The
hair was the first thing one noticed, brilliantly fixed in place. He walked
slowly, shoulders square, soaking in the adulation. It was astonishing that he
looked exactly like his representations—the hair, the blue suit and red tie,
the face preserved in plastic. But then he stepped up to the podium and spoke,
and the voice was a surprise; dissonant and even a little froggy as he mentioned
all the “hard-working, God-fearing American people” who hadn’t been able to get
in and were standing outside. There were still empty seats in the bleachers.
Trump
spoke for nearly 90 minutes. He gave the impression that he was sitting across
the sofa from you, a strong, honest man airing his strong, honest opinions, but
then there would be bursts of standing ovations, and one surveyed the crowd and
remembered that the fate of nation, empire, and the vast, suffering world was
at stake. The speech came at you like the tide, covering a little more fresh
ground each time. The failed policies of the Biden administration, the
suspicious “Democrat” backing for Nikki Haley, the radical left consisting of communists
and fascists rigging the election in 2020. The rapists and thugs coming across
the open border from the Congo, from all over Asia, from the Middle East and
Latin America, monsters everywhere. The speech brought in the achievements of his
administration, of “the rising wages for Americans of every race, religion, and
color” and 571 miles of border wall, taking on the occasionally solemn tone of
a swearing-in oath as promises were made to improve things further the second
time around.
There
were few pauses in the speech, just shifts in intonation and volume, an endless
patter that gradually brought in the indictments against him. Trump talked
about it with a smile and a shrug, pausing to take in the loud cheers for him
and the chants of “USA! USA!” The enemies were personalized more deeply now:
“crooked Joe Biden” and Nikki Haley, who was portrayed as a hapless schemer.
Mitt Romney was kryptonite, Rush Limbaugh was missed, and there, on the media
platform, were the eternal representatives of fake news.
