Did the Media Actually Listen to Trump’s Bonkers RNC Speech?

Donald Trump promised a nomination acceptance speech that would “bring the country together” in the wake of his attempted assassination, but the meandering rant he delivered on Thursday night missed the mark by a long shot. It doesn’t appear that everyone got the memo, though, as some publications proceeded to publish glowing reviews of the former president’s supposed pledge for unity.

To be fair, Trump’s speech started off sounding more controlled, as he delivered remarks as written on the teleprompter. “The discord and division in our society must be healed, we must heal it quickly. We are bound together by a single fate, a single destiny,” Trump said. “We rise together. Or we fall apart.”

“I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America. So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States.”

Of course, this was within the first 10 minutes of the former president’s speech—the rest of his address was a severe departure, as he used a pledge for unity to further create a wedge between Democrats and Republicans, claiming that his party was just way more into unity than the other guys. 

“If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts—which I have been going through for approximately eight years—and they should do that without delay, and allow an election to proceed that is worthy of our people,” Trump said, transforming his impassioned call for unity into just another one of his stump speeches about his many legal battles. My unity is bigger than your unity, and so on.

Predictably, Trump spiraled off-script into the same old baseless, racist claims about immigration, crime, and election denialism, and he delivered lies about a vast array of other topics that stretched on for 90 minutes. It seems Trump’s lengthy speech may have interfered with publications rushing to get to print, as some wrote headlines that ran with just the first few beats of the speech as front page news. 

In its print edition, The Boston Globe published its story under the headline, “In a departure, Trump calls for unity, healing in America.” The Dallas Morning News published the headline “Trump emphasized unity.” Both headlines could be improved with the addition of “momentarily.”

USA Today’s Weekend Edition featured the question, “After attempt on life, can Trump unite US?”

Writer Parker Molloy posted the covers on X, formerly Twitter, remarking that the headlines seemed to match the prepared remarks, but not the ones Trump actually delivered. Another possible explanation for their eerie break from reality. 

It’s worth noting that some of these publications supplemented their coverage online. For example, The Boston Globe provided a steady stream of updates about the speech as the night went on. But headlines—especially front page ones—are important, as they’re often the only part of a story anyone will actually read.

The most egregious offender was the New York Post, which touted “A NEW DON” on its front page. “Trump preaches unity, vows to heal divided America in RNC speech,” read the subhead. In reality, Trump demonstrated that despite everything, he is still the same as ever: deeply divisive, and bent on winning no matter what.