MILWAUKEE Not four years after Donald Trumps eldest son boasted that the Republican Party belonged not to traditional Republicans but to his father, GOP delegates gathered at their nominating convention proved his point this week, demonstrating their obeisance to a convicted criminal who tried to end American democracy because he lost his reelection.

Tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States, Trump said to wild cheers on Thursday night, exactly three years, five months and 28 days after leaving the White House in disgrace following his failed coup attempt.

Trumps campaign aides have been pushing stories about how Saturdays assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania had made him a more spiritual person and how Trump would offer a unifying message. And at the start, Trump did indeed offer a more somber tone .

There was blood pouring everywhere, but in a certain way I felt very protected, because I felt that I had God on my side, Trump said. He mentioned the retired fire chief who had been killed at the rally and showed his jacket and helmet, which had been brought on stage.

Im not supposed to be here tonight, he said.

The new tone lasted 17 minutes.

Then, he called on state and federal prosecutors to drop all four criminal cases against him, including the one in which he was convicted of 34 felony counts in May.

The Democrat party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy, he said.

At the 25 minute mark, Trump called former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi crazy. Eight minutes later, he accused Democrats of cheating in elections. Four minutes later, he insulted the news media, referring to the CBS News program Face the Nation as Deface the Nation.

And 38 minutes in, he repeated the lie that he used to incite the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol that the 2020 election had been stolen from him through cheating. Immediately after that, he made liars out of staffers who had told reporters that he would never mention the name of the man who had defeated him, claiming Biden, by name, was worse than the previous 10 worst presidents combined.