MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was taken aback on Monday upon learning that a Wisconsin senator inadvertently read an incorrect speech during the opening night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Monday night delivered a speech that was littered with inflammatory and divisive language, despite bipartisan requests to subdue political rhetoric following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that took place over the weekend during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Since the Saturday shooting, many Republicans have leveled blame at President Joe Biden and Democrats, alleging that they created a frenetic political environment that stirred animosity that "led directly to Trump's attempted assassination," in the words of Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. Although the shooter's motives remain unknown at this time, he was a registered Republican and "definitely conservative," per a former classmate.
"Today's Democratic Party is not the party of our parents and grandparents," Johnson claimed in the speech. "That party cared about workers and people struggling to get by."
“Now they are the party of open borders, reckless spending, weaponized government, and weakness on the world stage," he continued. “This fringe agenda includes biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children.”
"Today's Democrat agenda — their policies — are a clear and present danger to America, our institutions, our values, and our people," Johnson said. "Democrats have forgotten American families. They have abandoned the hardworking middle class. But with president Trump and Republicans, those forgotten Americans are forgotten no more. Republicans are the party of opportunity, liberty, and prosperity for all. We proved we know how to make life better for all Americans, and we can do it again with a secure border, smaller government, less regulation, and lower taxes."
He continued, "Republicans understand that Americans don't want welfare — they want work. They don't want woke equity — they want God-given equality. They want the promise of our founding documents — the right to pursue happiness. That's what Republicans will deliver. We've repaired the damage caused by Democrats before and we will do it again. We will complete the mission president Trump first articulated in 2016 to make America great again."
After MSNBC aired the clip, Maddow cited a report from PBS Newshour that Johnson said after his speech that the teleprompter had fed him an old speech instead of the update that called for unity.
"His response was that his speech that he just delivered at the RNC was not the speech he meant to give," Maddow clarified. "It was all a big misunderstanding. The teleprompter loaded the old version. The new one called for unity, but they didn’t put that one in there. So, he just gave the old one.”
“He couldn’t ad-lib some unity?!” asked co-host Joy Reid.
"I cannot believe this is real," Maddow said.
“Well, first of all, we have all read from teleprompters,” former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noted. “And if something comes up in the teleprompter that Rachel Maddow would read that says, like, ‘I love Donald Trump and he’s the best representative of our democracy,’ you probably would stop and not read it.”
