Donald Trump finally had his big moment in the spotlight Thursday evening, delivering his much-ballyhooed speech accepting the Republican Party’s presidential nomination to close the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
In a long and plodding speech that painted a grim vision of America and its standing in the world, Trump delivered little in the way of specific policy solutions.
After an introduction from his daughter Ivanka, Trump took the stage to cheers from the RNC crowd:
👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/PCc9iqNkFk
— Ben Sharpe (@iamsharpe) July 22, 2016
BREAKING: TED CRUZ SPOTTED OUTSIDE QUICKEN LOANS ARENA. pic.twitter.com/q584Nc03Ur
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) July 22, 2016
A draft of Trump’s speech was leaked to the press hours before it was scheduled to be delivered, and despite speculation that the leak would prompt Trump to stray from the scripted remarks, his comments mostly mirrored the version of the speech published by multiple outlets earlier in the afternoon:
"If you’re running for president, you should not be allowed to use a teleprompter." — Donald J. Trump, 8/14/2015
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 22, 2016
Trump’s scripted speech stood in stark contrast to the freewheeling style he often utilized on the campaign trail:
Did anybody bet on this speech being a failure because Trump was too boring?#SpeedItUpSparky
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 22, 2016
On a teleprompter @realDonaldTrump has all same fear-mongering & fascism but without the charm of his improvisational blundering. #RNCinCLE
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) July 22, 2016
The speech reads more effectively than he is delivering it, because his performance is so unbelievably unmodulated.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 22, 2016
Compared to previous RNC speakers, Trump even showed a measure of restraint in his response to the audience during his criticism of Hillary Clinton:
Crowd begins "Lock her up" chant.
Trump corrects crowd, "Let's defeat her in November"
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) July 22, 2016
Trump’s call for an end to political correctness drew a strong response from the crowd:
Trump: "We cannot afford to be politically correct anymore."
Translation: Our racism & bigotry should be tolerated.#RNCinCLE
— deray (@deray) July 22, 2016
Trump's best line with my focus group: “We can't afford to be politically correct anymore.”
Hit 77% with Repubs, 67% with Dems. #RNCinCLE
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) July 22, 2016
At one point, Trump paused while a protester was removed from the arena:
A Code Pink protester interrupts @realDonaldTrump's speech pic.twitter.com/RL6Jiw90oQ
— POLITICO (@politico) July 22, 2016
Bernie Sanders got in on the act, live-tweeting his reactions to Trump’s speech:
Trump thinks climate change is a “hoax.” My supporters understand that we must move away from fossil fuels, not expand them. #RNCwithBernie
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016
Will there be one word about student debt or making college affordable? Or just concerned about more tax breaks for the rich? #RNCwithBernie
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016
Looks like Ted Cruz was right about one thing. Trump does not understand what the Constitution is about. #RNCwithBernie
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016
Trump’s economic plan: same old, same old trickle-down economics. Pathetic. #RNCwithBernie
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016
While Trump’s speech was heavy on rhetoric about “law and order” and putting “America First,” it was light on specifics:
According to prepared remarks, Trump uses the word "plan" 11 times in the speech. But the speech does not seem to outline much of a plan.
— Rachel Stassen-Berger (@RachelSB) July 22, 2016
Agenda-less question: Has Trump said what he would do to restore law and order?
— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) July 22, 2016
Anti-Trump conservatives, predictably, were not pleased with the remarks of their party’s nominee:
Why do demagogues scream so much? #RNCinCLE
— Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@MaxBoot) July 22, 2016
This is maybe the single most negative speech I've ever heard.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 22, 2016
This is a remarkably dark/bleak speech. More boos (about bad things in country/world) than cheers. No uplift; almost purely negative.
— Peter Wehner (@Peter_Wehner) July 22, 2016
Stalwart conservative Trump critic Bill Kristol, however, was a notable exception:
I have no confidence in my ability to judge whether a convention speech like this will prove effective. But I suspect this one will be.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 22, 2016
Addressing the Orlando mass shooting, Trump pledged, “I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.”
Trump pledged to “immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism,” prompting speculation about which countries might be included in that category:
Trump: "we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism." France? Belgium? The US? #RNCinCLE
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 22, 2016
After an hour and fifteen minutes, Trump finally wrapped things up:
The Clinton campaign responded to Trump on Twitter:
We are better than this.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 22, 2016
Trump’s overwhelmingly negative speech concluded an overwhelmingly negative convention that centered on criticism of Hillary Clinton and bleak assessments of America’s handling of crime, terrorism, and economics.
It’s Demagoguery 101: When you don’t have actual answers, exaggerate the problems with fear & hatred in order to blind people with emotion.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) July 22, 2016
That wasn't a convention. It was something closer to a lynch mob. Republicans, you should hang your heads in shame.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 22, 2016
