A fiery Donald Trump painted a dark picture of a troubled America in his highly anticipated acceptance speech Thursday night.
(Click here for the full text of Trump’s speech)
The newly-minted Republican nominee, who spoke for an incredible 75 minutes (almost the longest in convention history), abandoned the hopeful tone the GOP had struck over the course of the week, in favor of a harsh, often angry, approach to foreign and domestic policy.
The Quicken Loans Arena, packed for the first time all week, responded raucously, especially when the candidate covered his proposed “law and order” policy changes that included a complete curb on immigration, a wall at America’s southern border, and punishments doled out to corporations who dared to take jobs across national borders.
They screamed and shouted, even as Trump painted a picture of American life that was more Mad Max and less “shining city on a hill.”
The speech was a clear departure from stated Republican principles. While Republicans frequently embrace free trade, Trump stressed protectionism.
While Republicans have painted a vision of American exceptionalism, Trump was clear that what might have once made America great has lately faded, and that without dramatic change – change Trump himself could bring – the best days of America were in its past.
While pundits and spectators struggled to quantify the public’s response, social media seemed to show a clear distinction: if they supported him previously, they thought the speech was excellent. If they had reservations about Trump before Thursday night, the speech only made them more nervous.
This from Andrew Sullivan captures Trump's prepared remarks quite well https://t.co/wwaDBMBWJF pic.twitter.com/0uA2aRqtxy
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) July 22, 2016
Non-Trump supporters watching this speech #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/tjQxw4s5Tu
— Mashable GIF (@mashablegif) July 22, 2016
Shorter Donald Trump: Everything is terrible. Everyone is going to die. Vote for me.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 22, 2016
Let me tell you what the most important fact of this speech is: it's great for Trump voters. It's a disaster for everyone else.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 22, 2016
I liked this speech more when it was delivered by Charles Bronson in Death Wish II.
— Scott Lemieux (@LemieuxLGM) July 22, 2016
In summary: Trump speech was a desperate attempt to win today by harkening back to a deep and dark past; sacrificing the future of the GOP.
— Charlie Harper (@IcarusPundit) July 22, 2016
Finally the Hope & Change Obama promised is here, his name is @realDonaldTrump we only had to wait out almost 8 years for it!
— Kim Couture-Tosti (@KimiCouture) July 22, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump and @Mike_Pence, let’s see it through… let’s go win this thing. #RNCinCLE
— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) July 22, 2016
The meltdown indicates that Trump succeeded beyond all expectations… and fears.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) July 22, 2016
Reagan's 9 feared words: "I'm from the gov't and I'm here to help."
Trump, 3 decades later: "I alone can fix it."
God save us all.
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 22, 2016
Even Trump’s Democratic opponents had mixed feelings. Hillary Clinton spent the evening working to counteract Trump’s apocalyptic vision, trolling him in real time.
We are better than this.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 22, 2016
"I’m with you*" —@realDonaldTrump
*Not included: women, African Americans, LGBT people, Muslims, Latinos, immigrants…
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 22, 2016
Bernie Sanders, who had the most re-tweeted reaction of the evening, couldn’t quite understand how Trump could square his policy ideas with his political affiliation.
Trump: “I alone can fix this.”
Is this guy running for president or dictator? #RNCwithBernie— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016
Some on Twitter just assumed Trump stole his most pertinent passages from a musical about the Argentina.
Trump told: “Talk like a president.” Trump heard: “Talk like a South American dictator yelling from a balcony to those left after a purge.”
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) July 22, 2016
CNN viewers, in an immediate, self-reported online poll, were overwhelmingly positive.
75% of viewers had a positive reaction to Trump's speech according to just released CNN poll. pic.twitter.com/lUuMWcmlhS
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 22, 2016
Overall, Trump’s speech seemed like a success, at least in the sense that the New York real estate magnate was able to toe the line between political candidate and the off-the-cuff (and controversial) character Trump designed during the primaries.
His speechwriters even built in self-deprecating jokes about Trump’s playboy lifestyle and his willing embrace of the “rigged” system he’s running to deconstruct.
On the other hand, this reined-in version of Trump lacked some of the connection with the audience he’s so famous for (he rarely encouraged the audience to chant his slogans, like “Build the Wall”), and he gave only sparse details on how Make America Great Again became a plan of action.
Ultimately, Trump did what he needed to do – deliver a rousing convention speech – but may not accomplish what he needs to accomplish: getting enough nervous Republicans on board the “Trump Train” to give him a comfortable position opposite Hillary Clinton. His closing song, rather than his speech, seemed to make the better argument to the GOP than the speech did:
“You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”
