Trump delivers the 'carnage' with assault on Biden, Democrats

Trump's case for Trump

For anyone who's seen a Donald Trump campaign rally or recalls his State of the Union addresses, much was familiar in his Republican convention acceptance speech on Thursday night: hyperbolic self-regard for his record as president, wild exaggerations to demean his foes and an epic length — he spoke for 70 minutes.

What was different? The audacious choice of setting, on the White House South Lawn. The crowd, numbering only 2,000 yet seated alarmingly close to one another with few masks, which was enthusiastic but not as rowdy as those in campaign arenas. The high stakes: With viewers at home likely in the tens of millions, it was likely Trump's last, best chance to make his case, unfiltered, to so many. (The audience for the debates could be larger, but Joe Biden will be there to talk back.) Trump stuck largely to the script, but there were flubs, the energy trend was low and an ad-libbed grievance bubbled up: "They spied on my campaign."

Speaking about himself, Trump's accomplishments were sky-high. "Within three short years, we built the strongest economy in the history of the world," Trump said. "I say very modestly, I have done more for the African American community than any president since Abraham Lincoln," he said. Though for months he has offered empty hopes about an end to the coronavirus pandemic, he predicted "a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner." But with Biden running against him, he said, “everything we’ve achieved is now in danger … if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of America’s greatness.”

Trump heaped scorn on the former vice president, spitting out his name with contempt more than 40 times, calling the Democratic nominee who prevailed over progressive primary rivals "a Trojan horse for socialism." Warned Trump: "If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms."

Alluding to Biden's convention speech a week earlier, Trump said, "Joe Biden is not a savior of America’s soul; he is the destroyer of America’s jobs, and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness." He charged that "China would own our country if Joe Biden got elected." 

The president gave the barest nod to policing abuses that sparked protests after the killing of George Floyd, though he said none of the victims' names. "When there is police misconduct, the justice system must hold wrongdoers fully and completely accountable, and it will," he said. Other than that, it was all about "law and order" and unleashing the police. "No one will be safe in Biden’s America," Trump said. "We have to give law enforcement, our police, back their power. They are afraid to act."

Trump's dominant message, and strategy for reelection, came through clearly. Unable amid the pandemic to make his case on hope or the battered economy, he is going with stoking fear, as if the "American carnage" he spoke of chillingly in his 2017 inauguration speech was lurking just around the corner. Read a transcript of Trump's address with annotated explanations from NPR here. For a full video, click here. And here's a fact-checking tour de force by CNN's Daniel Dale.

Classic rewind: Vintage Giuliani

For the past two years, Rudy Giuliani has served Trump as a lawyer in the Russia investigation, a promoter of the Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theories that got Trump impeached, a booster of the president's dubious touting of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment and a peddler of the notion that Biden has dementia.

But the Giuliani who spoke to the convention Thursday night was the crime-fighting New York mayor of the 1990s — and veteran antagonist to the activist predecessors of the Black Lives Matter movement — in keeping with the now-dominant theme of Trump's campaign.

He started off with a broadside against the current mayor, Bill de Blasio. "My city is in shock. Murders, shootings and violent crime are increasing at percentages unheard of in the past. We are seeing the return of rioting and looting," Giuliani said. From there, he veered into a newly minted conspiracy theory.

In Giuliani's telling, in the immediate aftermath of Floyd's death, it seemed "for a few brief shining moments" that Democratic and Republican leaders would come together to address police misconduct. But then, Giuliani said, "the left" decided this would be "very dangerous" for their goals. He added, "They had a president to beat and a country to destroy, and although a bipartisan coalition agreeing on action against police brutality would be very valuable for the country, it would also make President Trump appear to be an effective leader. So, BLM and antifa sprang into action and in a flash hijacked the protests into vicious, brutal riots."

Circling back to the Democratic nominee, Giuliani said: "If Biden is elected, along with the Democrats who are unwilling to speak out against this anarchy, then the crime wave will intensify and spread from cities and towns to suburbs and beyond." He added, "I have no doubt, and I’m sure you don’t, when President Trump is reelected, the damage will stop."

Signs of Trump times

Four years ago, there were jokey memes on social media about the White House getting a big Trump sign, just like he put on his hotel properties. For Trump's convention speech, it actually happened. Large Trump-Pence campaign signs were set up on the South Lawn.

"What a disgusting desecration of the people's house," tweeted former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, who briefly campaigned to challenge Trump for the party's nomination. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) tweeted: "The White House is not the property of Donald Trump or the Republican Party, it belongs to the American people. These actions cheapen the office and degrade the nation." 

Is there a law against that? The Hatch Act bans the use of public spaces for political activities, The New York Times wrote, but Trump aides have contended the White House venues are considered part of the residence, and therefore are authorized for political use. Some of Trump’s aides privately scoff at the Hatch Act and say they take pride in violating its regulations, the Times said.

Kellyanne's sick burn

There's been speculation that Trump could succeed in prying voters away from Biden because of unease over violence that has spun off from protests. Kellyanne Conway, the departing White House senior counselor, said out loud on Thursday — hours before her boss's convention speech — that the worse the troubles, the better for Trump.

"The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety, and law and order," Conway said on the "Fox & Friends" morning show.

Biden seized on the remarks in a series of TV interviews Thursday to portray Trump as a cause for chaos, not a cure, who has been “pouring gasoline on the fire." 

“He views this as a political benefit to him,” Biden said when asked about unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that sprang up following the police shooting of Jacob Blake over the weekend. Trump is “rooting for more violence, not less,” Biden said.

Janison: Reality bites GOP

The third night of a largely virtual Republican National Convention on Wednesday brought striking split-screen moments, writes Newsday's Dan Janison.

The police shooting of Blake in Kenosha, recorded on video by a neighbor, incited the kind of rage and rioting that followed other such encounters involving Black civilians.

What clearly infringed on the RNC script were the actions in Kenosha of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, toting an assault-style weapon amid protest mayhem. He's now charged with killing two protesters and wounding a third. Images of the teen at a Trump rally earlier this year promoted an awkward disclaimer: "This individual had nothing to do with our campaign."

From the sports world, viral videos showed NBA players talking about racial injustice. This week shows that digital clips can invade the public’s consciousness but cannot make choices. That will be up to the voters.

Trump dismisses players' protests

Trump's attitude toward Black athletes protesting racial injustice has evolved from "get that son of a bitch off the field" for not standing during the national anthem. Now he's disparaging those who won't get on the field, or the basketball court, following a widespread cancellation of games by NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS teams over the Jacob Blake shooting.

"I don't know much about the NBA protests. I know their ratings have been very bad because I think people are a little tired of the NBA, frankly … they've become like a political organization. And that's not a good thing I don't think that's a good thing for sports or for the country," Trump told reporters during a visit to FEMA headquarters on Hurricane Laura.

Players and coaches, sometimes in tears, have poured out anguish over what they see as mistreatment of Black people by police. Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, dismissed the NBA players' boycott as "absurd and silly" on CNN, adding, "if they want to protest, I don't think we care."

Senior Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner suggested the Black athletes and white teammates who supported them are acting from a position of privilege. “NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they're able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially," Kushner said on MSNBC.

Kushner later told Politico he wanted to get in touch with LeBron James to open a dialogue. Trump in the past has disparaged James' intelligence on Twitter. One of the president's top Fox News boosters, Laura Ingraham, reacted to the basketball star's criticism of Trump two years ago by saying players who were "paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball" should "keep the political comments to yourselves. … Shut up and dribble."

Biden going back on trail

The Democratic nominee told donors on Thursday that he plans to resume in-person campaigning after Labor Day for the final two months of the campaign, Bloomberg News reported. 

Stops are already being planned in the critical swing states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona and Pennsylvania. He indicated that social-distancing rules will be followed to avoid "jeopardizing people's health."

“I’m a tactile politician. I really miss being able to, you know, grab hands, shake hands," the famously touchy-feely Biden said. "You can’t do that now. But I can, I can in fact appear beyond virtually in person in many of these places.”

CDC revises testing revision

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tried to put a new spin on guidance issued earlier this week that was read as discouraging coronavirus testing for people not showing symptoms.

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said those who come into contact with confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients could be tested themselves, even if they are asymptomatic. "The key is to engage the needed public health community in the decision with the appropriate follow-up action,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services later said Redfield was “amplifying and explaining,” and not walking back, the latest guidance. The change was criticized by health experts as an "indefensible" abandonment of a tool to fight the coronavirus spread, and some voiced suspicions it was aimed to please testing skeptic Trump.

More coronavirus news

See a roundup of the latest pandemic developments from Long Island and beyond by Newsday's reporting staff, written by Bart Jones. For a full list of Newsday's coronavirus stories, click here.

What else is happening:

• Protesters chanted and banged drums north of the White House on Thursday night, and the noise — along with police sirens — could be heard faintly from where the convention guests were seated.
• Biden dismissed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's argument that he should refuse to debate Trump because “I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him." In TV interviews Thursday, Biden said, "I’m used to dealing with bullies" and “I will be a fact-checker on the floor while I am debating him."
• With Trump claiming his opponent is "against God" and former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz calling him a "Catholic in name only" at the convention, Biden suggested the attacks on the sincerity of his religious belief were laughable. "I'm getting attacked on my religion by Donald Trump? When's the last time he darkened the doorway of a church? Come on," Biden said on CNN.
• Pence took a few liberties with Scripture during his speech Wednesday night, such as replacing references to Jesus with patriotic imagery, Religion News Service reported. That didn't sit well with some evangelicals — one called it "blasphemous." However, some of Trump’s evangelical advisers lauded the speech.
• The GOP convention's TV ratings dipped Wednesday night, with 17.3 million viewers across 11 networks tuning in for the program that culminated with Pence's speech. That's also less than the 22.8 million who watched the third night of the Democratic convention last week, when Harris gave her acceptance speech and former President Barack Obama also spoke.
• Milwaukee's private Wisconsin Lutheran College has canceled plans to have Pence deliver a commencement address this weekend, citing unrest in nearby Kenosha, Politico reported.