RNC Day 4: Trump delivers longest acceptance speech in history
Last updated: Friday, July 19, 2024 4:39AM GMT
Former President Donald Trump pitched unity but revived old grievances in his nomination acceptance speech.
MILWAUKEE -- On the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention, former President Donald Trump gave a highly anticipated speech, which he said beforehand would call for unity following his assassination attempt.
However in his first speech since the incident, Trump leaned into his usual talking points, slamming President Joe Biden, Democrats and other critics on a wide variety of issues from the economy, immigration and crime.
For over an hour, Trump went off script much to the crowd's delight. The former president told them he was grateful for their support after his brush with death but argued that the country needed to be fixed due to Biden's policies.
The night also included wild speeches from guests such as Hulk Hogan and Eric Trump, who echoed some of the former president's rhetoric bashing Biden and the Democrats.
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Here's how the news is developing.
ByRachel Scott 
Jul 19, 2024, 3:57 AM GMT
Trump's unity message doesn't last long into speech
Trump has gone off script pushing false claims about the 2020 election and immigrants stealing jobs.
He used the racist phrase "China virus" which has been used to push anti-Asian hate, and called about "partisan witch hunts" and "Crazy Nancy" Pelosi.
There was a six-minute rant where the teleprompter froze and several other times where it scrolled trying to catch where he was going.
Despite saying himself he wouldn't say the name "Biden," he has used it several times.
ByPolitiFact's Sara Swann
Jul 19, 2024, 3:48 AM GMT
Fact-checking Trump's claim Biden wants to "raise your taxes by four times"
Trump said of Biden's administration, "This is the only administration that said we're going to raise your taxes by four times what you're paying now."
False.
Biden proposes a tax increase of roughly 7% over the next decade, not 300%, as Trump claims. About 83% of the proposed Biden tax increase would be borne by the top 1% of taxpayers, who earn just under $1 million a year in income.
Jul 19, 2024, 3:45 AM GMT
'Without that chart I will not be here today'
Trump displayed a chart on undocumented migrants coming into the U.S. that he said he was discussing at the time of his assassination attempt during Saturday's rally.
Trump credited the chart, which he turned his head to look at, with saving his life.
"Without that chart I will not be here today," he said, to cheers.
ByPolitiFact's Louis Jacobson
Jul 19, 2024, 3:40 AM GMT
Fact-checking Trump's claim about Biden-era inflation.
Trump said, "We've had the worst inflation we've ever had, under this person (Biden)."
Although inflation is still considered an economic problem for the U.S., the overall rate is nowhere near a record.
The highest inflation rates were recorded in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the annual price increase sometimes hovered between 12% and 15%. The highest rate on Biden's watch was around 9% in summer 2022. That was the highest monthly figure in about four decades, but not the highest ever.
Inflation is down to around 3% now, about two-thirds lower than its 2022 peak.
