Trump calls for ‘unity’ at convention
RENO, NEV. — President Donald Trump called for unity in a speech at the American Legion’s 99th National Convention here, just hours after a raucous campaign-style rally in which he lambasted the media and his political rivals, and reignited the controversy over his response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville this month.
After his speech Wednesday, he signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, which reforms the process by which veterans can appeal their claims for disability benefits with Veterans Affairs.
“I promised you that I would make it my priority to fix the broken VA and to deliver to our veterans the care they so richly deserve,” Trump said. “And you see what’s been happening.”
In Reno, Trump appeared to stick to his carefully crafted script, focusing on his administration’s efforts to improve services for veterans, a key focus on the nation’s largest veterans organization.
During the speech, he said, “It is time to heal the wounds that have divided us, and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us. We are one people, with one home, and one flag.
“We are not defined by the color of our skin, the figure on our paycheck or the party of our politics,” Trump continued, speaking before more than 5,000 members of the largest veterans group.
Trump argued that “shared humanity,” “citizenship” and patriotism could heal the nation’s divides political and racial divides and he heralded the work of the Legion in promoting American values.
Trump’s remarks come at a time when he is facing continued pressure to stem the divisions exposed by a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this month, which was organized by hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi sympathizers.
Trump’s response to the racial divisions in the country hung over his appearance in Reno before a group of veterans that included some who fought against Nazism and fascism in World War II.
The day before Trump’s appearance, the Legion voted to reaffirm a nearly 100-year-old resolution condemning hate groups.
The resolution states that “the American Legion considers any individual, group of individuals, or organizations, which creates, or fosters racial, religious or class strife among our people, or which takes into their own hands the enforcement of law, determination of guilt, or infliction of punishment, to be un-American, a menace to our liberties, and destructive to our fundamental law.”
Trump was expected to hold up the values espoused by the Legion as an example of how the country can begin to unite.
“We are here to hold you up as an example of the strength, courage and love that our country will need to overcome every challenge that we face,” Trump said. “We are here to draw inspiration from you as we seek to renew the bonds of loyalty that bind us together as one people and one nation.”