EDITORIAL – Speech shows the Trump of old is still with us: nasty and divisive
Ear still bandaged from bullet wound, Donald Trump addresses Republican convention.
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
CAN A LEOPARD change its spots? Donald Trump provided the answer last night (Thursday, July 18, 2024) — No.
The hype around his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican convention in Milwaukee was all about how his brush with death from a would-be assassin’s bullet had changed him into a kinder, gentler Trump.
Early in his speech, it seemed as though that might be the case. Speaking in a low monotone, he recounted what happened when the bullet hit his right ear during a campaign rally. It was powerful stuff; you could have heard a pin drop as delegates listened in rapt attention.
Then, he started to go off script. He continued speaking in a somnambulant tone but the content suddenly veered off into all the old Trumpisms, complaining about the justice system being “weaponized” against him, about the record of the Biden administration, about building the wall, the “invasion” of illegal immigrants across the southern border, how he’d end the wars on Day one, how “nobody had ever seen anything like it” when he was in office, and on and on.
After watching this for a while, I decided to go out and feed the animals. Forty minutes later, when I got back, he was just wrapping up. He’d spoken for just over an hour and a half.
Some people think his speech was the worst part of an otherwise successful convention. It was, in the end, typical in content but boring in delivery. The Democrats, with or without Joe Biden, were handed a gift from Donald Trump last night. They have new life today.
Any thought that he would truly offer a hand of unity to the country were thoroughly dispelled in that hour and a half. He’s the same Trump he always was: combative, insulting, divisive and man of constant alternative facts.
A leopard can’t change its spots.
Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Well, at least Trump could see through Biden, Harris and Hillary. He deserves credit for that. And huge bonus: he saw immediately how shallow is Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Great Humiliation.
LikeLike
Victoria Azarenka a Belorussian tennis player, was asked about Novak Djokovic’s father having his picture taken with his son’s fan who held a Russian flag when Novak won the right to play in the final of the Australian Open. She responded by saying, “why are you asking me that when you never asked Andy Murry and Serina Williams a similar question when US and UK lied and invaded Iraq and many other countries.”
The person I really felt sorry for during that whole Gong Show was Melania Trump whose life was turned upside down when she married this guy. Just imagine Hillary Clinton running for office while they exposed her husband’s malfeasance during the Democratic National Convention, she would shrug it off as if it never happened.
Trump was “complaining about the justice system” so why did the justice system go after Trump now for actions supposedly done many years ago? Why did they not go after him when he supposedly committed these offences? A porn star’s testimony was used to prop up a puppet president suffering from Dementia.
The “record of the Biden administration” How many people did Joe Biden ‘s policies eliminate in his lifetime. Do you think that Biden’s policies as president represent world peace or nuclear war? An old man with his finger on the nuclear trigger is being abused and used and you think he is an alternative to a man the media vilified for 4 years.
Trump wants to “build the wall” to keep the Latinos out who are fleeing the poverty created by Smedley Butler and his Marines, “dollar diplomacy”, and “speak softly and carry a big stick” policy.
When Trump tells you that he wants to “end the wars”. What do you think he is talking about? You know gone are the days when arguments were built in some logical sequence when facts were established, then evaluated for their accuracy and relevance, then analyzed and then conclusions presented. We now have tribunals for our victims to justify our action, the same tribunals that we do not recognize for ourselves.
Trump’s speech is a sad reflection on American values and it certainly did not represent a “successful convention”. The convention exposed everything negative about American politics and even our own here in Kamloops no matter how many times you have Hulk Hogan has you repeat USA, USA, you can keep them voting for political institutions you own and control.
Truly you must be joking that the “They [Democrats] have new life today.” They attempted to get a new life for Biden as a bullet whizzed by Trump’s head, missing and by that killed any hope for Biden.
You tell us that Trump was “combative, insulting, divisive and a man of constant alternative facts.” And what exactly were the Biden’s years as president and Vice president but “combative, insulting, divisive and man of constant alternative facts” a war criminal but that moniker we reserve for our adversaries The audience that cheered Hulk Hoganget their news from CNN, but they cant tell you the difference between Iraq and Iran or Austria and Australia but they will tell you that they know Jesus and that they talk to God
This might shed light on why Hulk Hogan spoke at the RNc and why Trump or Biden are not suited to be presidents. https://www.google.com/search?q=seinfeld%27s+history+class&rlz=1C1CHBD_enCA897CA898&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgCEEUYOxjCAzIJCAAQRRg7GMIDMgkIARBFGDsYwgMyCQgCEEUYOxjCAzIJCAMQRRg7GMIDMgkIBBBFGDsYwgMyCQgFEEUYOxjCAzIJCAYQRRg7GMIDMgkIBxBFGDsYwgPSAQkxODM5MGowajeoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f58b4680,vid:Bdf_XdDwc-o,st:0
LikeLike
The election of Donald Trump is all but inevitable. The Democrats have bungled this run-up so badly by choosing a candidate that has no hope of beating Trump, much less of getting into a vehicle without the help of the Secret Service.
Biden, standing with his mouth agape and projecting an aire of frailty is not the path to the presidency. My goodness, what are those fools thinking by letting this continue?
Major Democrat donors like billionaire Michael Moritz have turns off the taps for Joe Biden.
What an unbelievable unforced error on the part of the Democrats. Out of all the times, out of all the opponents, this is who you’re going with? This is the best the left of the free world has to offer up to history? What a profoundly awkward joke.
This is over before it even started.
LikeLike
I’m so glad someone else saw the same thing I did. Usually one can count on CNN to fact check and cut through the BS, but it seems that they have lost their sense of true and false ever since Biden’s bad debate. Even the anchors have been heard to say “President Trump” and “Joe Biden” in the same sentence. I’m pretty sure that, at this moment, it’s still Biden who is president.
LikeLike