LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On the Republican National Convention floor in Milwaukee Thursday night, dozens of Kentucky delegates listened closely to former President Donald Trump's words as he accepted the nomination.
Some predicted a toned-down, self-reflective speech focused on unity, following last weekend's assassination attempt. And it appears, at least toward the beginning of the more than hour-long address, that the message delivered for Kentucky Republicans.
"I was refreshed to hear it from President Trump that he wasn't just running to be a president for half the country, but all of our country. It was a message of unity," Somerset Mayor Alan Keck told WHAS11 after the speech. "I sort of felt a humbler version [of Trump]."
The former president spent several minutes at the start recounting what he describes as a near-death encounter.
"I'm not supposed to be here tonight, I'm not supposed to be here," Trump told the crowd. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of the almighty God."
Members of Kentucky's delegation told WHAS11 they expected to see a different side of Trump on Thursday.
"Make sure the country better understands the human-being Donald Trump, and to try to wipe away some of that hate that has been delivered," Chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky Robert Benvenuti said before the address.
State Sen. Robby Mills (R-Henderson) predicted Trump would "still be the same fighter that we all know."
"There will probably be a few barbs and jabs in there. But I think you may see a more mature Trump that's really sticking to policies," Mills said.
Early in Trump's message, he noted the "division in our society must be healed quickly."
"As Americans we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together or we fall apart. I'm running to be president for all of America, not half of America," Trump told RNC attendees.
But it's a promise of unity from the former president that Louisville Democratic Party Chair Logan Gatti doesn't believe will be honored.
"It's actually what we heard back in 2016. It's almost verbatim what happened then. It was, 'I'm going to bring the country together, I'm going to be the great unifier,'" Gatti told WHAS11 during the speech. "This is another instance where Donald Trump is trying to sell something that he cannot provide."
With Trump the official Republican nominee, all eyes now turn to President Biden and whether he stays in the race.
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