- Donald Trump said he wanted to focus on a message about uniting America after a gunman attacked him.
- In his speech at the RNC on Thursday, he held to that promise — for 26 minutes.
- In his 92-minute speech, Trump continually alluded to unity while throwing in insults at his rivals.
Former President Donald Trump spent the last few days signaling a new approach to his political rhetoric — a message of unity — that he undermined within his first half-hour of Thursday night's speech.
In the aftermath of a failed assassination attempt against him, he told The New York Post and the Washington Examiner that he wanted to "try to unite our country."
Unity, after all, has been a key message espoused by President Joe Biden.
"I had all prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible administration," Trump told the Post. "But I threw it away."
As he spoke at the Republican National Convention, however, cracks in his newfound posture began to show.
Just over 26 minutes into his speech, Trump was praising his supporters and family when he veered abruptly back into attacks on his opponents.
"They got another subpoena from the Democrats," Trump said, referring to his sons, Don Jr. and Eric. "Crazy Nancy Pelosi. The whole thing, just boom, boom, boom."
The crowd erupted in boos at the sound of Pelosi's name.
"They've gotta stop that because they're destroying our country," Trump added.
Trump portrays unity — while insulting his opponents
Trump, now officially the Republican nominee, began his speech in line with the unity message.
"In an age when power politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens," he told the crowd. "We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Yet as his 92-minute speech continued, the former president peppered in more comments on brand with his typical insults and claims about his rivals.
"They used COVID to cheat, we're never going to let that happen again," he said of the 2020 election, which he claims without evidence was stolen from him.
"The damage that this administration has done," Trump said. "And I say it often: if you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst, added them up. They will not have done the damage Biden has done."
In lauding the GOP agenda for 2024, Trump again took a few jabs at his rivals.
"It's very short compared to the long, boring, meaningless agendas of the past, including the Democrats'," he said. "They write these things that are hundreds of pages long and they never read them after they're done. In their case, fortunately, they don't read them because they're pretty bad."
The former president echoed a line from the June presidential debate, saying the Democratic party was "going to destroy Social Security and Medicare because of all of these people by the millions that are coming in."
Immigrants are only eligible for Social Security if they have paid taxes into the program or meet other criteria.
A mixed posture for Trump at the RNC
Despite returns to name-calling and accusations, Trump delivered some lines portraying a more measured and peaceable MAGA platform.
"We are Americans. Ambition is our heritage, greatness is our birthright. But as long as our energies are spent fighting each other, our destiny will remain out of reach," he said in his 7-minute conclusion.
"We can do it together, we will unite. We are going to come together, and success will bring us together," he added.
The former president's mixed speechmaking came as his advisors hinted earlier this week that he might adopt a gentler tone, but not ditch attacks on the main issues he campaigns on.
"You can be nice on the margins but you still have to call out insanity when you see insanity. That's not about tone," Donald Trump Jr. told Axios' Mike Allen.
"I look at unity, and it's obviously an opportunity to bring the country together," said Chris LaCivita, a senior campaign aide. "It's a very important thing, but let's not forget we're in the middle of a campaign. And you have to win that campaign."