He's back. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty)
“I’m not supposed to be here.” “Yes you are!” the crowd chanted back.
Six days before last night’s speech, Republican National Convention volunteers were in the middle of receiving training when news landed of the assassination attempt and they hit their phones. The man they were preparing to nominate had been felled.
The question on everyone’s lips here in Milwaukee ever since has been: has it changed him? Last night we finally got the answer.
Every day since Sunday has been more giddy, more enthusiastic than the last. By the time final microphone tests before his speech echoed through the hallways on Thursday, people were describing it as “the best convention” they’d ever attended. “Historically, Republicans aren’t unified,” one GOP operative told me, “so it’s quite unusual to be at a convention like this.”
A sense of destiny filled the halls. Each night, the man himself walked into the main event like a UFC fighter, glaring steadily into the cameras proudly displaying his incongruously bandaged ear. He was still here. Meanwhile, MAGA rappers and influencers mingled with blue-suited Republican politicians and soccer moms, reflecting the duality of, say, J.D. Vance — an Ivy League venture capitalist who glad-hands with Marjorie Taylor Greene. And everywhere, that photograph of Trump, bloodied and punching his fist.
“Trump was never going to stick to the script.”
Delegates fizzed with the nomination of Vance for Vice President. Amber Rose posed for selfies. Sarah Sanders delivered an unexpectedly electrifying speech, and the President’s eldest granddaughter appeared on stage. Roger Stone wore his sunglasses indoors. Chants of “Joe Must Go” and “Fight, Fight, Fight”, echoed around the Fiserv Forum all week.
Trump, though, said nothing on stage. He told an interviewer that he’d torn up a “real rip roarer” of a convention speech and posted a few videos to Truth Social. During the big speeches, he would nod gravely and rarely smile.
All of it seemed only to intensify the devotion of his fans. Their bond with their leader is personal and deep; they follow him to candidates and ideas that they wouldn’t have considered without his endorsement. And now he had survived a bullet. His resilience attracted new donors and unlikely well wishers. Delegates and loyalists projected confidence. And, yet, nobody knew quite what that bullet had done to the man they were there to celebrate, the man whose name was embroidered on their denim jackets and sequin dresses.
“Trump never changes,” one source in the MAGA movement insisted breezily. “Trump. Never. Changes.”
I asked Kevin Roberts, a friend of Vance and president of the Heritage Foundation whether a new Trump might usher in a new season of unity. “Of all the things I would celebrate about President Trump, probably at the top of the list: his intuition about where we are in the country, at any point, whether that was in 2016, or 2020, or today is just off the charts. I think he has very genuinely understood that what the country wants is normal. And he really is a great messenger.”
“Detractors of his on the Left will sort of tear him down on that,” Roberts added. “But he is a great messenger.”
But what would that message be? When he finally arrived on stage, his name literally in lights, the room erupted. The production was spectacular. The cast-list impressive if idiosyncratic, with Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and Dana White all taking to the stage.
Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, before delivering a prayer, noted that encounters with death change us all. They “[call] us to reexamine our lives and reevaluate our priorities,” he intoned.
For a while — almost exactly 10 minutes — that certainly seemed to be the case. Trump was almost unrecognisable. Not in looks, but in temperament. He spoke so gently that it was hard to make out the words as he slowly recounted the events in Butler, paying tribute to the slain Pennsylvanian man by displaying his firefighting suit on stage.
He talked of a “providential moment,” and how — in a particularly Trumpian formulation — “God was on my side.”
There was even evidence of the unifying tone we had heard about. “The discord and division in our society must be healed – and we must heal it quickly.” “There is no victory in winning for half of America.” “Whether you’ve supported me in the past or not, I hope you will support me in the future because I will bring back the American Dream.”
Perhaps this was Trump 2.0? Softly spoken, sober, pensive, conciliatory?
It wasn’t to last. As he warmed up, the riffs got longer. He impishly deviated from the script, revelling in his moment. You could see him returning to form before your very eyes. The mood of near-death conversion fell away and then disappeared. Weaponising the legal system, stealing elections, failing the country — the attack lines returned one by one. He boasted of $250 million of business that he had brought to Milwaukee by choosing it for his convention. “I am trying to buy your vote” he joked. “I’ll be honest about that.”
Having let it be known that he wasn’t going to mention Biden, he mentioned Biden. “I’m not going to use that name again,” he vowed. By the end of an hour and twenty minutes — the longest convention speech in history — the almost eerie spell hanging over the convention had been well and truly broken.
Back in Washington the Democrats are busy adding their own changes to the script, possibly including an exit strategy and a new ticket. Within the week, the sacred atmosphere of this past week in Milwaukee could be consigned to history by the drama of a new political opponent. Come the Democrats’ convention in Chicago, that party could have a new story to tell and Republicans will be left with a candidate who sounds a whole lot like the same Donald Trump.
The myth of Butler will now forever be built into Donald Trump’s story. But the halo effect may not last much longer than the bandage on his right ear. Last night he promised to turn “fight, fight, fight” into “win, win, win.” That is not yet a done deal.
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You so want to force him into the framework of decency you have established 🙂
His main opponent is the middle-class graduate female hive-mind, crossing many generations (and Terfs are not so prevalent in the US, I suspect). That is why the Dems might get lucky if Biden resigns and Ms Harris stands (on abortion rights).
And when I mention Terfs… well, of course, the majority of them and their supporters will vote Dem, just like they votes Labour. It’s a class thing after all…
The Term TERFS says why normal women are turning away from democrats as they turned away from Labour in the UK. Labour vote fell by 2m -much of that fall was normal women not wanting men in their showers.
Are there statistics showing Labour’s vote in 2024 fell among women ?
Emily, another TDS takedown from Unherd, preparing yourself and others for the switch of allegiance from Biden to, well anyone really, nobody is fooled.
EJ is not usually an opponent of Trump. I think this is just a clumsy article. She didn’t want to praise the fact that Trump hasn’t changed much (although I think he has actually changed some), so she just stated as a fact that he quickly got to be his old self. The result is an article that doesn’t have a point.
It is a fact. Did you watch his 90-minute rambling monologue?
UnHerd doesn’t require that it’s contributers conform to some prescribed orthodoxy. It’s almost sad how Trump fanboys won’t allow single word of criticism against him – whether it’s misogynist commons or crude comments about the election being stolen which not a single court in the land has upheld.
The endless outrageous remarks -.including references to crooked Joe Biden – for which again is not a scrap of evidence – actually weaken Trump’s own chances of being re-elected. He thinks the playing to his base is the only thing he needs to do – or at least he can’t resist doing it. That’s the significance of his complete failure to keep to a more moderate and contemplative tone. The majority of people are not of his base. If you can’t appeal to those which means speaking in the more moderate language on occasion then you won’t win the election, in my view. Is best chance the increasing obvious senility and frailty of Joe Biden has now gone.
Great article!
Where I come from there is a proverb: A leopard cannot change its spots.
While the assassination attempt has no doubt influenced some changes in how Donald Trump’s security is handled, his real character and temperament has not changed.
Will he become more belligerent in the campaign circuit as the summer progresses into autumn?
If another attempt is made on his life by a random lone wolf or an instrument of the Deep State will he be prepared for it?
And yet… If you ask the liberal they shudder at Trump but they are blind to the dangers of the alternative.
Which is most ;likely to deny free speech ? Which is most likely to start military conflict ? Which is most likely to curtail freedom ? Which denies the rights of women ?
And every time it isnt Trump.
Trump doesn’t deny the rights of women? You are joking, surely?
What rights has he denied women?
That’s what CNN told him.
The right to control their own bodies…the most fundamental human right there is!
Trump isn’t anti-abortion. The Supreme Court make an entirely correct judicial decision as even the supporters of Roe v Wade acknowledge. You could put abortion rights in federal legislation but you need to get a democratic (small d) majority to do this.
Abortion?
*Title IX has entered the chat*
Not forgetting the most brutal punishment the Democrats inflicted on working Americans: the wide open border.
You need to fact-check where Trump stands on abortion.
I suffered through the 0ne and a half hours of cringe-worthy, boastful Trump milking his shooting for all it’s worth. Then watched him, unable to help himself,with his red and sweaty face, revert to his usual self-satisfied, narcissistic personality, in a self-indulgent, rambling monologue where he thinks the Lord Almighty saved him. Oh good he’s hanging himself, I thought but, no the audience seemed to love it and, apart from Emily, I’ve yet to read anyone who seems to think this emperor has no clothes.
….correct Clare. He has no Kabuki theatre clothes or masks. That’s what people appreciate don’t you know.
Exactly Bernard! In my lifetime Trump is the only politician I have ever observed who does…not…pretend…to be…other…than…himself. Yes he has flagrant disregard for the accuracy of his statements, exaggerates as a habit, and is in love with himself. But he disguises none of this. Plus, despite his gauche demeanor, he worked tangibly (against hostile liberal courts) to secure the southern U.S. border, was the first president to draw America’s attention to Chinese perfidy and address it concretely, presided over the defeat of ISIS in Iraq, anticipated the pertinence of European NATO unpreparedness and inadequate material contribution well before Ukraine, achieved the signing of the Abraham Accords in the Middle East, facilitated the fastest development and distribution of a vaccine in history, and kept Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Iran on a shorter leash than they now exploit, and started no new wars.
I just showed this post to my young niece (studying law) as a good example of ad hominem fallacy.
Dear niece,
Your uncle may be right. I wrote that post in the wee small hours of the morning when I was still reeling from watching Trump’s unbelievable ramblings. Perhaps my later post written after a few hours of sleep, may help me to redeem myself.
Sincerely,
Clare Knight.
The mistake you make Clare, in common with the majority of graduate class Americans, is to assume that if you could just get rid of Trump the problem would go away.
It won’t.
If you don’t want people to get hurt then don’t start a war – and open borders is the most brutal form of class war.
Thank you (I think) but I’m neither a graduate nor an American. I left my English school at age 15 and continued my education through books and life experience.
What struck me most about Trump’s rambling monologue was his delusions of grandeur. He seems to think that as a dictator all the other world dictators will capitulate to him, there will be world peace and prosperity, and America will be great again, without any of those pesky immigrants. The terrifying part of all is that his followers seem to believe him.
Hmm… I’m hearing the desperate flailings of a soul who believes she needs to reject Trump but somewhere deep down no good reasons come to mind. Come join us Clare. God spared Trump yet marked him. That’s a miracle. Think about what that means.
I’m hearing deaf and blind idolatry; someone who puts his ear to the heavens and hears back: “I will send you a demagogue”.
Aye. What’s changed about Trump–for the worse–is the level of hubris he’ll show in front of a crowd. Now he presents himself as God’s Hammer and the incarnate Savior of Democracy; “I alone can fix it” has been fortified with divine-will rhetoric that is a big hit with bulk of his most rabid followers. And he couldn’t resist following-up the unity script wit the same old vilifications and grievances. I wonder how this will land outside the group of cultish worshippers or lip-service converts. I don’t pretend to know. I’m through underestimating the dark appeal of the Orange Oracle.
Oh, Clare, how perfect you must be in your own thoughts, to sit in judgement with such ease over your fellow man.
It’s more like having discernment and clarity.
Since that comment, I’ve read many scathing criticisms the best being The London Times with its Brit wit and perspective of not being American.
That’s not the whole story – Vance has more in common with the “redneck” MAGA supporters than most. He literally was dirt poor. He didn’t go to Yale on a trust fund.
A shame he’s bought into the whole Trump thing, I used to admire him.
He’s playing the long game.
Under the Biden presidency we have been pulled closer and closer to war that involves Europe. If Trump wins then I confidently predict that the likelihood of war will end. That is good enough reason for him to get my vote.
Trump is who he is. He is authentic. He is often authentically vulgar and tacky, but at least he is not pretending to be something he is not. And that’s always been part of the charisma. Politicans like Biden have spent so many years saying what their poltical advisors and consultants, and party operatives, tell them to say, that they don’t even know what they believe. Nothing is authentic.
A good example is the concern with systemic racism. Joe Biden lived 70 years with little concern for systemic racism, and laws he sponsored to be touch on crime, put hundreds of thousands of minor drug offenders in prison. Then suddenly at age 70 he wakes up to the problem of “system racism.”
Now he is concerned about the border and illegal immigration after spending decades saying all immigration is good. ( for his party, so he thought)
Why is it so hard for journalists to understand that many people appreciate Trump who actually seems to believe what he says?
Trump is authentic? Well, yes, I suppose, in the sense that he is an authentic showman, snake-oil salesman, carnival barker, and bully. He is an authentic demagogue, for whatever that’s worth to you.
But if what you hear is that Trump sounds like an authentic spokesman for the working class, you’d better be keeping one hand on top of your wallet. Because the other authenticity of Trump is a single-minded devotion to his own material wealth and status.
You do know that Trump has been president already, right? None of the allegedly horrible things we were told would happen under him actually happened. And if he was worried about his personal wealth, he’d stay out of politics.
And we do know that many of the things he claimed to have done while in office he didn’t actually do. So one wonders if he didn’t do the things he claims he did. will he do the things he claims he will do?
The statement about Trump having “single-minded devotion to his own material wealth and status” is false. His wealth went down as a result of taking on the presidency in 2016. In addition, he refused his president’s paycheck by donating all funds back into various government agencies. And status? He used to be well liked by Hollywood leftists, but now they tear him down.
It’s people who only listen to the MSM and never bother to think.
Well, Trump is making some money off his attempted assignation . He is selling high top sneakers with the Stars and Stripes at the top, a picture of his bloody face and the words fight, fight, fight. You can get a pair for $299.00, delivered in September or October. If you’re lucky, you might get one of the 12 signed pairs. It is estimated that he will make over two million dollars.
Your objection seems to be that he is vulgar rather than that he is rich. Joe Biden is rich, so is Nancy Pelosi, so are most US politicians
What you say may have been true in 2016. It clearly isn’t now.
I think you are mistaking Trump for Clinton.
Slick Willy’s antics make Trump look like a beginner.
Funny how they have all been swept under the carpet.
Because the journalists are just like the politicians. Some of them went to the same schools. Even more of their bosses did. Even the ones who went to lesser institutions most likely went to the literally hundreds of less prominent and less prestigious ultra-liberal private universities that imitate Harvard and Yale scattered about the country. Like the politicians, they change their tune as often as the wind to suit the way the political wind is blowing. They’re chasing views, ratings, and subscriptions rather than votes, but the mechanics are basically the same. They too must pander to their constituencies, denounce their enemies, embrace the ideology of their tribe, and avoid offending their wealthy benefactors. Why is it so hard for journalists to understand Trump and his movement? Why is it hard for any of us to truly understand ourselves, acknowledge our shortcomings, and realize where our own blind spots are? Humility is a virtue in short supply these days.
I’m certainly not giving them a pass. I don’t give out passes and I’m not a dispenser of absolution. I just don’t expect any better, so I’m rarely surprised. Humans, like most things in nature, tend to follow the path of least resistance most of the time.
Um…” at least he is not pretending to be something he is not.” Right…so in reality this multi bankrupt nepo baby who couldn’t make money in a Casino, who’s steaks flopped, who’s educational endeavours cost him law suit after lawsuit, who’s airline couldn’t fly…this guy is actually America’s most successful business man (at least according to JD Vance). If that isn’t someone pretending to be something he is not…hmm!
But at least apply the same principles to the other side, who are even more economical with the truth
Ninety-eight per cent of the corporate and other left leaning media kept DT’s presidential successes invisible to their audience. All they got to see and hear were echoes and mirror-images of their own disfunction.
But that’s the problem, isn’t it, that he believes what he says? He has delusions of grandeur and he believes the grandiose things he says, like being the god-given ruler of the world.
What precisely in his forty plus years in the public eye gives you the idea that Trump is sincere and believes all the things he says? He started as a real estate developer and salesman, not exactly a profession known for their impeccable honesty. He then moved on to relentless self-promotion, hawking his useless book and fake university. He took time to participate in the occasional pro wrestling promotion, and then had his own reality TV show. Trump’s history suggests he is an accomplished liar and a showman who understands how to use drama, hyperbole, and theatricality to entertain people and gain sympathy and loyalty from others.
I am sorry but every politician bends the truth. Every one of them lies and tries to make themselves look better and their opponents look worse. Trump is just better at it than they are. I don’t like the insincerity myself or the circus antics, but at least I recognize them for what they are. I take everything that comes out of Trump’s mouth with a pile of salt. I am not so self deluded seI attribute sincerity and authenticity to Trump only when it makes him look bad and accuse him of lying the rest of the time.
If only you were in the majority.
A rubbish reply to a rubbish comment. You two should get together somewhere.
Try and say something substantive and analytical, not this childish pathetic stuff.
The way Trump intoned his rambling monologue reminded me of someone telling a bedtime to a child……..” And then they all lived happily ever”.
What do you mean, “the myth of Butler”? The man was shot. We all saw it. He reacted with astonishing bravery. We all saw that, too. God, these articles are stupid.
Yes, that caught my eye. I think she meant “legend”.
Myth and legend mean pretty much the same thing!
Perhaps it was simply a case of poor word choice on the author’s part? We all make mistakes? Or perhaps it was a Freudian slip? The author wishes it was a myth and not what really happened. Then again, perhaps the author is suggesting the Republican Party and Trump’s followers are mythologizing the event less than a week after it occurred. Given their convention occurred this week, fate could hardly make it any more convenient for mythologizing, but in my view it’s in very poor taste to make such observations or accusations over such a recent occurrence. It would be far more tactful to refrain from judgement and try to be civil towards one’s opponents for a week, but perhaps this author simply couldn’t do that, and thus suggests that she is perhaps no more capable of rising above the political fray than Trump is. Perhaps none of us are.
Speak for yourself, please.
That being said, a non- hyperbolic bullet came within a fraction of an inch to creating utter chaos in the US and the world at large.
Deep down I bet Steve and Clare think the thing was staged or, if not, hoped that the bullet had found its mark.
I think it is pretty obvious that the author does actually believe that firefighter Comperatore WAS actually killed!.
The point is that this killing and Donald Trump’s use of the event on stage and possibly subsequently may well become a mythic event. I’m not implying any particular dubious motive of Donald Trump’s here: almost any politician would have some eye to the impact that their treatment of significant and eye-catching event will have and how it might be used to further their narrative. The assassination of John F Kennedy is exactly such an event, not just comprising the bald facts of the murder.
What was “brave” about it? The man stood up and raised his fist after a bullet grazed his ear.
I’ve been struck by the shallowness of UnHerd when dealing with breaking news. It should reserve itself for the more thoughtful analysis that only time allows. Say a week in the case of an attempted presidential assassination.
Of course you can analyse Trump’s demeanor and speech, which have actually happened!
Myth doesn’t mean “untrue” in that simplistic sense!
What “that” is which didn’t last long remains a mystery after reading this article.
Reading this article makes me understand why I’ve had a difficult time grasping what happened last week in Butler.
The epic gaslighting about Biden’s health that we’ve been subject to over the last few years made American politics and specifically this presidential election kind of separate off into another sphere of my perception, which I don’t consider reality. Like the lava in a lava lamp separating itself into two blobs.
I’m watching all of this happen, but as I’d watch a Netflix show. I have the normal reactions of “oh my God, that’s crazy – I’m so glad Trump wasn’t killed”…but they have the quality of the feelings I had for Walt or Hank in Breaking Bad. I watch it, I see what happens, I react – but then I feel like I can switch it all off and it doesn’t exist.
It’s very strange and probably not 100% psychologically healthy.
There’s nothing about present day American politics that’s psychologically healthy for anybody. Not the insane race baiting and identity politics, not the utter fantasy world of ‘social justice’, not the panic and apocalyptic rhetoric about climate change, not the dilution and destruction of native cultures, not the decline of traditional religion, not the increasingly revolutionary reactions to these several insults, not the media’s bending of the truth in either direction, not the wealth elites and globalist system that drives it all. None of it is remotely healthy, and that’s most of the reason why so many people are fed up with it and ready for somebody, anybody, who will do something, anything, to change our present course. We all have our own ways to handle traumatic events and process crises. I simply separate myself from the situation intellectually, which is easy for me since I’ve always been naturally introverted and disinterested in participating in collective human endeavors. As a result, I can be eerily calm in the most tense and difficult situations but tend to break down over almost nothing at random times of normality. Seems like you’re doing something fairly similar, hopefully without the random breakdowns, and I think given the present situation, it’s as good a coping mechanism as any.
This just in: Kate still hates Trump. There wasn’t even a 10-minute pause in that.
“Weaponising the legal system, stealing elections, failing the country — the attack lines returned one by one. He boasted of $250 million of business that he had brought to Milwaukee by choosing it for his convention. ‘I am trying to buy your vote’ he joked. ‘I’ll be honest about that.’”
A legitimate mention of real issues and a touch of humor, exactly what the TDS people hate most about him.
I’m a music producer. That took too long to get to the chorus and the chorus wasn’t that good.
What?!
The speech was vintage Trump. What was also vintage Trump was a brilliantly designed and executed convention, including the best GOP platform in years. I support Trump for he does and not his speeches. The convention is the best evidence of what we will get if he is elected.
I’ve long said we have to judge politicians by what they do rather than what they say because they lie constantly. Having said that, I love Trump speeches. He’s genuinely honest and funny. I can’t stop watching them even though he rarely says anything new.
Or anything true.
The ” every day American ” speeches were better than the politicians. So on point. For once, the GOP appears to have their act together.
The myth of Butler will now forever be built into Donald Trump’s story…
Watch the corporate media memory hole this or query it with conspiracy theories.
‘ Come the Democrats’ convention in Chicago, that party could have a new story to tell…..’
Biden is going to be cancelled, is he, just because he might lose?
He won the primaries. You know, votes, democracy, all the kind of things which are on the ballot in November.
Democracy is on the ballot in November, so I guess Americans will have to wait until the Democrats decide to tell them who they have to vote for.
The Democrat Party rigged the primaries to ensure Biden won. Now they might be stuck with him.
These articles seem to have one purpose: to create a veneer of ‘balance’. I’m quite up for having intelligent commentary from the other side. So let’s have some actually intelligent commentary….intelligible would be a start
So let’s see what you got.
No one ever said that now politics is supposed to be kind and gentle. Just knock it off with the Hitler and the ‘concentration camps’ stuff.
Just exactly how is an ear “incongruously bandaged” as opposed to being congruously so?
One suspects the big bandage wasn’t necessary and that, in truth,a flesh-colored band-aid would have sufficed, particularly for a macho man.
Journalism is so strange nowaday. Ms. Jashinsky is a Washington DC correspondent for years now. She probably have seen and hear Joe Biden countless time and never write about Biden’s deteriorating cognitive conditions, and yet daringly put on paper questioning an old non-politician’s motives, given the one-sided lawfare and constant harassments against him in MSM. It is no wonder nobody trust journalism any longer. It seems all of them are all out pushing some kind of hidden agenda.
I believe he has earned the right to be himself, however, it seems to me a more subdued and thoughtful Trump. If you have ever been shot or have come REAL close, it is a defining moment and absolutely sharpens every sense. We will see if he returns to the “Old” Trump but I don’t think so as he realizes that this in not all about him, it is about the future of the U.S, the folks who support him, and the vicious, amoral/immoral Corporate Dem apparatus that has been after him since 2016. Trump let American down in 2020 by being the “Donald’, I don’t think it will happen this year. My position was I vehemently disliked what he said but loved what he did.
And he did what?
Agree with Jashinsky. To my mind, it would have been a moment of grace if Donald Trump could have connected less awkwardly with Melania and brought JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance closer to his side during that interminable finale. Too bad. His failings after 20 minutes into his speech, and while onstage afterwards, were miserably magnified by my expectations. Trump is Trump. He had a dreadful scare not a NDE. Ever since 2016, whenever the dreaded conversation turns to politics (I am surrounded by my leftist homies), I often say I voted for the only anti-war president of my life time– twice. So far, Inshallah, it looks like I’ll be doing so again.
I read this article and many of the negative comments below the line. I then watched Freddie’s interview of Emily Jashinsky which is the basis for this article.
I would recommend people watch the interview. It’s much more interesting and nuanced than the article. I realize there are limits to what an author can achieve in a short article, but somehow Jashinsky managed to miscommunicate her opinions about the Trump speech, and its implications for the campaign, in the article, but she gave a really nice summary in the interview.
I think she had time to sleep and reflect before writing the essay.
Was there even a script from which to deviate? Vance and both of Trump’s sons gave addresses recognizable as actual speeches: organized, making specific points, transitions, etc. You know, the sort of thing one learns in high school forensics in order to communicate clearly and powerfully a particular message to a particular audience.
I don’t know how anyone with ears could describe Trump as “a great messenger.” He is rambling, self-absorbed, reliably more interested in hearing his own voice airing his own grievances than conveying a cogent, relevant message about the nation and his vision for it. Some of us — Democrats, Independents, historically not Trump supporters — were open to that possibility last night, to hearing something different, and a little hopeful, given our diminished options. Suckers.
I guess if shooting someone in the middle of a crowded street won’t lose him any votes — as he claimed in 2016 — disjointed, self-absorbed “speeches” are hardly a concern. His fans remain slavishly devoted, just as Trump remains Trump. That this is the best the United States can do — or has chosen to do, considering the broken political machinery that delivered Trump and Biden as the only two candidates with any chance of winning– is just pathetic.
Well said.
Thank you.
Good article Emily, this is how I am feeling this morning too. After an amazing convention with amazing speeches and so much hype about Trump and his new tone and his new speech and everything and this was really disappointing. I bet the actual written speech was amazing but it seems that that was about 1/4 of what he said, he said 12,000 words based on a 3000 word speech. So much fluff, so much self-aggrandizement. I didn’t see any real, reaching out to the middle. He had an opportunity to seal the election, and instead he decided to be his usual chatty, long-winded self that only appeals to the true fans. I admit now that my expectations were raised to unrealistic levels. Hope Springs eternal.
‘……his incongruously bandaged ear….’
What does that mean? No doubt it was done by a doctor or trained medical person. They would have done what was necessary.
This was a joyless article; a masquerade of a deep and penetrating analysis. The full gamut of human emotions runs from the thoughtful to bright, from somber to joyful. No, President Trump will not be somber and quiet-voiced every moment, Emily. He will be happy at times and somber at other times. Somewhat like you, yes?
I feel ashamed of you, and God knows who is on His side.
Freddie, you need a new corespondent. “He’ll probably keep wearing the bandage for a little Bit “. If he’s following medical advice he certainly will. She won’t be worth listening to in Chicago. As she made clear she’s perfectly happy to comment to the world while admitting her ignorance. Why would anyone listen?
I just came off youtube listening to the remix of 50 cent’s ‘Many men…’ with the Trump shooting image at the head.
And the comments, thousands of them, all along these lines…
‘3 baby mommas, 39 indictments, shot and gets up, man’s a gangsta, has the votes of the hood’.
I am an old guy, Biden’s age, and I don’t listen to rap. Bu if I compare what I might plainly say in Trump’s position…’A lot of people want me dead’ to 50 cent’s lines…
‘Many men
Wish death upon me’
I can think of no better way to show what poetry is.
“This man loves rallies.” This is as deep as this interview got except for the discussion about whether his bandage should have been as big. I expect more from UnHerd.