Well, let me tell you the weapons that they use. First, they tried to ruin his reputation and he’s more popular now than ever. And then they tried to bankrupt him and he’s got more money now than he had before. And then they tried to put him in prison and he’s freer and has made other people free with him. And then last weekend they tried to kill him and there he is over there alive and well.
Evangelist Franklin Graham not only briefly shared the gospel message in his short talk, but he led the crowd in prayer as well. He mentioned, as did so many others, that it was a God thing that Trump survived the assassin’s bullet. But he went on to say this: “I cannot explain why God would save one life and allow another one to be taken. I don’t have the answer for that.”
Kai Madison Trump, the 17-year-old granddaughter of Trump sought to show us what he is really like. She said in part:
I’m speaking today to share the side of my grandpa that people don’t often see. To me, he’s just a normal grandpa. He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking. He always wants to know how we’re doing in school. When I made the high honor roll, he printed it out to show his friends how proud he was of me. I know. He calls me during the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going, and tells me all about his, but then I have to remind him that I’m in school and I’ll have to call him back later. When we play golf together, if I’m not on his team, he’ll try to get inside of my head. I know. And he is always surprised that I don’t let him get to me, but I have to remind him I’m a Trump too.
98-year-old World War II and D-Day veteran Sergeant William Pekrul was amazing. He was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star for his performance in WWII. He and his wife Rose Mary have been married for 76 years and have 11 children. He brought the crowd to its feet when he stated, “With President Trump back as Commander in Chief, I would go back to reenlist today, and I would storm whatever beach my country needs me to.”
Florida Senator Marco Rubio said this in part:
By giving voice to everyday Americans, President Trump has not just transformed our party, he has inspired a movement. A movement of the people who grow our food and drive our trucks, the people who make our cars and build our homes, the people whose taxes fund our government, and whose children fight our wars. Americans like Corey Comparatore. He was a former fire chief and a loving husband. He was described as the best dad a girl could ever ask for. As a man of God who loved Jesus fiercely and looked after members of his church. Corey was one of the millions of everyday Americans who make our country great. He wasn’t rich, he wasn’t famous. And the only reason why we know his name and story now is because last Saturday, he shielded his wife and daughter from an assassin’s bullet and lost his life the way he lived it; a hero.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell a senior pastor at 180 Church in Detroit, gave a rousing talk, including these words:
You can’t deny the power of God on this man’s life. You can’t deny that God protected him. You cannot deny that it was a millimeter miracle that was able to save this man’s life. Could it be that Jesus Christ preserved him for such a time as this? Could it be that when we prayed for him, when he came to the round table in Detroit, that Jesus asked, and he received, that we sought him and then he found protection? Could it be that the king of glory, the Lord God, strong and mighty, the God who is mighty in battle, protected Donald Trump because he wants to use him for such a time as this?
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott shared some of his Christian faith:
Hello, Milwaukee. Are you ready for four more years of Donald Trump? Oh, me too. Listen, if you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing right now. Thank God, Almighty, that we live in a country that still believes in the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega. And our God still saves, He still delivers, and He still sets free because on Saturday the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared. Oh yeah, he roared. Yeah. Yes he did.
And he said this: “You see, America, this is a difficult time for our nation. Inflation is crushing families, illegal immigration is crushing American workers, and failing schools and victimhood culture are crushing our poorest kids. And the weakness of the commander-in-chief has invited world wars all around our world. Joe Biden is asleep at the wheel, and we’re heading over a cliff.”
Former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan was even there. He made these remarks: “I am in a room of real Americans. . . . You know something, I’ve seen some great tag teams in my time. Hulk Hogan and oh yeah, the Macho Man Randy Savage. But you know something, I see the greatest tag team of my life standing upon us, getting ready to straighten this country out for all the real Americans.”
These are just some of the many speeches that were heard over the past four days. All up, it was a stirring and unifying convention. The Party is now strong and united. As always, we need to keep America in our prayers. We need to pray for the November election. And we need to keep politicians like Trump and whoever his opponent might be in our prayers. God bless America indeed.
