Did the Pennsylvania shooting change Trump?
What’s happening
Prior to delivering Thursday’s acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump said in interviews that being shot at his campaign rally in Butler Township, Pa., had caused him to tear up his planned remarks and craft a new one that stressed unity over division.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches.”
Before he followed Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White onto the convention stage in Milwaukee, Trump told a group of Republican supporters that surviving a near-death experience “changes your viewpoint on life and you appreciate God more.”
The revised speech began with a reflection on the shooting. “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” he told the crowd.
And while Trump only fleetingly mentioned President Biden and did not speak Vice President Kamala Harris’s name, and threaded in calls for unity, he also spent much of his time attacking “the administration” and its policies.
Was the speech evidence that his brush with death had left Trump more introspective? That it had made him realize that “we have to make the most of every day for the people and for the country we love,” as he stated in his remarks? Therein lies the debate.
Perspectives
Same as he ever was
“The myth of Trump has always been wrapped up in his assertions of victimhood and political persecution. This horrific episode fits with and will likely fuel his conception of himself as a man of destiny, a fearless warrior staring down the haters.” — Michelle Cottle, New York Times
Yes, Trump is a changed man
“Donald J. Trump is different. His close brush with death last Saturday has changed him. As he walked into the Fiserv Forum on Monday night, the first night of the GOP convention in Milwaukee, the former president was quite clearly moved by the roar of the crowd; he looked on the verge of tears.” — Liz Peek, Fox News
Change is a relative concept
“There’s little reason to think that Trump will have an Ebenezer Scrooge–like change of heart, and showcase a new personality — ‘kinder and gentler,’ to use a phrase from the 1988 Republican convention. On the other hand, exceptionally few of us have had a bullet tear through our ear cartilage, about an inch away from our skill and brain. To come so close to death must leave a mark on a man in some way.” — Jim Geraghty, National Review
The GOP has changed, but Trump hasn’t
“The convention aimed to reintroduce Trump to the nation as a benevolent paterfamilias. But his speech, the longest in convention history, was a reminder of why that remains an uphill battle.” — Molly Ball, Wall Street Journal
The only change was found on the teleprompter
“Former President Donald Trump tried to present himself as a reformed man Thursday night as he accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, and it was all going fine for a bit, but then he started going off the teleprompter. Soon he was babbling about how great he is, hollering about ‘Crazy Nancy Pelosi’ and digressing in ways that made me wonder if the speech would be over before the weekend.” — Rex Huppke, USA Today
