(Milwaukee) The man may not have changed, but the tone was new.
On the substance, Donald Trump delivered the same speech, based on the same pillars: the country is “invaded”, inflation is out of control, the United States is not respected, schools are out of control and crime is “out of control”.
But the sarcasm, the mockery, the personal attacks, the occasional hint of rage, in short, everything that has been the businessman’s signature oratorical style since he entered politics, all of that was carefully avoided.
Read “Touched by ‘God’s grace,’ Trump calls for unity”
Instead of dipping his words in acid, he had polished them and coated them with a little sugar. It was about unity, love, and it was all delivered at a very low decibel level.
To be honest, Trump was not at his best, and we have seen him get a crowd going much more.
The circumstances were obviously unprecedented on this Thursday evening in Milwaukee. It was the first time that Trump had spoken since the Butler attack, five days earlier. He began his speech by recounting that bloody, traumatic late afternoon, speaking in a confidential tone. A tone he maintained almost throughout.
When he shifted to partisan rhetoric, it was a new-style Trump who was on the microphone. Or rather, a Trump who held back his punches.
He has not changed his message: he promises a sealed border and deportations on an unprecedented scale, an end to investment in renewable energy, full-scale oil exploration and the fight against crime.
But the other unprecedented circumstance is the weakness of his opponent. There is no point in adding to the criticism of Joe Biden, especially since he may not even be his opponent. Trump did not mention his name once, nor that of any opponent. He who likes to talk about “corrupt Joe” at every rally did not even deign to mention the name of his opponent.
Well, almost, because you can’t change your ways in five days: going off script (the journalists had the text in advance), he couldn’t help but say that if we were to make a list of the ten worst presidents in history, Biden would be at the top. And he added right away, aware that he was deviating from the communication strategy: “This is the last time I’ll say his name.”
In 2020, when the Republican convention was held partly remotely, Trump mentioned Biden’s name 52 times in a fiery speech.
This time, he simply attacked “the Democrats” and “the current administration,” asking them to drop all the “bogus” accusations against him if they really want to unite the country.
He went off-script several other times to inject a bit of humor or wake up the crowd, which he usually shakes up much more. In fact, he seemed a bit bored in the execution of these imposed figures to show that he can “lower the temperature,” unite the country and seduce “those who did not vote for me.”
This is no time to make a blunder. The attack has created a wave of sympathy for the Republican candidate, who was already floating with a lead in the polls.
“Under President Bush, Russia invaded Georgia, under President Obama, Russia took Crimea, under the current administration, Russia wants to take all of Ukraine, under President Trump, Russia has taken nothing.”
If we had not understood that this Republican Party is no longer the same, we will note that it has put Bush Jr. and two Democrats in the same group.
In the old party, we probably wouldn’t have seen wrestler Hulk Hogan tearing his jersey in one of the last speeches of the convention… Or a presidential candidate presented by Dana White, the big boss of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the wealthy mixed martial arts organization.
After his conviction by a New York jury, Trump appeared at a UFC gala, where he received a hero’s welcome.
God is increasingly present in the former president’s speeches, but it is Trump the “strong man” who is the character of this campaign. The one who shouts Fight! raised fist 30 seconds after being shot.
Except that in the end, the speech fell rather flat – compared to host Tucker Carlson’s, which had the crowd roaring.
Either the strategists had forced him to hold back, or the aftermath of the attack is still being felt, or both. But it was a half-extinguished Trump who closed this convention.
He nevertheless emerged triumphant, having crushed all opposition and made his “best adversaries” swear obedience.
What more ?