‘A MOMENT OF CRISIS FOR OUR NATION’
Trump’s speech depicts an America under attack
RICHARD WARNICA in Cleveland Donald Trump delivered a dark vision of an America under siege Thursday, branding himself the law-and-order candidate in a prime-time speech heavy with references to terror and violence in the streets.
“Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation,” Trump said in remarks that rarely strayed from a prepared text. “The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.”
Trump used his acceptance speech, on the final day of an often-unorthodox convention, to portray his country as a land riven by crime and under attack.
Over the past eight years, he said, Americans have “endured domestic disaster” and “lived through one international humiliation after another.”
Trump tore into Hillary Clinton’s record as Secretary of State, branding her legacy one of “death, destruction and weakness.” He vowed to abandon the “failed policy of nation building and regime change” he claims Clinton pursued. (Regime change was, in fact, a signature policy of the past Republican president, George W. Bush.)
He also promised a pivot on trade that would see America renegotiate NAFTA and abandon what he called “massive” trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In foreign and domestic policy, it was a vision of an America much more closed to the world. “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo,” he said to massive cheers.
Trump’s speech came at the end of a convention unlike any in a generation. It saw an unprecedented floor fight over convention rules, a partially plagiarized speech by his wife, and a remarkable non-endorsement Wednesday that saw Texas Sen. Ted Cruz booed off the stage.
It all took place in an arena that was often half full, while protests, never large but sometimes heated, carried on almost constantly outside.
The dark tone of Trump’s planned remarks were in direct contrast to the sunny message his daughter Ivanka offered earlier in the night. In a speech that sounded almost Democratic, she promised quality childcare and action on the gender gap in wages. She repeatedly cited her father’s business experience and called him “colour blind and gender neutral” in all of his affairs.
At times, the audience seemed unsure of how to react to Ivanka Trump. Early on, she said that, like many millennials, she did not identify as Democratic or Republican. “Boo,” one man said in the crowd at that point, sounding deflated. “That’s not good.”
Trump himself received no such mixed reaction. In his speech, he threw several bones to the Republican base. He thanked evangelicals, promised to protect the Second Amendment and vowed to cut taxes dramatically.
In tone, his address had echoes of Richard Nixon in 1968, vowing law and order, citing lawless streets and promising a reduction in intervention abroad.
Earlier in the evening, the convention heard from an array of Trump backers, including Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, former NFL quarterback Fran Tarkenton and basketball coach Bobby Knight.
Peter Thiel, a libertarian tech billionaire who cofounded PayPal, described an America that had lost its edge in technology in his speech. “Instead of going to Mars, we invaded the Middle East,” he said. “It’s time to end the era of stupid wars and rebuild our country.”
In language that could have been cribbed from a Bernie Sanders speech, Thiel condemned Wall Street bankers who “inflate bubbles in everything from government bonds to Hillary Clinton’s speaking fees.”
The audience cheered when Thiel said he was “proud to be gay.” They cheered even louder when he continued on, saying “most of all (he was) proud to be an American.”
The audience applauded again when Trump promised to protect LGBTQ Americans from ISIL. He seemed almost surprised when they did. “It is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said. Thank you.”
On a different note, Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of the private, evangelical Liberty University, appealed directly to waffling Republicans turned off by any of Trump’s many foibles.
“If you are Conservative, the decision not to vote or to vote for a third-party candidate is a de facto vote for Hillary Clinton,” he said. “We are at a crossroads, where the first priority must be saving our nation. We must unite behind Donald Trump and Mike Pence.”
The convention has seen dozens of direct, sometimes brutal attacks on Clinton. But when the audience Thursday began chanting, as they often had this week, “lock her up!”, Trump shushed them with his hands. “Let’s defeat her in November,” he said.
Arpaio, a controversial figure who has often been accused of racial profiling, took aim at the immigration system in his address. “We are more concerned with the rights of illegal aliens and criminals than we are with protecting or own country,” he said. “A nation without borders and without laws is no nation at all.”
It was all building, however, to Trump. And from this point on it is his campaign. What was nearly unthinkable a year ago is here. Donald Trump, reality television star, real estate mogul and butt of a trillion jokes is the Republican nominee for president of the United States. The party might never be the same again.