With Democrats in full disarray, Donald Trump delivered a highly personal and unusual acceptance speech at the GOP convention, recounting in gory detail the night nearly a week ago he was nearly felled by an assassin’s bullet.

“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” Trump told cheering delegates gathered in Milwaukee.

It was a dramatic moment – Trump spent nearly a half an hour on that Saturday evening in Pennsylvania when the bullet grazed his ear and caused blood to pour out.

“There was blood pouring everywhere and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” the former president, with his ear still bandaged, said. “If I had not moved my head at that very instant….the assassin’s bullet would have hit its mark.”

Trump also paid tribute to the firefighter killed by the 20-year-old assassin’s bullet, bringing his helmet and firefighter suit on stage next to him, and called for a moment of silence.

Trump’s tone was grateful and almost somber, saying he would only tell the story once because “it’s too painful.”
“Once my clenched fist went up and it was high in the air the crowd realized I was okay,” Trump said, paying tribute to the crowd in Pennsylvania at the scene of the shooting.

It was one of the most gripping acceptance speeches in many decades and one which could propel Trump even higher in the polls.

But the race is far from over and Democrats are in full battle mode less than a week after the assassination attempt.

Trump can still lose if Democrats replace Joe Biden, no matter how inspirational Trump is trying to seem. The Democrats’ job is to knock the former president – who has assumed a larger than life hero status after the shooting – back down to size in the next few months.

But it won’t be easy with Joe Biden, now sidelined with Covid, at the top of the ticket.

Trump’s acceptance speech comes as Biden continues to fight for his presidency and faces continued calls from Democrats – now including former President Barak Obama – for him to withdraw.

A polling report compiled by Democrats forecasts the president to lose in a landslide to Trump, sending panic waves throughout the party. The report shows Biden losing all the key swing states, and only even in New Hampshire and Maine. Trump is only a few points behind in blue New Jersey, according to the data.

A new New York Times and Siena College poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris outperforming Biden in Pennsylvania and Virginia, especially among young voters and non-white voters.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told Biden he cannot win and will destroy Democrats’ chances of winning back the House – a brutal assessment from a party elder.