Originally Posted: July 22, 2016
NO PIVOTS FROM TRUMP IN ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
MATTHEW WILSON:
jmwilson@smu.edu
Trump kept surprises to a minimum during his acceptance speech, says Wilson, focusing on red meat instead.
“Trump didn’t pivot, he doubled down,” Wilson says. “His most powerful lines were about being a champion for forgotten working people. He is what he is, and the message and tone aren’t changing. We’ll see if it works.”
Wilson added that it was, “Interesting that Trump explicitly reached out to both gays and evangelicals,” but noted most of the speech focused on fear, not hope.
“Trump is betting that Americans are uneasy and looking for more acknowledgement of their anxieties than soaring, optimistic rhetoric,” Wilson says. “One of the songs playing in the hall after Trump won the nomination was ironic … ‘You can’t always get what you want.’” READ MORE