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About an hour after the first night of the virtual proceedings began, The New York Times published this banner headline: “GOP Pushes Lies and Fear at Convention.”
CNN and MSNBC, which broadcast virtually every minute of the Democratic convention, continued to break away from fact-checking, critics, and pundits.
That’s not to say the GOP show was above aggressive analysis. Several of the speakers made exaggerated, if not apocalyptic, accusations against Joe Biden at the Democrats that went far beyond traditional political hyperbole. But in terms of media applying pretty much the same standards at every convention, it wasn’t even close.
Some of the speakers were very much like President Trump, aiming to awaken the grassroots but making little or no effort to attract independent or hesitant voters. And while Democrats certainly hailed Biden as a good and decent man, conservative activist Charlie Kirk initially set the tone by calling Trump the “bodyguard of Western civilization,” who “preserved America” from those who would eliminate “everything we love”. “
GOP CONVENTION MEMBERS FAVOR THE ASSET AS “ PRO-AMERICAN CANDIDATE ” TO THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
Party chairman Ronna McDaniel has accused Democrats of wanting to ban fossil fuels, eliminate private health insurance and disband the police, despite Biden not holding any of those positions. In fact, he fought against Medicare for All. Nikki Haley backed up the emotion, saying Biden’s “boss” would be Nancy Pelosi and the team.
Kimberly Giulfoyle, my former colleague Fox, gave a fiery speech in which she criticized California (led by ex-husband Gavin Newsom) as the embodiment of the Democratic future: “Street riots, blackouts in the houses”. Democrats “want to control what you see and think,” she said.
At this convention, much heavier in speech than the barrage of Democrats video clips,
Trump, as announced, has made several appearances. Using the White House as a backdrop, he met seven frontline workers (trucker, cop, postman, nurses) and again with six former hostages he had freed from overseas. The chatter was brief but got to a point.
Donald Trump Jr. gave a red meat speech, filled with one-liners that would have driven the crowd crazy if there had been one. He called Biden “the Loch Ness Swamp Monster” and said the view from the left was that people couldn’t go to church but “the chaos in the streets had a pass.”
HOST SAVED THANKS TO TRUMP DURING THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION: “ YOU GOT ME BACK ”
The president’s son scored good points, bolstering his father’s response to the coronavirus by highlighting the early ban on Chinese travelers and the production of medical equipment. He hit on Biden for “talking about shutting down the country again,” when what the former veep told ABC was that he would order a lockdown if science warrants it.
From there it was to “Beijing Biden” (despite his father’s past praise for President Xi) who wanted to “repeal Trump’s tax cut” (for those making more than $ 400,000). The zingers kept coming: “Joe Biden and the left are now coming for our free speech.” Trump Jr. said the “other side” was also against freedom of thought, freedom of religion and the rule of law.
In short, Don followed his father’s lead in painting the Democratic nominee as the captive of much more radical elements than his track record suggests. Senator Tim Scott gave the best speech of the night, using more of a scalpel to slice up Biden.
The Republicans gave their critics ammunition by decreeing that they would not have a platform this year, essentially becoming Trump’s Party. Now platform fights have become increasingly meaningless in recent rounds and largely ignored post-election, but at least they were a battle of ideas.
The GOP put its recorded vote for some reason at 11 a.m. And when the president in the home host state of North Carolina gave a rally-style speech in the early afternoon, he complained that CNN hadn’t worn it and that Fox had spoken about it. (It’s not unusual for networks to split up in non-virtual years unless the vote is tight.)
Trump also tore Democrats apart for trying to steal the election (by mail) and attacked Barack Obama (for allegedly spying on his campaign). He spoke about the number of judges he has appointed and efforts to reduce prescription drug prices, but gave few details on a second term program.
All of this made me wonder if Trump’s daily agenda would not have the desired effect in passing off Thursday’s acceptance speech as just another speech. But this president, of course, is still the star of his reality show.
There was no lack of distractions on the eve of the convention. The country woke up Monday morning to discover that Kellyanne Conway, one of the speakers at the convention, is leaving the White House, the outcome of an unhappy family melodrama. First, her husband George (who is leaving the anti-Trump Lincoln Project) helped turn their marriage into a public spectacle with his fierce attacks on the president.
Then their 15-year-old daughter engaged in harsh personal criticism of her parents (as well as her mother’s boss) on Tik Tok and Twitter, and threatened on Saturday to seek legal emancipation. Kellyanne Conway told the president on Sunday night that she was resigning as a councilor, saying in a statement that her four “beloved” children would receive “less drama, more mom.” He was sad to see family turmoil engulf one of Trump’s oldest loyalists.
Conway was the campaign manager whose late promotion helped Trump win the White House, along with Steve Bannon, who was named in a fraud indictment days earlier as part of a fundraising program for a border wall. The combined impact (although Trump has nothing to do with the Bannon affair) is exactly what you don’t want from the prospect of accepting your nomination for a second term.
Whatever the criticisms of the first night, the President bears the burden – and we’ll see a lot more of him this week.
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