Saddled with abysmal approval ratings and the growing likelihood of an electoral wipeout in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump staged a bizarre two-day “convention” that served to link himself even more closely to Republicans on the ballot in November.
Trump was the keynote speaker both nights, but by the second night, even he seemed over it. From the beginning of his meandering, 25-minute speech, which didn’t even start until after 10 p.m. EST, Trump said he didn’t feel much like talking “because I’m getting a little bit tired of politics,” and teased bringing out an opera singer to entertain everyone.
But Trump plodded on, sharing whatever thoughts crossed his mind – boasting about the crowd size, mocking Texas Senate Republican nominee Ken Paxton’s clothes – and occasionally returning to his script to rattle off accomplishments from the past two years. He touted his role in driving up the stock market, his administration banning diversity initiatives in the government and his efforts to prevent the “mutilization” of transgender children.
By the end, after telling the crowd to vote in November in what felt like an afterthought to his remarks, Trump stood on stage soaking up the applause as balloons fell from the ceiling and tenor Christopher Macchio sang “Nessun dorma.”
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
If the point of this strange event was to pump up Republican voters ahead of the midterms, the real question is what it actually achieved.
Trump forced this convention on his party and made prominent GOP leaders play a central role. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Vice President JD Vance were among those who gave speeches, as were Republican candidates in very competitive races. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) participated, along with Senate candidates like Paxton and Mike Rogers of Michigan.
All of the convention’s participants tied themselves to Trump, and for anyone watching at home, the grand takeaway was that Republicans want to be associated with a president whose approval rating is at a historic low, who has dragged the country into a deeply unpopular war and who has left Americans nationwide struggling to afford the cost of living.
In other words, Trump may have just made an already difficult election cycle for Republicans worse.
Even the president seemed to understand he didn’t have much to offer in terms of positives, as he leaned into his belief that he could simply make Republicans do whatever he wants. Trump said nothing about his signature legislation, which gutted Medicaid and gave tax cuts to the rich, and nothing about people’s deep economic worries. Instead, he told the crowd to raise their hands and pledge to him, “the greatest president in the history of the United States,” that they will vote in November.
If they don’t vote, he said, they will “go to hell.”
Before abruptly ending his speech to hype the coming opera songs, Trump said he was ready to be finished with all of them anyway.
“I want a little music now,” he said. “I’m done with the politics.”
“Nessun dorma!” belted out Macchio, as Trump waved to the crowd. “Nessun dorma!”
