For a short moment, Trump enjoys a second chance to change people’s minds.
By Tony Marsh
Donald Trump now enjoys a magic moment in political time. It’s not often Americans listen to any politician these days with much of an open mind. Most of us are locked in. We know what we think about our leaders, and we’re not inclined to give them an unbiased second look.
But for a failed assassination, and for just an instant, Americans will listen to what Trump says. The moment won’t last long, but if he recognizes the opportunity, what he says could change everything. It’s a unicorn moment in American politics, a second chance to make a better impression.
He has their attention. And, he has the platform – the Republican National Convention opens today in Milwaukee. Every press outlet in the country will be represented there — reporting on his nearly every word, expression, or signal.
In his 2020 campaign, President Biden promised to be a “uniter in chief.” He said he was running to stop the chaos and restore “normalcy.” If, as he claimed, that was his primary goal he’s failed.
Neither does Trump have much of a record uniting the disparate elements of our body politic. He’s a fighter. He doesn’t back down. When his opponents — political, media, entertainment, judicial, and various other elites — fight dirty, he fights back in a way demonstrably belligerent.
That’s not un-understandable. He didn’t start the attacks. The other side made it personal when they unjustly accused Trump of being, in turn, a Russian plant, a rapist, an insurrectionist, and a felon.
Joe Biden individually, and the Democrat establishment broadly, characterize Trump as the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the world. It seems disingenuous now that they express shock and dismay that someone might take a literal shot at Trump.
If they truly believed, as they claim, that Trump is the American equivalent of Hitler, they might have more credibility were they celebrating the effort to stop him once and for all.
But what if Trump were to do exactly what they don’t expect him to do, what his opponents think he is temperamentally unable to do? What if Trump used this moment, not just to unify Republicans, but to extend himself to those who hate him?
It won’t be easy. In the days since the assassination attempt, social media is abuzz with those on the left who claim it never happened, or that Trump himself engineered the shooting. Even mainstream journalists are suggesting deep Trump cynicism in openly displaying his bloody face, pumping his fist, and crying “fight” within seconds of being shot. But a fair assessment of the circumstances suggest Democrat allegations are more self projection than Trump calculation.
It’s true that much of Trump’s popularity among his base depends on his pugnaciously taking on establishment elites with no fear and little favor. But what if in this moment at least, he reminded Americans who love their country that we all share common goals — a happy, peaceful, and prosperous nation … safe, clean, and well tended communities … the highest regard for the future well-being of our children and their children.
Sure, there’s plenty of disagreement about how we achieve those goals, but in reminding people we mostly share such aspirations he’d be doing more than mouthing platitudes like “uniter in chief.” Especially, if he followed through both in symbol and concrete proposal.
He’s made a strong start by inviting Nikki Haley to speak at the convention. His naming J.D. Vance as running mate indicates a certain ambivalence toward broadening his message. We’ll know more when we hear his acceptance speech Thursday night.
By the end of the week, this magic moment will have passed. Unless, that is, when people give him another look they see something they don’t expect, and it sweeps them off their feet.