Donald Trump Jr. came to the defense of his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle’s speech the morning after the Republican National Convention, dismissing her critics as racist and sexist.
Both appeared Monday night in an empty auditorium to address viewers at home.
Trump gave one of the most complete political speeches of the evening, offering voters a stark choice between different views of the United States.
Guilfoyle, a key campaign fundraiser, deployed the volume and pacing of a rally appearance to give a passionate denunciation of Democrats and “cancel culture.” But late-night TV host Stephen Colbert likened her to a “vengeful banshee” as social media filled with abuse.
“Kimberly is an incredible speaker,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “She’s incredibly passionate. When you see a conservative, female Hispanic — they’ll try to take her down at any cost because it goes counter to the Democrat narrative. I imagine it’s sexist and/or somewhat racist when they try to do things to cut down someone who doesn’t go along with the Democrat party line and is an effective warrior against all of that.”
The two make up a power couple at the heart of the Trump campaign. Both had prime slots on Monday night.
Trump, known for his trolling of liberals on social media, offered viewers a stark choice between “church, work, and school versus rioting, looting, and vandalism.” He zinged “Beijing Biden” for selling out workers through his long Washington career but also quoted Thomas Jefferson as he offered the Republican Party as the defenders of intellectual freedom.
“I’m used to doing speeches in front of thousands of people that are going crazy and having fun. I’m also used to doing them unscripted,” he said. “That’s my wheelhouse. I felt like I was in Joe Biden’s wheelhouse, which is an empty auditorium and a teleprompter, but I think it worked out well regardless.”
He said the occasion demanded more nuance and that he was intent on showing that his father had delivered on promises while Democrats had failed the working class. His job last night was to demonstrate to blue-collar workers that it was no longer served by a party taken over by the Left.
“A lot of lifelong democrats that are looking at Joe Biden, looking at … no enthusiasm, and saying, ‘You know what, let’s take a peek over here,’ and I think that will be reflective of what you see coming out of this convention,” he continued.
“You’ll see a lot of diversity, a lot of ideas,” he said, highlighting a contrast with the Democratic Party’s “never-ending Zoom call” of people who either did not understand the U.S. or hated the country.
But he said Republicans had an uphill battle with much of the media arrayed against it.
“We have to work 10 times harder, 10 times better, 10 times more aggressively to get that message across,” he said.
His prime slot inevitably sparked fresh speculation that he was building a pitch for a future in politics after his father leaves office — particularly as he followed Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, who is seen as a front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination.
Trump said his only interest was in getting his father reelected in 2020.
“As an American, as the father of five young children, I see the results, I see what he is doing, and I know he’s the guy,” he said. “I look at the other side, and it’s scary.”
