Trump aides are keeping notes of this week’s Democratic convention for lines and ideas that they can weaponize and use against their opponents next week when President Trump formally becomes the Republican nominee.
Trump is expected to deliver his acceptance speech from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday, while Vice President Mike Pence will speak from historic Fort McHenry in Maryland a day earlier.
Trump family members will also take on prominent roles, as officials mix prerecorded videos with glitzy live events that they hope will please a president who has the eye of a TV producer and who dismissed the slickly run Democratic convention as “brutal.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows this week said that much of the lineup had been finalized.
“But I wouldn’t be taking notes if we weren’t going to be making changes,” he said.
Meadows pointed to a passage in Sen. Bernie Sanders’s speech on Monday night that was ripe for exploitation.
In urging his supporters to back Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist said: “Our campaign ended several months ago, but our movement continues and is getting stronger every day. Many of the ideas we fought for, that just a few years ago were considered ‘radical,’ are now mainstream.”
Meadows said independent voters would hear that line very differently to progressive voters.
“Now, it speaks to those that are energetic about him, but it’s very problematic for that independent, undecided voter who says, ‘I don’t want a radical idea to be mainstream,’” he said.
“Any time that you have a real good line, it’s worth repeating, whether it’s for you or for anybody else.”
The idea has been a regular Republican talking point, with allies frequently suggesting Biden represents an “empty vessel” or “Trojan horse” for his party’s left wing.
Trump is expected to feature on each day of the convention before delivering his speech on the final day. The Republican National Committee is planning a fireworks display near the Washington Monument that would follow the president’s speech, according to its permit application.
Meadows promised surprises, with previously untold stories coming to the fore.
“Just a different side of President Trump that a lot of people don’t really see, not even all of you that travel with him on a regular basis,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The program will be centered on the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, which will host some of the speakers. It kicks off on Monday with a “Land of Promise” theme.
First lady Melania Trump will close the second night, headlined “Land of Opportunity,” with a speech from the newly redesigned White House Rose Garden.
A night later, for “Land of Heroes,” Pence will speak from Fort McHenry, the defense of which in the War of 1812 against Britain inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The final night will be built around the theme “Land of Greatness.”
