In the final night of the four-day Republican National Convention, President Trump keynoted the evening speaking live from the White House and accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for president. Other highlights from the night included a myriad of speakers with powerful stories.
Some of those speakers included Alice Johnson, whose life sentence was commuted by President Trump after two decades in prison, Ann Dorn, whose husband Officer David Dorn was killed during the Black Lives Matters protest in St. Louis earlier this year, and Marsha and Carl Mueller, the parents of Kayla Mueller who was captured and murdered by ISIS.
Alice Johnson’s speech highlighted the accomplishments that the Trump Administration has achieved with criminal justice reform.
“When President Trump heard about me – about the injustice of my story – he saw me as a person. He had compassion. And he acted,” Johnson said in her remarks. “Free in body thanks to President Trump. But free in mind thanks to the Almighty God.”
“Six months after President Trump granted me a second chance, he signed the First Step Act into law. It was real justice reform. And it brought joy, hope, and freedom to thousands of well-deserving people. I hollered Hallelujah!” she added. “My faith in justice and mercy was rewarded. Imagine getting to hug your loved ones again. It’s a feeling I will never forget.”
During one night of the Black Lives Matter protest in St. Louis, Missouri, Officer David Dorn was murdered in cold blood, shot in the head, after trying to stop a robbery. David Dorn worked in law enforcement for 44 years before law enforcement. His widow, Ann Dorn, spoke this evening about the importance of law enforcement.
“My husband… father of five… friend to thousands… was the most kind, dedicated, loving life-partner that I could have hoped for. He had a big smile and a heart to match,” Dorn began.
Speaking of his murder, Ann Dorn said, “I re-live that horror in my mind every single day. My hope is that having you re-live it with me now will help shake this country from the nightmare we are witnessing in our cities and bring about positive, peaceful change.”
Tears streaming down her face, she said, “Violence and destruction are not legitimate forms of protests. They do not safeguard black lives. They destroy them.”
“President Trump knows we need more Davids in our communities, not fewer,” she finished.
Kayla Mueller, an American humanitarian aid worker, was kidnapped by ISIS in Aleppo, Syria in 2013, and killed in 2015. Her parents, Marsha and Carl Mueller, spoke about President Trump’s foreign policy successes.
Helping children at an orphanage in India, Kayla wrote, “I find God in the suffering eyes reflected in mine. If this is how you are revealed to me, this is how I will forever seek you.”
Carl Mueller said this evening, “Under President Trump, U.S. Army special operators conducted a raid on al-Baghdadi’s compound. After we learned that al-Baghdadi was killed, we learned something else: The operators named themselves ‘Task Force 814’ after August 14, Kayla’s birthday. And the mission was named Operation Kayla Mueller. To those soldiers, thank you. Kayla was looking down on you. The Trump team gave us empathy that we never received from the Obama Administration.”
“Carl and I support Donald Trump because of his commitment to make and keep America great,” Marsha Mueller added.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also spoke within the first half-hour of the evening. Majority Leader McConnell asked the American people to support Republican candidates up and down the ballot in addition to President Trump.
The night was keynoted by the president who concluded the evening, and was introduced by his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
President Trump started his speech by addressing those impacted by Hurricane Laura and announcing he would be visiting the disaster zone this weekend.
“My fellow Americans, tonight with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States,” President Trump stated.
Speaking of the coronavirus pandemic, the president stated, “Like those brave Americans before us, we are meeting this challenge. We are delivering lifesaving therapies and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner. We will defeat the virus, end the pandemic, and emerge stronger than ever before.”
Declaring this election the “most important” in our lifetimes, the president declared, “This election will decide whether we save the American dream, or whether we all a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny… And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we will allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it.”
Blasting the Democrat Party, the president said, “In the Left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on earth. Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins. Our opponents say that redemption for you can only come from giving power to them. This is a tired anthem spoken by every repressive movement throughout history… But in this country, we don’t look to career politicians for salvation. In America, we don’t turn to government to restore our souls, we put our faith in Almighty God.”
The next major event in the vie for the presidency will be the first presidential debate to be held on September 29, 2020, from Cleveland, Ohio.
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