President Trump was in his favorite place Tuesday evening. At the center of an adoring crowd of fans, delivering punches to his many enemies seen and unseen.
Trump began on basic populist themes. He lauded himself for his energetic rallies and praised his supporters. Then he saluted national patriotism and American values. “We all believe in the rule of law,” he said. This was an interesting statement, in that it came on the same day that Trump had attacked the acting director of the FBI.
Next up, Trump again pledged to “build the wall.” The supporters in attendance were fully excited by this point.
Then came a protester waving a Soviet flag (it was not clear whether this was a sarcastic Russia-investigation insult to Trump, or a pro-Soviet message). Unsurprisingly, a Trump supporter grabbed the flag, and a police officer rather aggressively removed the Soviet sympathizer.
Following the Soviet, Trump brought a Democrat, Gino, up to the stage. The president had seen Gino on Fox News earlier Tuesday morning. And to his credit, Gino was very well-spoken and got the crowd going. Whatever one thinks of Trump or his policies, bringing Gino to the event was clever stagecraft.
Trump then hit the theme of jobs. Ohio jobs, Trump said, “are all coming back.”
The crowd loved it.
Interestingly, Trump then hit back at critics who say he acts in a way that is “not presidential”. His supporters went wild. And Trump, always the stagemaster, used it as a breaching point to declare his record more presidential than that of any president par Abraham Lincoln. Again, Trump’s supporters endorsed this sentiment without hesitation.
Next, Trump hit the line that always played well in Ohio during the campaign. He promised to renegotiate NAFTA, warning that “we will no longer be the stupid people… we will no longer sacrifice Ohio jobs or jobs from any other state in our union to enrich other countries, which is what has been happening.” This caused the crowd to erupt with chants of “USA! USA!”
Whatever one thinks of Trump, he knows how to please his supporters. When we in the media consider Trump’s very real political difficulties, we sometimes ignore the strength of his base in consolidating their chosen leader.
Less popular was Trump’s next warning that Iran will face “big, big problems” if they do not abide to the nuclear deal. John Kerry, Trump said, is “the worst negotiator”. Regardless, Trump’s disdain for the deal was clear. We must pay attention to this sentiment. The nuclear deal faces critical challenges in the months ahead.
Ego checked, Trump asked the crowd whether he should be on Mount Rushmore. Trump then immediately said that he wouldn’t actually ask the crowd this question (even though he just had), because if he did, the media, “a dishonest group of people,” would attack him. As I’ve noted, Trump’s argument here is broadly idiotic. The freedom of the press exists because the founders rightly believed that more speech is preferable to less speech.
Security against illegal-immigration was Trump’s next segment. The president attacked gangs like MS-13, and said ICE was removing them “not in a politically correct fashion, we’re doing it rough.” When he mentioned a Bane-like border patrol officer that he had met, Trump’s fans went ecstatic.
And that speaks to something. Across the nation, many Americans believe that immigration security is both necessary and absolutely justified. Democrats need to wake up to this reality.
Health care reform, infrastructure spending, and “buy America, hire America”, was Trump’s next approach.
Oddly, Trump then called for national unity. Trump’s supporters didn’t seem to appreciate the fact that he has done little to advance national unity.
The president finished on a familiar line, “we will make America great again.”
