President Trump’s surprise address during the first day of the Republican National Convention on Monday was a big departure from what his re-election campaign billed as an “optimistic and upbeat” affair.
During an interview on “Meet the Press” on the eve of the RNC, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller insisted that the GOP confab this week would be a “very optimistic and upbeat convention.”
However, in his speech to the RNC during its first day, Trump aired a number of grievances that were anything but the optimism that his campaign had teased heading into the GOP convention.
Here are some examples of how Trump’s RNC appearance took on an ominous tone:
Jabbing Biden for not going to Wisconsin for DNC
Trump was quick to jab Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for not traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week during the historically virtual Democratic National Convention.
The President said that he “felt an obligation to come” to Charlotte, North Carolina “out of respect for your state,” before going on to lash out at North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) for being in “shutdown mode.”
Baselessly accusing Democrats of “using COVID to steal” election
As he continued his crusade against mail-in voting, Trump accused Democrats, without evidence,” of “using COVID to steal an election.”
“They’re using COVID to defraud the American people, all of our people of a fair and free election,” Trump said. “We can’t do that.”
The President also quipped that “the only way they can take this election away from us, is if it’s a rigged election.”
Invoking Washington and Lincoln as he slammed Democrats for taking climate change seriously
After ripping into Democrats for supposedly trying to ruin how the country has “achieved American energy independence” by decrying fossil fuels, Trump made an absurd comparison invoking former Presidents.
“So it’s no religion, no guns, right? No oil, no gas. I don’t think you will do too good in Texas,” Trump said as he slammed Democrats. “You know, George Washington could come back from the dead and he could choose as his VP candidate the late great Abraham Lincoln. And you’re not going to win the state of Texas if you have no oil, no guns and no religion. I don’t think so. You’re not going to win too many places.”
Griping about Biden taking credit if he wins
Trump said that it would be “a kick in the ass” if Biden wins the election in November and takes credit for his administration’s actions that he says will lower prescription costs. The President’s remarks come a day after he held a press conference announcing a blood plasma treatment for COVID-19 that hasn’t been proven as an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus.
It’s worth noting that Trump has not guaranteed that he would accept the results of the election if Biden wins.
