A onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump scrambled to excuse the convicted felon and Republican nominee's 92-minute speech which one critic called "flabby and windy and flat."
That was the analysis CNN political commentator Paul Begala delivered Friday morning that Trump's 2016 campaign adviser Jason Osborne found himself struggling to rebut.
"It was stylistically flat, but worse than that, it was strategic dumb," Begala said. "We started to ask, 'Do we really want to go back to this nuttiness and weirdness and narcissism and chaos and hate?''"
Host Jim Acosta then asked Osborne to explain how a speech that was supposed to bring a message of unity wound up including attacks on "Crazy Nancy Pelosi" and references to the fictional cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump ‘secretary of retribution’ won't discuss his ‘target list’ at RNC
Osborne's response?
"You didn't hear 'Crooked Joe,'" Osborne said. "You didn't hear a lot of those type of descriptions and I take exception to."
Osborne argued it was his own mistake, not Trump's, that Americans were led to believe Trump would preach unity — but then said Trump had done just that.
"I think you saw a different side of Donald Trump where he talked about bringing together both sides of the aisle," Osborne said, "in every walk of life here in the U.S."
The CNN host was not convinced.
"I think he mentioned an invasion at the border, I can't count how many times," Acosta replied. "That was not a unifying speech."
Osborne contradicted himself again as he then argued the former president could not change his tone on campaign issues then said actually he had.
"Just because you point out the things pre-last Saturday, doesn't mean you're going to now change your tone and forget in the past," Osborne said. "I don't think he was as harsh as he has been."
Ultimately the confusion on messaging was a sign of high-minded strategy, Osborne concluded.
"I think we're dealing with an organization here that's playing chess while the rest of the folks are playing checkers," said Osborne.
This characterization contradicts that of Begala, who joked Friday morning that Trump's lengthy speech was still rolling on.
"Ninety-two minutes?" Begala said. "Somewhere in hell, Fidel Castro is jealous."
