• Donald Trump celebrated with supporters on Thursday evening in Milwaukee
  • At the same time Joe Biden was holed up in Delaware fighting for his political life
  • READ MORE: Follow all the latest developments in our politics live blog 

Donald Trump’s voice cracked with emotion on Thursday night as he described the moment an assassin’s bullet sliced through his ear.

‘I’m not supposed to be here,’ he told his supporters at the Republican convention in Milwaukee.

‘Yes you are, yes you are,’ chanted the crowd.

Friends, aides and his family say the experience changed a former president known for his barnstorming rally speeches and punchy language.

Instead, Wednesday he led a moment’s silence for firefighter Corey Comperatore who died in the shooting, described how he survived only by the grace of God and called for a united nation.

‘The discord and division in our society must be healed. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,’ he said.

‘I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.’

Trump has allowed a more emotional side of himself to be seen this week. And in his convention speech he described the pain he felt in talking about the shooting.

‘Let me begin this evening by expressing my gratitude to the American people for your outpouring of love and support following the assassination attempt at my rally on Saturday,’ he said.

‘As you already know, the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life. So many people have asked me what happened, and therefore, I’ll tell you what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell.’

He went on to describe in graphic terms how he realized he was under attack.

‘I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,’ he said in an almost disbelieving tone.

‘I said to myself, Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet, and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down. My hand was covered with blood.’

The floor of the arena quieted to silence. Tears streamed down more than one face.

‘I felt very safe because I had God on my side,’ he said, thanking the Secret Service agents who put their own bodies on the line as more gunshots sounded.

‘And then it all stopped,’ he continued, marveling at the way the shooter was taken down at distance by a single Secret Service bullet from a sniper’s rifle.

For all the new, softer tone, the evening was still very much a red-blooded Trump occasion.

Hulk Hogan ripped off his shirt, three speakers praised the former president’s golfing prowess, and Kid Rock added a chant of ‘fight, fight’ and a line about ‘No Show Joe;’ to his classic hit ‘American Bad Ass.’

And Trump himself could not resist lifting spirits

Once again it provided a stunning split screen view of American politics.

As the 78-year-old former president basked in the adoration of his supporters, his 81-year-old rival Joe Biden was holed up at his Delaware beach home with COVID-19, fighting for his political life as his party tries to move on and find a better candidate for the election.