So Much for the ‘New’ Trump

Playbook: “Donald Trump promised he ripped up his original red meat speech and rewrote one with a more unifying message. In the end, he delivered both speeches.”

“There was the address loaded into the teleprompter, which began with his lengthy account of the events of last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. And then there were the long interludes, where Trump riffed on the familiar themes and grievances that fuel his rallies.”

“Together, it all added up to over 90 minutes — the longest acceptance speech on record. Trump spoke slowly. He seemed subdued. We even noticed some attendees leaving the event before the balloon drop. At one point, Trump joked that the four-day convention had gone so well that the pressure was on for him not to blow it on the final night. Plenty of pundits in the post-speech cable panels believe he did.”

Politico described it as “a meandering speech that resembled his usual rallies with macabre descriptions of a nation in decline.”