Photo credit: Gage Skidmore
I have to give credit where credit is due. Donald Trump gave a good speech at his rally in Charlotte, NC. He started off well acknowledging the crisis in Louisiana which I think helped set the right tone.
“Every single citizen in our land has a right to live in safety.”
That is a message that resonates with Americans.
Another good line was this: “Nearly Four in ten African-American children are living in poverty. I will not rest until children of every color in this country are fully included in the American Dream.”
Then he had this to say:
Our campaign is about representing the great majority of Americans – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives and Liberals – who read the newspaper, or turn on the TV, and don’t hear anyone speaking for them. All they hear are insiders fighting for insiders.
These are the forgotten men and women in our society, and they are angry at so much on so many levels. The poverty, the unemployment, the failing schools, the jobs moving to other countries.
I am fighting for these forgotten Americans.
Fourteen months ago, I declared my campaign for the Presidency on the promise to give our government back to the people. Every day since then, I’ve worked to repay the loyalty and the faith that you have put in me.
Every day I think about how much is at stake for this country. This isn’t just the fight of my life, it’s the fight of our lives – together – to save our country.
I refuse to let another generation of American children be excluded from the American Dream. Our whole country loses when young people of limitless potential are denied the opportunity to contribute their talents because we failed to provide them the opportunities they deserved. Let our children be dreamers too.
Our whole country loses every time a kid doesn’t graduate from high school, or fails to enter the workforce or, worse still, is lost to the dreadful world of drugs and crime.
When I look at the failing schools, the terrible trade deals, and the infrastructure crumbling in our inner cities, I know all of this can be fixed – and it can be fixed very quickly.
In the world I come from, if something is broken, you fix it.
If something isn’t working, you replace it.
If a product doesn’t deliver, you make a change.
I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.
Yes! Where was this Donald Trump months ago? The focus was off of himself and onto the American people. I still have my doubts about Steve Bannon being hired I can see Kellyanne Conway’s work in this speech. This is what was needed. Her promotion maybe well deserved, and he should follow her advice.
He later lays it on Hillary Clinton.
Listen closely: we will deliver justice for all of these American Families. We will create a system of immigration that makes us all proud.
Hillary Clinton’s mistakes destroy innocent lives, sacrifice national security, and betray the working families of this country.
Please remember this: I will never put personal profit before national security. I will never leave our border open to appease donors and special interests. I will never support a trade deal that kills American jobs. I will never put the special interests before the national interest. I will never put a donor before a voter, or a lobbyist before a citizen.
Instead, I will be a champion for the people.
Much improved. It could be a short-lived pivot. After all this is a speech that he read, and he’s still Trump. We’ll have to see. The national polls over the week appear to be tightening once again, and Hillary Clinton’s interview with the FBI is scrutinized or more information is released before the election about the Clinton Foundation it could make a difference if he doesn’t blow it.
The second thing I have to give the Trump campaign kudos for – their first general election ad.
https://youtu.be/3mKzYPt0Bu4
Here’s the transcript.
VO: In Hillary Clinton’s America:
The system stays rigged against Americans.
Syrian refugees flood in.
Illegal immigrants convicted of committing crimes get to stay.
Collecting Social Security benefits, skipping the line.
Our border open.
It’s more of the same, but worse.
Donald Trump’s America is secure.
Terrorists and dangerous criminals: kept out.
The border: secured.
Our families: safe.
Change that makes America safe again.
Donald Trump for President.
I’m Donald Trump, and I approve this message.
A great first ad. He should have been on the airwaves earlier, but this was a good start.
The thing he didn’t do well last night going back to the speech. He offered a non-apology apology. Watch below:
Here is the transcript of the apology (as prepared for delivery – so it is a tad different):
Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues.
But one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth.
This may be the best we can expect from Donald Trump, but it is not an apology. It is trying to dismiss what was done in the past (stop being consumed with this) and glosses it over as being not-politically correct (said just prior to watch you watched on the video). It also just wasn’t very believable.
Then his mention “I will always tell you the truth.” That statement is laughable. Instead of talking about it, he just needs to do it and then follow through on what he says he is going to do. Saying he is going to tell the truth when he has been caught in multiple lies does not help him build credibility. Talk is cheap.
Trump of all people should know that.