Usually, we see Donald Trump the firebrand, the populist, the reality star. But on Thursday, in his first speech since his brush with an assassin’s bullet, the former president became the resolute grandfather — still in the game, but clearly humbled after escaping death by only two centimetres.

“I am not supposed to be here tonight. I’m not supposed to,” he told the Republican National Convention on its final night Thursday. Loudly, the crowd chanted back: “Yes you are!” But he insisted otherwise.