“Donald Trump, somber and bandaged, accepted the GOP 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… “Trump’s address, the longest convention speech in modern history at just under 93 minutes, marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin.” AP News‍

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‍Many on both sides agree that Trump’s speech started strong but then became less effective:

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‍“Trump’s account of the attempt on his life was gripping. He displayed a vulnerability and humility that most people had never seen before. And when he kissed the fireman’s helmet of Corey Comperatore, the husband and father who was killed during last weekend’s shooting, Trump created yet another indelible image. It won’t be soon forgotten.”

‍Matthew Continetti, New York Times

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‍“‘Our society must be healed,’ Mr. Trump said. He gave the impression that perhaps the shooting might really cause him to approach a second term differently than he did the first. This is a Donald Trump who would have won re-election in 2020…  

“But Mr. Trump can’t help himself, and before too long he was on a discursive tour of his greatest first-term hits and whatever seemed to pop into his head. This included a prediction that the Green Bay Packers would have a good season, and we’re willing to bet this is the first nomination acceptance speech that mentioned Hannibal Lecter… We could go on, but you may have heard most of this speech before. His tone was calmer and less partisan than usual. But the speech would have been more effective had he cut it in half.”

‍Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal

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‍“It began with as intensely personal an account as any presidential nominee has ever delivered — a step-by-step retelling of his near-death experience. And as soon as that narrative ended, it became… a Trump rally speech, with the prepared text delivered in a monotone worthy of a bus driver’s announcement, interrupted by lengthy ad lib riffs, jokes, shout-outs and a litany of ‘never seen anything like it’ and ‘like never before.’…

“The speech, all 90-plus minutes of it, was a lesson to all the talking heads who were seeing in Trump’s demeanor a sense of humility, serenity, a newfound sense of life’s meaning. Maybe we should have known when he came out in front of a huge electric sign with ‘TRUMP’ lighting up the hall. Even a near-death experience did not change a lifetime of self-aggrandizement. Trump remains Trump.”

‍Jeff Greenfield, Politico

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‍“This, we were promised, was going to be a new version of the former president… But soon enough, his usual voice was back. He lamented ‘witch hunts, ‘Crazy Nancy Pelosi,’ and a ‘nation in decline,’ talked up Hannibal Lecter and Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban, and railed against the ‘rough, rough, rough’ people coming into the country—and what a ‘dumping ground’ he says it’s become under Biden. It was the same old Trump, and his message wasn’t one of ‘unity.’ It was, as always, Unify behind me—or get out of the way.”

‍Eric Lutz, Vanity Fair‍

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‍Other opinions below.