That ‘changed’ and ‘unifying’ new Trump? Yeah, it didn’t last through his RNC speech | Opinion

Editor’s note: Contributing columnist David Mastio is covering the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee for McClatchy Opinion.

Well, I was going to write that Donald Trump’s speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention was no “American Carnage” — a replay of his dire and foreboding inaugural address from 2017. But boy, the new unifying and changed Trump didn’t last all the way through a single speech.

I write this as Trump continues his rambling rally-style oration, complaining about all the “illegal killers and criminals” who have surged into our country, Russian nuclear subs in Cuba, and explaining how he’s not a “braggart.”

Before the speech, the good people at CNN credulously reported excerpts of the “new” Trump’s speech. They were coherent and thoughtful. As delivered for the first moments Trump was on stage, the words were even moving.

But it didn’t last.

After a brief display of humanity, Trump veered off into “crazy Nancy Pelosi” and claims that the Democrats “are destroying our country” with their “totally incompetent leadership.”

“We are a nation in decline,” Trump said. “The world is teetering on the edge of World War III.”

The speech was billed by the campaign as being Joe Biden-free, but Trump couldn’t resist the temptation to directly target his ailing and likely soon-to-be former opponent.

Then we entered the non-braggadocio part of the speech. “I will end every crisis facing our country,” he said. “I could stop wars with a phone call.” Ohhh.

The “Carnage” came back. “Inflation has forced our middle class into depression and despair,” Trump said. Crime is rising, inflation is uncontrolled and America is no longer a leader in the world. The economy is a mess with “107% of new jobs being taken by illegal immigrants.” He promised a trade war with our enemies and allies alike.

This is the Donald Trump we all know. His heart is dark. His head is undisciplined. His facts are untethered to reality.

He can’t change.

At its best, another term of Trump would be like waking up to breakfast every day with a neighbor who can’t put down his leaf blower — noisy, annoying and unnecessary. On the worst days of a new Trump administration, our democracy would be under threat and our constitutional order more precarious than ever.

Even if Trump had made it through a single speech giving the appearance of a man who had been touched — and changed — by the hand of God that saved him from an assassin’s bullet, his words would not have been enough. Change has to be more than rhetoric deep.

Trump would have needed to change the kind of president he’d be. But that was never on offer.

Trump knows his followers better than I ever could, and talking to them all this week, one thing was clear: People here in Milwaukee at the RNC don’t want to see Trump change. They like him as a fighter even if he is a felon.

They like the old Donald Trump. It looks like we are all stuck with him.

David Mastio, a former editor and columnist for USA Today, is a regional editor for The Center Square and a regular Star Opinion correspondent. Follow him on X: @DavidMastio or email him at dmastio1@yahoo.com