Before Donald Trump’s speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention, pundits promised that everyone was about to see a whole new Trump. Trump was going to be a "more reflective, subdued version of himself." He would be “serene” and “spiritual.” At the same time, Trump would “blow the doors off and rise to the occasion.”
Except ... no. What GOP delegates got was largely Trump's normal stump speech, filled with the same rhetoric of hate for his political opponents, disdain for the United States, and a shout-out to his friend Hannibal Lecter. There had been suggestions that Trump wouldn’t mention Joe Biden. He did. Or that he wouldn’t return to talking about his fondness for authoritarian leaders. He did that, too. From “Crazy Nancy” to “a nation in decline,” much of the speech was exactly what visitors to any Trump rally in the last five years might have expected.
As MSNBC reported, there is never “a new Trump.” It’s just the same old guy. And he never looked older or less enthusiastic about his own material than he did on Thursday night.
