'I had god on my side': Trump recalls shooting incident as he accepts GOP nomination

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday accepted the GOP's presidential nomination for the third time at the Republican National Convention held at Milwaukee in Wisconsin.

It is his first public address since the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania, where he survived an assassination attempt, Trump opened up about the incident calling it a "painful experience", a retelling of which he won't undertake a second time.

As the crowd chanted 'Trump, Trump', the former President, in a soft voice, recalled the incident to the thousands in the convention hall: "I’m not supposed to be here tonight. There was blood pouring everywhere, yet, in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side."

As the audience started chanting "yes you are," Trump added. "Thank you. But I’m not and I’ll tell you, I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God."

The former president recollected the incident at the Butler rally, stating "he heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear."

He described hearing a "loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear." "I said to myself, ‘Wow what was that, it can only be a bullet’ and moved my right hand to my ear and brought it down. My hand was covered with blood."

He said he immediately knew they were under attack and dropped to the ground as bullets were continuing to fly. Trump said that "very brave" Secret Services members rushed to the stage and "pounced on top of me so that I would be protected." 

Trump said he was running to be president for all of America. "The discord and division in our society must be healed. We just heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart," Trump said.

"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 asked to hold a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, the man killed during the attempted assassination at a rally Saturday. Comperatore's firefighter jacket and helmet were brought on stage. "I ask that we observe a moment of silence in honour of our friend, Corey," Trump said. "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others, this is the spirit that forged America in her darkest hours and this is the love that will lead America back to the summit of human achievement and greatness. This is what we need," he said.

As the crowd chanted "Corey", Trump walked over to a firefighter uniform and kissed the protective helmet. "What a fine man he was," he said about Comperatore.

Though he struck a sombre figure, Trump quickly reverted to attacking the Biden administration, blaming it for doing nothing to curb illegal immigration to the US and inflation.

"The greatest invasion in history is taking place right here in our country. They are coming in from every corner of the earth, not just from South America, but from Africa, Asia and the Middle East," Trump said. "They’re coming at levels we’ve never seen before it is an invasion indeed and this administration does nothing to stop them."

He also attacked the Biden administration for inflation, adding that the grocery prices were up more than 50% during the Biden administration.  "Under this administration, groceries are up 57%," he said.  

He continued to attack Biden, calling him one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States. "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," Trump said at the Republican National Convention. "Only gonna use the term once, Biden, I’m not gonna use the name any more, just one time."