Trump was a changed man in convention speech. Then he went off script
Alexander Panetta | CBC News | Posted: July 19, 2024 10:32 AM | Last Updated: July 19
Old habits, like complaining of a stolen election, are as imperishable as the man himself
Donald Trump had a plan for this singular political moment: deliver a speech so out of character that if a time-traveler from a week ago somehow managed to witness it that person might have wondered, "Who hypnotized Trump?"
A brush with death a few days earlier inspired a truly novel convention speech as un-Trump-like as if delivered by a twin separated at birth.
The prepared text was devoid of insults, filled with gratitude. No digs at "Sleepy Joe" or "Laughin' Kamala," no insults — in fact, no mentioning his election opponents at all.
At least that was the plan. Hours before the address, Trump's co-campaign manager had previewed a forward-focused speech, but, alluding to his candidate's penchant for improvisation, Chris LaCivita said: "It's still early in the day."
Old habits, it turns out, are as imperishable as the man himself.
WATCH | Trump recrounts assasination attempt in RNC speech:
The familiar Trump resurfaced when he deviated from the prepared script twice to accuse Democrats of stealing elections.
He took digs at Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, by name, then President Joe Biden, then corrected himself and referred to "that person," and returned briefly to the script.
The audience could follow along with which parts were planned, and which were improvised: a large screen in back of the arena scrolled down the prepared text — gracious, unifying — and it would periodically stop as Trump freestyled.
Those prepared remarks were to be an hour of peace and love for fellow Americans — and talk of mass-deportation for foreign migrants, as per his platform. New tone, old Trump policies. It wound up lasting an hour and a half.
Trump describes shooting, calls survival a gift from God
With Trump still on script, the speech began with him describing how a bullet whizzed a semi-centimetre from his skull on Saturday, sending him crashing to the ground and re-emerging with blood on his face and hands.
"I am not supposed to be here tonight," Trump told the Milwaukee crowd. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God."
He later spoke of every moment on Earth being a gift from God.
Trump talked of unifying the country. Rather than simply rally his base, he promised to govern even for those Americans who oppose him.
"I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America. Because there is no victory in winning for half of America," Trump said.
Supporters in the crowd chanted, "We love you," and, "God is good."
In the audience, people's eyes were tearing up. As he paid tribute to Corey Comperatore, a retired firefighter killed at Saturday's rally, sniffles could be heard in the crowd. A chorus corrected him in unison after Trump said he wasn't supposed to be there.
LISTEN: Inside the RNC, where it's Donald Trump's Republican Party now:
The arena chanted back, "Yes! You! Are!" After basking in those cheers momentarily, Trump shot back: "But I'm not."
It was while talking about his near-death experience that Trump first mentioned policy.
He said his life was saved because he looked up at a screen at Saturday's rally to stare at a chart showing how irregular migration was lower during his presidency.
On the migration theme, he reiterated his promise to deport millions of people who entered the U.S. illegally in the largest deportation program in history — larger, he said, than Eisenhower's, a reference to a notorious operation in the 1950s.
Trump accurately referred to the surge in irregular migration under Biden. Less accurately, he played loose with other facts, bemoaning rising crime (it's dropping) and promising to bring down inflation (it's dropping).
Like many convention speakers, he mentioned a rise in murders that is simply not happening; murder rose near the end of his presidency, during the pandemic, and it's fallen precipitously in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to lower levels than the end of Trump's term.
But nobody was here for policy details.
This was a joyous convention. Over four days, Republicans revelled in other things: swipes at certain foes — Democrats, transgender athletes and undocumented migrants; celebrating Trump's survival; and the smell of impending victory.
Trump is, for the first time in his political career, the overwhelming general-election favourite. His opponents are a regicidal mess, with Democrats pressing Joe Biden to leave the race.
Republicans are indeed preparing for that possibility, teasing some of the attack lines they intend to use if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the nominee.
One line of attack is to refer to the ouster of Biden as a coup. Speaking of which, Trump, in his speech, urged the Biden administration to unify the country by dropping charges against him related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The opening acts before Trump's speech included the talk host Tucker Carlson, who described the assassination attempt as a transformative moment for Trump.
"Everything was different," Carlson said.
"I have to say, I think it changed him."