Republicans opened up their convention urging voters to look around them and behold the riots and violence that Democrats have given a pass. The message remained a strong undercurrent all week long.
On Monday, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said, “Look at what’s happening in America’s cities — all run by Democrats,” continuing, “crime, violence, mob rule. Democrats refuse to denounce the mob.”
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, whose claim to fame involved brandishing firearms as protesters gathered in front of their St. Louis home, had similar words. “Make no mistake: No matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America,” Patricia McCloskey said.
On Wednesday, Michael McHale, the president of the National Association of Police Organizations, said, “The violence and bloodshed we are seeing in these and other cities isn’t happening by chance; it’s the direct result of elected leaders refusing to allow law enforcement to protect our communities.”
Vice President Mike Pence’s tune was the same.
“Last week, Joe Biden didn’t say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country,” Pence said in his acceptance speech. “Let me be clear: The violence must stop — whether in Minneapolis, Portland, or Kenosha. Too many heroes have died defending our freedoms to see Americans strike each other down.”
On Thursday, it was Rudy Giuliani’s turn: “It is clear that a vote for Biden and the Democrats creates the risk that you will bring this lawlessness to your city, to your town, to your suburb.”
President Trump brought it all home. “There is violence and danger in the streets of many Democrat-run cities throughout America,” he said in his Thursday speech. “This problem could easily be fixed if they wanted to.”
As the post-convention campaign continues, it would be right for Trump and his surrogates to move beyond drawing causal links to Democrats and to extend a hand, as Trump suggested he is willing to do in his very next words. “Just call, we’re ready to go in,” he said, going off script. “We’ll take care of your problem in a matter of hours. Just call.”
The mistake would be to appear to treat it all too cynically, which the campaign has a real risk of doing if it thinks like this: “I guess Mayor Pete [Buttigieg] knows full stop that the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best for public safety and law and order.” These words, spoken by Trump’s outgoing counselor Kellyanne Conway, make the Trump team’s objections look purely transactional.
It was a softball for Joe Biden. “These guys are rooting for violence,” Biden said on Thursday. “That is what it is all about.”
Democrats have obviously equivocated on the criminality that has accompanied protests. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has done it, officials in Portland have done it, and scores of others. The best thing for the country is for the ongoing violence and unrest to end. Making that happen ought to remain one of Trump’s primary and explicit aims moving forward, if not his main aim. He just needs to ensure he’s doing it for the right reason.
