Trump recounts assassination attempt in great detail during RNC speech as he says its ‘painful’ to tell the story

Five days after a .22 calibre bullet came within inches of ending his life, Donald Trump recounted his survival and cast himself as a triumphant hero as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination for the third consecutive election cycle on the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday.

The ex-president, who wore a bandage on the ear that was grazed during the attempt on his life, told the crowd of delegates and supporters that he was “not supposed to be here” and credited his presence on the stage to “the grace of almighty God.”

As photographs of that day were displayed on a bank of screens behind him, Trump claimed rallygoers had believed him dead after his Secret Service detail rushed the stage, and told the convention audience that the now-iconic photo of him raising a fist as he exhorted his supporters to “fight” came out of a desire to reassure them that he was alive.

The ex-president also said he would spend the remainder of his life “grateful” for “​​the love shown by that giant audience of patriots” who’d been there in Pennsylvania last weekend, including the two supporters who were left wounded by the gunman, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, and Buffalo Township fire chief Corey Comperatore, who died from the wounds he received in the shooting.

After asking the crowd for a moment of silence, Trump said his “resolve” was “unbroken” towards his goal of delivering “a government that serves the American people better than ever before.”

“Nothing will stop me in this mission, because our vision is righteous and our cause is pure,” he said.

While Trump’s demeanor appeared more subdued as he recounted his experience during the shooting last week, the substance of his remarks hewed