Trump Vows to Fix America’s Crime, Immigration, Trade in Epic Acceptance Speech

Donald Trump made his bid for the presidency feel real on Thursday, urging Americans to propel him to the White House on a platform of crumpling up failing institutions and building new ones on the rubble.

Thousands of convention-goers cheered and shouted slogans: ‘USA! USA!’ and ‘Build that wall!’–and a new one: ‘Yes you will!’–as he read his script from a teleprompter and ad-libbed as he worked the crowd during the longest convention acceptance speech since 1972.

Entering to the theme song from the Harrison Ford movie ‘Air Force One,’ he heard wild cheers of ‘Trump! Trump! Trump!’ and accepted the nomination that America’s political establishment swore for a year and a half would be denied him.

More than an hour later, with balloons and confetti dropping and fireworks showing on giant video screens, the Republican presidential families–both those of Trump and of his running mate Mike Pence–joined him on stage.

In a 4,600-word speech to the Republican National Convention, the longest prepared text he’s delivered since becoming a presidential candidate, Trump staked his claim on Americans’ cravings for stability in a year full of terror attacks and anti-police ambushes.

‘We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order,’ he vowed, forecasting his residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

‘The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country,’ he said.

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Trump continued his habit of blaming the status quo on President Barack Obama.

‘The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon, and I mean very soon, come to an end,’ he boomed. ‘Beginning on January 20th of 2017, safety will be restored.’

‘The irresponsible rhetoric of our president, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment than frankly I have ever seen, and anyone in this room has ever watched or seen.

‘This Administration has failed America’s inner cities. Remember: it has failed America’s inner cities. It’s failed them on education. It’s failed them on jobs. It’s failed them on crime. It’s failed them in every way and on every single level.’

‘We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore,’ he said. ‘So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths, the Democrats are holding their convention next week. Go there!’

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‘This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness,’ he said. ‘But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy.’

‘The problems we face now–poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad–will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them in the first place.’

‘America is far less safe–and the world is far less stable–than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy,’ Trump said.

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Trump also reinforced a central message about Clinton that has broken through to millions: that America’s political system is ‘rigged’ by the power players he wants to depose.

‘Nobody knows the system better than me,’ he proclaimed, drawing knowing laughs.

‘Which is why I alone can fix it!’

‘Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place,’ he said.

‘They’re throwing money at her because they have total control over every single thing she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.’

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Trump drew a stark line, too, between his aggressive posture toward illegal immigrants and Clinton’s embrace of amnesties and refugees from Syria, whom he has claimed will be Trojan horses for terrorism.

‘My plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton,’ he said.

‘Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration, which is what we have now. Communities want relief. Yet Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness.

‘Her plan will overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder for recent immigrants to escape the tremendous cycle of poverty that they’re going through right now, and make it almost impossible for them to join the middle class.’

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He clarified his widely maligned ‘Muslim ban,’ reiterating that he would ‘immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism–until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.’

And, he declared, in his best-known signature promise: ‘We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities.’

‘On January 20th of 2017, the day I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced,’ he said later.

‘We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone, but my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens.’

As in the past, the showy pol paired his Great Wall of Trump with policy promises focused on swifter deportations–instead of admitting aliens and court-docketing them–and dramatically tightening visa policies for visitors to the U.S.

‘By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. We will stop it. It won’t be happening much anymore. Believe me. Peace will be restored.’

‘By enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect that they deserve.’

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‘My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: “I’m With Her”,’ he mocked.

‘I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads: “I’m with you, the American people. I am your voice.’

‘So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future,’ he said, ‘I say these words to you tonight: I am with you, I will fight for you, and I will win for you.’

‘Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.

‘I have visited the laid-off factory workers and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals.

‘These are the forgotten men and women of our country. These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice.

‘I am your voice.’

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