Get ready to read words you may not like, but that are completely true.
Donald Trump gave the worst speech of the night.
He was totally upstaged by Kid Rock, Dana White, Franklin Graham, his own kid, and definitely by Hulk Hogan.
It was a party until Trump hit the stage and killed it.
But truthfully?
That was the best thing in the world for Republicans hoping to take back the White House in November.
I have my stream-of-consciousness notes below, time-stamped, as the speech drifted into the wee hours of the morning. But before I reveal those, let me explain what I mean.
These two things can be (and are) true at once:
That was one of the longest, most boring speeches Donald Trump has ever given. It had some real high points (see below), but it was largely a riff off of his standard fare of public rallies, just with a more muted tone (which made it far less entertaining).
That is exactly what Donald Trump needed to (and needs to) do to win the White House in November.
One of the handful of reasons I opposed Donald Trump in the primary was because I knew he was the biggest, most undeserved gift to the Democrats imaginable. Joe Biden's presidency has been an unmitigated disaster, the country is in dire straits, and any election that was a referendum on the last four years was destined to end very poorly for the Left.
But Donald Trump is such a divisive figure that any election he is involved in immediately becomes a referendum on him. Joe Biden simply becomes the nameless, faceless anti-Trump. That's what I didn't want to happen, but it's what I felt like was happening. Now, things are different. The Democrats are in chaos after the country has realized their nominee has rapidly-deteriorating dementia. Things are setting up nicely for the Republicans.
But Donald Trump can easily screw that up by foolishly making himself the focus. That's why a boring speech isn't a bad thing at all. What likely happened in most every American household last night? People tuned in to hear what Trump would say after nearly being killed. They saw the beginning, were moved or at least found it thoughtful. Then they got bored and turned off the TV.
Perfect scenario for the Republicans. So for the Trump loyalists out there, when I say this was Donald Trump at his most boring - that works in your favor.
Here's what I was thinking, time-stamped, throughout that speech last night.
10:29 p.m. - The backdrop that says Trump, set to God Bless the USA … not a fan. When it faded into the White House was spectacular.
10:29 - Lee Greenwood - love him - is too old to sing this live. Have Kid Rock sing it.
10:35 - Very subdued Trump. This is different to me so far.
10:38 - It's obvious Trump wrote this retelling of the assassination attempt himself. "I said to myself, 'Wow, what was that?! It can only be a bullet!'" If he'd have said, "the bullet bounced off my ear powerfully" I would have lost it.
10:41 - I just noticed the fireman uniform behind Trump on the stage to honor Corey Comperatore. That's moving to me. Very moving.
10:43 - Trump's acknowledgement of "Almighty God" was as humble as I've ever heard him before.
10:45 - Mentioning the names of the killed and wounded was classy. And this tribute to Corey is very appropriate and meaningful. The chant of "Corey" is great.
10:48 - I am amazed - seriously amazed - how much time Donald Trump is spending talking about other people. And quoting Scripture.
10:51 - Trump has a massive ego and yet it's not really come out here. It could very well be that the near death experience has changed him.
10:53 - Referencing his wife and complimenting her. Very nice. Referencing the full family too.
10:58 - Calling on Dems to stop their lawfare and put their efforts towards improving our country is an effective approach.
11:01 - Trump is so comfortable with this crowd. And he definitely comes across as a normal person - the reference to the Green Bay Packers. These things are obviously not scripted for him.
11:05 - I hate the "most important election in history" comment. Wait four years, and you'll hear that again. And in another four. And then in another four. And while we're at it, you heard the same thing 4 years ago, and the 4 years before that.
11:08 - I had to wait way too long for that. He finally said "billions and billions of dollars." The way the man says "billions" is just fantastic.
11:09 - Did he just say he built most of the wall? He did not. That was one of the most frustrating things - an entire campaign built around a wall that was not built.
11:11 - I hate the reference to "cheating" in the election. I know there was fraud. Don't make this speech about fraud.
11:12 - I hate mentioning Joe Biden's name. Not in this speech. No need to.
11:19 - Okay, I'm surprised to say this, but I'm bored. The way this speech started, I thought he would do a tribute and then shock the world with a positive, uplifting, vision-focused speech that was written by him AND a professional speechwriter. Instead, this has become a standard rally speech but more subdued. It's like Kid Rock doing an acoustic set. It's acoustic Trump.
11:25 - I'm struggling to stay engaged here.
11:35 - Hannibal Lecter. What are we doing here?
11:39 - Okay, I'm sitting here exhausted. Most people who are watching this are exhausted - even the many who wouldn't admit it. It's getting close to midnight. But Trump is not even acting phased. He's five days off an assassination attempt which, regardless of little physical trauma, HAS to be emotionally draining. And he's just rolling with no exhaustion. It really is a contrast with President Biden. The way age affects some and doesn't affect others is profound.
11:46 - "Sam Brown paid the ultimate price." Uh, isn't the ultimate price death? And is this normal? Just random shoutouts during a convention acceptance speech? I feel like there will be a lot of sycophants who will pretend that this was hilarious or great or powerful or Trump at his best. It's not. It's turned into a ramble fest. It's not good. It's not moving.
11:49 - Call me crazy, but I think Trump has sucked the energy OUT of this room. He normally IS the energy, but he took a party atmosphere and turned it into whatever this is.
11:52 - I feel very badly for Trump's speechwriters. They have to be the most anxious people. Just waiting for him to go off script and never come back. Actually, that's something they have to have in common with Biden's speechwriters. Different reasons, but still.
11:56 - I told my wife we could run out to McDonalds and get a coke as soon as this speech was over. I said that at 10:35. She's just staring at me now.
11:56 - "So to conclude…" It's a trap!! I preach. When you start to lose the crowd, you say that to bring them back. Then go on for another 20 minutes.
11:57 - Also, that was a VERY awkward transition. He was just riffing on something and then all of a sudden decided to go back to the prompter.
11:58 - "Every single moment on earth is a gift from God." The truest thing Trump has ever said.
12:00 - He did it. He made it to midnight. Man, you can tell he just went back to the prepared remarks. He should have stuck with the prepared remarks and saved the riffing for the campaign trail and rallies.
12:01 - Somewhere, William Henry Harrison, is amazed at the length of this speech.
12:03 - This is gonna be hard to build up his finish up for a big closing line that brings the crowd to its feet. He lulled them to sleep. He's made work for himself here.
12:05 - When all else fails, go to the MAGA slogan. Man that felt like forever. The drummer just had to wake up the rest of the live band. Where are the balloons? I stayed awake for the balloons.
12:06 - This may seem petty but his interactions with Melania are always a bit weird to me.
12:07 - BALLOONS!
12:08 - I just looked this up. Of the longest presidential acceptance speeches in history (though this only seems to go back 50 years or so), the longest three belong to the same man: Donald Trump. This one tonight was the longest ever. One hour and thirty-two minutes. That's 17 minutes longer than his previous record. Call that a sign of endurance, but it's also very unwise speechmaking. He bored people to death, but honestly, that's probably the best thing he could do for his chance to win.
