Can Donald Trump unite the country?
The former president's assertion on the final night of the Republican National Convention (RNC), where unity was the night's theme, was that yes, yes he can.
"We rise together or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America," said Trump tonight in a speech that began with a heavy focus on the assassination attempt that very nearly took his life on Saturday.
The night's preceding speeches were exceedingly light on policy. Sen. Steve Daines (R–Mont.) mentioned several GOP priorities in a sentence or less. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit Joe Biden for his weak foreign policy. Tax increases and porous borders got a few scattered mentions.
The skimpy policy discussion reflects changes to the 2024 Republican Party platform that greatly downplay many traditional GOP commitments when it doesn't explicitly contradict them. It barely mentions the right to bear arms, where once it offered full-throated support for the Second Amendment. It says that abortion policy should be left to the states, where once it called for a constitutional amendment to protect the unborn. Where once Republican Party platforms promised to reform Social Security and Medicare's looming insolvency, the current platform promises to "not cut one penny" from entitlements.
For Trump, this was a feature, not a bug. The new platform was "very short compared to the long, boring, meaningless agendas of the past," he said from the podium.
Tucker Carlson hit the nail on the head when he said during his Thursday speech that he's "never been to…a convention with better vibes." Hulk Hogan then smashed the nail through the board by ripping up his shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance singlet during his segment.
The one thing the platform, and Thursday night's convention speakers, were consistent on was their hawkishness to immigration.
"We've become a dumping ground for the rest of the world," said Trump, blaming the Biden administration for porous borders and South American countries for emptying their "jails," "mental institutions," and "insane asylums" and sending those people to the United States.
Trump connected immigration to everything: to rising deficits, saying immigrants take Social Security; to elections, saying Democrats want illegal immigrants to come in and vote blue; and even to his narrow escape from assassination. He said that looking at a chart about rising illegal immigration caused him to turn his head just in time to dodge the bullet aimed at his head.
Trump's promises of unity also did not stop him from taking numerous shots at the current administration—on crime, inflation, taxes, and more.
"Under the current administration, we are indeed a nation in decline. We have an inflation crisis that is making life harder, affordable, ravaging the incomes of working and low-income families and crushing," Trump said. "We also have an illegal immigration crisis and it's taking place right now as we sit here in this beautiful arena. It's a massive invasion on our southern border that has spread misery crime, poverty, disease and destruction."
The only praise Trump had for Democrats was for their ability to "cheat" at elections. He made sure to call out the press in the room, prompting loud boos from the audience.
He denounced trade with Mexico and China ("They plunder our nation"), promising to bring manufacturing to America.
Over the course of a long speech, Trump did mention several more off-the-wall policies, including his support for right-to-try (which allows terminal patients to try experimental drugs) and his new idea to make tips tax-free.
In all, Trump's lengthy speech relayed the typical Trumpian message: Things are bad now, and things will be better under him. Whether that messaging will unite the country, or his shallow policies can improve it, remains to be seen.
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