Trump spoke to the “forgotten men and women” who he said no longer have a voice in a rigged political system run by “censors” and “cynics”.
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Each of these represents a missed opportunity for the Trump campaign, but probably the only speech that will matter at this week’s convention and will still matter a week from now is the one Donald Trump gave on Thursday night.
He cast himself as the only one who was equipped to solve America’s problems.
“We can not afford to be so politically correct anymore”, Trump said in the polished manner of convention oratory.
“This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”, he said.
But speaking for over an hour, he also stuck to numerous hard right themes from a bruising primary campaign, showing why he is one of the most controversial USA politicians in living memory. He again blasted what he called the unfair trade tactics of competitors like China. But he seemed to clarify and even soften his statement from earlier in that campaign that he will ban all Muslims from entering the United States.
Throughout the day, the Clinton campaign and other Democratic groups sent out statements denouncing various Trump polices as ineffectual, divisive or simply wrong-headed, and accusing him of distorting Clinton’s records. “They do reinforce biases so if you’re pro-Trump, you’re going to be enthusiastically pro-Trump after tonight and if you’re not, the converse also holds”.
It transpired that Trump’s third wife, an ex-model, had included sections from a speech given by First Lady Michelle Obama in 2008. Gingrich said Trump would make mistakes, “Yes”. I think a floodgate will happen just like it did for Jimmy Carter and I think that it will be just finishing the race off.
“Together we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace”, he said to raucous cheers from the packed Quicken Loans Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
The speech will set the tone for Trump’s next three months of campaigning ahead of the November 8 election, explaining why he feels Clinton is unfit to lead and why he would be better at improving the U.S. economy and handling the threat of Islamic State militants. Later, as Trump was speaking, a well-known protester interrupted the nominee ― a startling failure of both security and logistics.
Trump’s strategy was classic populism – conjuring up a dark and stormy world.
Cleveland police say 17 people were arrested following a chaotic protest near the arena hosting the convention.
Trump will be introduced by his daughter Ivanka Trump who has been an important behind-the-scenes adviser.
Trump prepared for his big night amid another flap over his commitment to USA military alliances, including North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. “Until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place we don’t want them in our country”.
Republicans who have questioned Trump’s grasp of foreign policy reacted with indignation. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Trump “is essentially telling Russians/other bad actors” that the United States “is not fully committed to supporting North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance”.
He also declared that, two days after Cruz was loudly booed at the Republican National Convention for not endorsing the new nominee, he would never accept the Texas senator’s backing.
He will tell Americans that he will speedily address the crime and violence that has dominated headlines.
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Trump was trying to rally a party badly fractured over his nomination and send reassurance to GOP leaders fearful that he begins the final months of the election with a campaign that is poorly organized and ill-prepared, highlighted by petty squabbles between Trump campaign officials and defeated rivals who won’t endorse him and the messy handling of charges of plagiarism in Melania Trump’s speech on Monday night. The Trump kids project in person as honest and smart – and they clearly love their father.
