By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin- Former President Donald Trump (pictured) accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday night, the final night of the four-day convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he spoke on an array of issues, including the assassination attempt on his life at a rally in Western Pennsylvania Saturday afternoon and his political platform for a second term in office.

His much anticipated hour and a half long convention speech, a lengthy speech in fact, followed that notably of U.S. Sen J.D. Vance of Ohio, who accepted the Republican nomination for vice president Wednesday night and is under fire by reproductive rights advocates in Ohio and elsewhere for pushing for a national ban on abortion.

The former president said that he survived the assassination attempt and is alive today "because GOD wanted me to live," and that the sniper whom law enforcement shot and killed "wanted to stop our movement," a movement he said transcends the presidency and any influence he may or may not have.

He called the United States a nation in decline and rattled off a litany of issues on his previous time as president  and on what he says he will initiate if he wins the presidency this year, from closing borders to putting more tariffs on China. And he vowed to "make America great once again," and "affordable once again, after he blamed the Biden administration for a slow economy and virtually everything else a potential voter might be concerned about.

He bashed immigrants repeatedly as mentally ill thugs and criminals and later softened his tone, saying they are welcome if they come across the border legally. He also promised to "launch the largest deport operation in our nation's history" and said that former President Obama and President Biden were soft on immigrants. He blamed Biden for the Russia-Ukraine war and promised to end it if elected president.

Trump faces incumbent president Joe Biden for the Nov. 5 presidential election, a rematch of the 2020 election that he lost to Biden, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party.

The former president was praised throughout the convention by Republican operatives who spoke before he did, including members of his family, corporate big wigs, musicians, congressional Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, and working class people who support his MAGA movement.

Immediately upon stepping to the podium on Thursday Trump began describing the incident at the rally in Western Pennsylvania Saturday in which he survived an assassination attempt by a since killed 20-year-old man stationed on a roof top across from where he was speaking.

He sounded almost humbled at times and shaken and unlike his usual boastful self, saying he survived the assassination attempt because " we live in a world of miracles." But he also called for a healing in the country amid political and other discourse and discussed his policies at length, and like President Biden, said the November election is "the most important election in the country."

"Nothing will sway us, nothing will slow us, and nobody will stop us," Trump said towards the end of his acceptance speech as Melania Trump and the Trump family lined up to join him on the stage as a reported 18,000 balloons were release inside the convention hall.

Conspicuously absent from Trump's convention speech was any mentioning of his efforts in getting Roe v Wade overturned by a Trump supported U.S. Supreme Court.

The Dems will take to the stage in August in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.

Both conventions come as polls have Trump leading Biden in at least nine battleground states with the Biden campaign saying its too early to tell and that polls can be misleading. Only time will tell.

Clevelandurbannews.com and KathywraycolemanonlinenewsBut blog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obam a interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL