Republican National Committee

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Trump’s ‘Remarkably Dishonest’ RNC Speech Exposed By CNN Fact-Checker

CNN ’s fact-checking reporter Daniel Dale on Thursday debunked and corrected just some of the false claims made by former president and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump during his address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

https://local.newsbreak.com/milwaukee-wi/3533483805564-trumps-remarkably-dishonest-rnc-speech-exposed-by-cnn-fact-checker?

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Two Trumps

Former President Trump arrives to deliver his acceptance speech at the RNC in Milwaukee last night. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images MILWAUKEE — 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 writes from the convention floor. Why it matters: Despondent Democrats were reminded why they'd long believed, before President Biden melted down in last month's debate, that Trump is a flawed candidate — and eminently beatable. 🎤 A bandaged, somber, subdued Trump opened his nomination speech by recounting his near-death experience from last weekend's shooting in vivid detail, promising it would be the first and only time he'd do so "because it's too painful to tell." Inside the Fiserv Forum, the ebullient mood gave way to rapt silence. "I'm not supposed to be here tonight," Trump mused aloud as he described the feeling of a would-be assassin's bullet clipping his ear. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God," he said, echoing a long list of GOP convention speakers who had cited divine intervention for Trump's survival. Trump went on to pay tribute to his late supporter Corey Comperatore, the retired firefighter remembered as a hero for diving on his family members to shield them from the bullets. Trump kisses the helmet of Corey Comperatore, the retired firefighter who was fatally shot during Saturday's assassination attempt. Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP As delegates and attendees wiped away tears, Trump pivoted to a message of proposed unity — vowing to be a president "for all of America." It was a marked departure from dark rally speeches in which Trump has warned of an "enemy from within" and "vermin" living on U.S. soil who pose more of a threat than foreign adversaries. "We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreements, which is what's been happening in our country lately at a level that nobody has ever seen before," Trump said. Zoom out: From there, Trump fell into a familiar stump speech — veering off Teleprompter as he railed against a migrant "invasion," accused Democrats of "cheating" in the 2020 election and praised foreign autocrats. Story continues below. ⏱️ Longest acceptance speech   Data: The American Presidency Project. Chart: Axios Visuals At 92 minutes, it was by far the longest televised presidential acceptance speech in U.S. history, packed with the false claims, vicious rhetoric and personal grievances that have defined Trump's political career. It was a standard Trump rally performance — but one that most politically unengaged Americans probably aren't used to seeing. 🖼️ The big picture: All week, speakers at the GOP convention had sought to humanize Trump, who seemed to enjoy an aura of invincibility — and inevitability — as Democrats plotted to replace their own nominee. In his prepared remarks, Trump didn't name Biden at all. In the hall, he slipped up once as he declared that "the 10 worst presidents" combined have not done as much damage as Biden. It was a revealing moment that captured two sides of Trump: the newly disciplined "unifier" whose life was altered by an assassination attempt, and the MAGA agitator who can't help but return to his abrasive instincts. The bottom line: A week of party unity and energy has Republicans riding high as they depart Milwaukee. But Trump's speech, while showing stamina, also may have given Democrats a shot in the arm as they try to move on from their own internal chaos — with or without Biden.

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Trump's two-act convention speech

By Zachary Basu and Mimi Montgomery

Donald Trump takes the stage at the Republican National Convention. Photo: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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. Why it matters: Despondent Democrats were reminded why they had long believed that Trump is a flawed candidate — and eminently beatable. Zoom in: A bandaged, subdued Trump opened his nomination speech by recounting his near-death experience in vivid detail, promising it would be the first and only time he'd do so "because it's too painful to tell." Inside the Fiserv Forum, the ebullient mood gave way to rapt silence. "I'm not supposed to be here tonight," Trump mused as he described the would-be assassin's bullet clipping his ear. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God," he said. As attendees wiped away tears, Trump pivoted to a message of proposed unity — vowing to be a president "for all of America." It was a marked departure from dark rally speeches in which Trump has warned of an "enemy from within." Zoom out: From there, Trump fell into a familiar stump speech — veering off the teleprompter as he railed against a migrant "invasion" and praised foreign autocrats. At 92 minutes, it was the longest televised presidential acceptance speech in U.S. history. Spotted: After several days of no Melania Trump sightings, the former first lady made an appearance last night. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were also there. Go deeper   🗳️ Young voters' poll     Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   About 500 young voters are flying into D.C. this weekend to take part in a unique election poll — spanning three days, with group discussions and information sessions. Why it matters: It's called Deliberative Polling, and researchers are taking the pulse of 18-year-olds (and 17-year-olds about to reach legal voting age) who will participate in their first presidential election this November. How it works: Unlike normal polls that produce rapid responses, Stanford University created a model that aims to give respondents neutral and deep knowledge about a wide range of topics — and then collect their opinions. "America in One Room: The Youth Vote," co-hosted by Close Up, Stanford, and several other nonpartisan groups, has participants from across the country. Topics include health care, the economy, AI, taxes, the environment, and democracy and elections. Keep reading.

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Trump recalls shooting details but avoids policy details during RNC speech Donald Trump, somber and bandaged, accepted the presidential nomination on Thursday at the Republican National Convention in a speech that described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier, before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration. Read more.

Key points: It seemed at first that Trump was trying to embody a less partisan version of himself. Yet as quickly as he called for an end to the “demonization of political enemies,” he turned the issue exclusively toward Democrats, reprising his accusations that the justice system was weaponized against him.   Trump tried to humanize his image by telling of the assassination attempt. The former president spoke in vivid detail of his experience being injured and nearly killed on Saturday. On stage was the uniform of the retired fire chief, Corey Comperatore, who was killed behind Trump.   Trump made sweeping promises to end inflation and secure the border, but he didn’t outline any plans and mostly used crowd-pleasing talking points. The most specific he got was promising to roll back Biden administration efforts to combat climate change, redirect infrastructure spending and impose steep tariffs.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Former first lady Melania Trump makes a rare appearance on the Republican convention’s last night   Some GOP voters welcome Trump’s somewhat softened tone at Republican National Convention   FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made at the Republican National Convention as Trump accepts nomination

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From a media perspective, it was a tale of two Trump speeches — and long enough for both

From a media perspective, Donald Trump failed to stick the landing at the Republican convention that nominated him as its presidential candidate for a third time.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-convention-speech-assassin-346a6aee7cc1a056fbf1d5a46673d606?

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🐘 Trump's scapegoat

If he winds up losing the election, former President Trump already has lined up a scapegoat, Axios' Sophia Cai writes.

• Trump is making clear that he'll blame Michael Whatley, the Republican National Committee chair who Trump tasked with building the party's massive "election integrity" team.

Why it matters: Under Whatley, the RNC says it's amassed 200,000 poll watchers and poll workers across the country.

At a rally in North Carolina last month, Trump singled out Whatley, a former GOP chair in the state.

• "Where are you, Michael? Stand up. We're counting on this guy. I didn't take him from any other state. I took him right from here," Trump said.
• "So Michael, you better win or you're never going to be able to come back here. He doesn't win, he won't be at RNC and he will no longer be in North Carolina. He'll be looking for a job."

🔎 Behind the scenes: In private conversations with allies recently, Trump has said he believes the only reason he could lose the election is if Whatley drops the ball on "election integrity" issues.

• Keep reading.

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Lara Trump stepping down as RNC co-chair and addressing speculation about Florida Senate seat

Lara Trump will step down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee as she considers a number of potential options with her father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump, set to return to the White House.

https://apnews.com/article/lara-trump-rnc-florida-senate-d0b9102b1095c383173bd6e24bbca015?

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New NRCC executive director

NRCC Chair Richard Hudson has decided to elevate Micah Yousefi, a Hill veteran who was deputy executive director last cycle, to lead the NRCC for the 2026 cycle.

Why it matters: By promoting Yousefi, Hudson is signaling continuity at the organization he'll now lead for a second cycle.

• "Micah Yousefi has been a key part of every major strategic decision at the NRCC that led to Republicans holding the House majority in 2024," Hudson said in a statement.
• "I look forward to continuing to work with Micah, Chairman Richard Hudson and the entire team as we work to keep and grow our majority in 2026," Speaker Johnson said in a statement.

Zoom in: The NRCC executive director in the 2024 cycle, Chris Winkelman, will be leading the House GOP's main outside super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund.

— Hans Nichols