MILWAUKEE \u2014 Welcome to The Campaign Moment. This week, we\u2019re running through the big moments and trends from the Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n
(Did a friend forward this to you, or are you seeing this on the website? If so, sign up for this newsletter here. And make sure to check out the Campaign Moment podcast.)<\/p>\n
The 2024 GOP convention came to a close Thursday night, with former president Donald Trump formally accepting his party\u2019s nomination just five days after surviving an assassination attempt.<\/p>\n
But even that story wasn\u2019t necessarily the biggest of Thursday, as the potential exit of the opponent Republicans had spent four days attacking \u2014 President Biden \u2014 loomed larger and larger.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our final set of takeaways from the convention week that was.<\/p>\n
1. A tale of two Trump speeches: powerful and perplexing<\/p>\n
The first 15 minutes of Trump\u2019s speech were powerful, as he recounted Saturday\u2019s assassination attempt.<\/p>\n
The rest of the more than 90-minute-long speech was thoroughly confusing. It meandered between points, often going off-script with ad-libs that left a standard-issue Trump campaign speech without the kind of coherent, lofty theme that defines traditional presidential convention fare. And Trump\u2019s initially subdued manner and calls for unity didn\u2019t match the content of an often-divisive speech.<\/p>\n
Trump grabbed the audience with a promise to discuss what happened Saturday, but qualified it by saying he would only do it once, \u201cbecause it\u2019s actually too painful to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
He celebrated slain firefighter Corey Comperatore and two others who were shot.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most powerful moment came when Trump said, \u201cI\u2019m not supposed to be here tonight.\u201d The crowd began chanting, \u201cYes you are!\u201d Trump ultimately responded, \u201cThank you, but I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever,\u201d Trump wrapped up that section. \u201cI am more determined than ever. So are you. So is everybody. \u2026 Our resolve is unbroken, and our purpose is unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also unchanged: Virtually the rest of his speech, undifferentiated from a normal Trump stump speech.<\/p>\n
Despite the call for unity, Trump soon referred to \u201ccrazy Nancy Pelosi,\u201d repeatedly cited false allegations of stolen elections, called for the firing of the head of the United Auto Workers, cited the \u201cChina virus\u201d and the \u201cinvasion\u201d at the Southern border. He called a Democratic senator a \u201ctotal lightweight.\u201d He even repeated a puzzling allusion to \u201cthe late, great Hannibal Lecter,\u201d from \u201cThe Silence of the Lambs,\u201d which he\u2019s used before.<\/p>\n
All of it was familiar from Trump\u2019s speeches \u2014 as was the extensive ad-libbing. But this wasn\u2019t just any Trump speech. This was a different venue, his introduction to many more casual voters who might not eat up his many musings.<\/p>\n
The assassination attempt probably drew even more eyeballs to him, and it\u2019s not clear what those new viewers took away, beyond that Trump was nearly killed five days ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019d better finish strong,\u201d Trump said at one point. \u201cOtherwise we\u2019ll blow it. And we can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Republicans trolled Democrats on replacing Biden<\/p>\n
As Democrats appeared to inch closer to replacing their 2024 standard-bearer, Republicans decided now would be a good time to stir the pot.<\/p>\n
Previously, some high-profile Republicans made clear their preference for facing Biden and began attacking Vice President Harris more. But Wednesday, their move was to try to stoke Democratic divisions, casting any attempt to replace the nominee as a brazen and even undemocratic one.<\/p>\n
Top Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, at a CNN\/Politico event, called it an attempted \u201ccoup\u201d and an effort to \u201cdepose\u201d Biden \u201cthat\u2019s going to create a whole host of different issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
At another event, former Trump acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell called efforts to switch nominees \u201coutrageous\u201d and urged the media to declare that \u201cyou don\u2019t get to dump this [president]. This is what happens in other countries, not in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
On X, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) labeled it an \u201cinsurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of these descriptions actually fit; Democrats are trying to persuade Biden to drop out, not overturn the primary results themselves. But as the Biden loyalists get a little quieter, there\u2019s certainly value for Republicans in framing things this way in hopes of riling them (or perhaps even Biden) up.<\/p>\n
At the very least, Republicans seemed to be having some fun trolling Democrats over their discord.<\/p>\n
3. They leaned in on the assassination attempt \u2014 and maybe God\u2019s favoritism<\/p>\n
Trump wasn\u2019t the only one to focus extensively on the assassination attempt.<\/p>\n
Speakers repeatedly pitched it and Trump\u2019s response as evidence of Trump\u2019s resolve, courage \u2014 and possibly even God\u2019s will that he be president.<\/p>\n
Eric Trump focused on it, calling Trump \u201ca man who survived a bullet that was intended to eliminate him permanently from our future and from our family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wiped the blood off your face,\u201d Eric Trump said. \u201cAnd you put your fist in the air, in a moment that will be remembered as one of the most courageous acts in the history of American politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump lawyer Alina Habba said Trump \u201cdid not just take a bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania. He has and will continue to take them for each and every one of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
While other Trump supporters have posited that God intervened to save Trump, a couple of speakers seemed to go a little further to suggest it showed God\u2019s favoritism.<\/p>\n
Evangelical leader Franklin Graham, unlike many others pointing to possible divine intervention, noted that firefighter Corey Comperatore was not spared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot explain why God would save one life and allow another one to be taken,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI don\u2019t have the answer for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that he did have that answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he stood up after being shot in the face, bloodied, and put his hand up, I thought at that moment that was a transformation. This was no longer a man. Well, I think that I think it was divine intervention,\u201d Carlson said, adding: \u201cThis was the leader of a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlson added: \u201cI think a lot of people are wondering, what is this? This doesn\u2019t look like politics. Something bigger is going on here. I think even people who don\u2019t believe in God are beginning to think, well, maybe there\u2019s something to this, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if Biden drops out of the presidential race?\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cPelosi has told House Democrats that Biden may soon be persuaded to exit race\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cObama tells allies Biden\u2019s path to winning reelection has greatly diminished\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cThe right is attacking the Secret Service\u2019s women agents. Trump hasn\u2019t joined in.\u201d (Politico)<\/span>\u201cPelosi, Long Fixated on Winning, Is in No Mood to Lose With Biden\u201d (New York Times)<\/span><\/p>\n MILWAUKEE \u2014 Welcome to The Campaign Moment. This week, we\u2019re running through the big moments and trends from the Republican National Convention. (Did a friend forward this to you, or are you seeing this on the website? If so, sign up for this newsletter here. And make sure to check out the Campaign Moment podcast.) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}