Republicans' Assembly - Trump remains Trump - Republicans celebrate themselves in Milwaukee
Who knows a Trump speech better than anyone? No, this time it should be different. A few days after the attack on the Republican, the grand finale of the freshly endorsed Republican presidential candidate's campaign at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee was supposed to set a new tone. At least that's what Trump's campaign team was saying. But the circumstances and the setting in Milwaukee were - balloons, appearances by former wrestler Hulk Hogan or musician Kid Rock included: Donald Trump remains Donald Trump.
Even during his speech at the convention, where Trump officially accepts the nomination for the November election, Trump wears his white bandage on his ear again. The headband had already found followers in the audience. Even his wife Melania made a rare appearance, culminating in an awkward kiss on the cheek. The Republicans celebrated Trump frenetically in Milwaukee for four days. The big performance on the final evening of the convention is not just any performance. It's Trump's first public speech since the shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump talks about the shooting
Trump describes what happened over the weekend in Butler, where a shooter opened fire, a supporter died, and two others were seriously injured. "Blood was flowing everywhere, and yet I felt somehow safe, because I had God on my side," says the Republican, who was also injured in the ear. He will only tell this story once, he emphasizes, it's too painful. The lethal shooting incident in the already heated US election campaign was an escalation, a turning point.
And Trump's warm-up speakers in the past few days - for example, the anointed vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance - painted the following picture: Trump is courageous, strong, a fighter. And: Trump is a man of political moderation in the face of terror. "In a moment, he can stand defiantly against an assassin and call for national healing," Vance said. And in this tone, Trump began his speech and read from the teleprompter: "The discord and division in our society must be healed." He wants to be a president for all of America.
Slip-up into old tone
But the longer the 78-year-old spoke, the less he stuck to the text. The lines on the prompter stopped, while Trump improvised wide stretches of his speech. Trump painted - as usual - the picture of a dark America, a "Nation in Decline." He referred indirectly to migrants as "garbage." If you counted the ten worst presidents of the USA, they wouldn't have caused as much damage as the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, Trump claimed. Crime in the USA is so high that the next Republican convention would take place in Venezuela if the Democrats won, Trump prophesied. The world laughs at the USA. The solution: Trump.
Trump's 1.5-hour long speech differed little from the lengthy speeches he gives at his campaign rallies. Anyone who believes that the shooting has tamed Trump's rhetoric is mistaken. The convention in Milwaukee itself showed that. Singer Kid Rock gave a hit song where he shouted "Fight! Fight! Fight!" into the crowd - that is, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" The audience roared in unison - an ominous atmosphere. These words that Trump shouted after the shooting were, in fact, the motto of the huge party convention with tens of thousands of attendees - they were repeatedly called out.
Trump, the Savior
The spectacle resembled, in many parts, a creepy carnival: people with orange wigs resembling Trump's hair, Trump hats, Trump earrings, Trump shirts, of course... Trump, Trump, Trump. And along with these political messages that the party holds firmly under Trump's control: signs described with the words "Mass Deportations Now", speeches about the supposedly corrupt justice system, about lying media, and America-First-Politics. This is a party that rallies around Trump without resistance. Even Trump's former rivals in the primary campaign, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, have submitted and supported Trump in Milwaukee.
"We have to go back to Donald Trump if we want to keep our rights and the way of life we've grown accustomed to," says the delegate Shelley Cygan from the state of Nebraska, speaking to the presidential candidate. Trump is stirring up fears among voters - and it's working.
At the US-Mexico border, there's an invasion, warns Trump. It's bringing "misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction" to communities across the country. "Nobody has ever seen anything like it." And then there's also "an international crisis, unlike anything the world has ever seen before". Nobody can believe what's happening.
Triumphant in Milwaukee
The Republicans celebrated themselves at the convention as if they had already won the election in November. The euphoria was not only due to the alcohol that flowed in large quantities. Democratic candidate Biden is a weak opponent after the disastrous TV debate. And possibly, the 81-year-old may no longer even be the candidate of his party - in the debate about his mental fitness, he has his back to the wall.
At the end of the convention, traditionally, balloons are released from the ceiling. Trump stands on stage with his family and basks in the applause. Even his daughter Ivanka has come, who has been very scarce lately. Trump smiles, waves, poses for the cameras. Just before that, he had kissed the firefighter's helmet of the man who was shot during the recent attack on the stage. According to US media, Trump gave the longest televised convention speech in US history. He broke his own record.
- Despite being endorsed by the Republicans, Trump's campaign team hoped that his speech at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee would set a new tone, but his actions and words remained consistent with his usual persona, including wearing his white bandage on his ear and referring to migrants as "garbage."
- Singer Kid Rock, who appeared at the convention, encouraged the audience to "Fight! Fight! Fight!," a motto that resonated strongly with the crowd and reflected the overall atmosphere of the event.
- At the convention, Trump's former rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis submitted to Trump's leadership and supported him publicly, further demonstrating his control over the Republican Party.
- Trump's speech at the convention was criticized for deviating from the teleprompter and returning to his usual rhetoric of painting a dark picture of America and attacking his political opponents.
- During his speech, Trump made references to an invasion at the US-Mexico border and claimed that it was bringing misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction to communities across the country.
- Despite Trump's triumpant performance at the convention, his rhetoric and policies remain controversial in the United States, with many critics arguing that they are divisive and harmful to the country.
- Thecontentious nature of the US election campaign was further exacerbated by the shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, which left one supporter dead and two others seriously injured.
- In the final days of the convention, the Republican Party celebrated itself as if it had already won the election, but many observers remain skeptical of Trump's chances in the November election against Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
