Grievance and fear on Republican convention’s opening night

Donald Trump promised a positive message but most speakers echoed his bleak tone

In the days leading up to this week's Republican National Convention, the Trump campaign was keen to stress that Republicans would strike a more optimistic vision for America than Democrats at their convention last week.

“I think we’re going to see something that is going to be very uplifting and positive,” Mr Trump told Fox News on Saturday.

The first night of the convention was anything but. Instead most of the contributors painted a bleak picture of America under Democratic control, while extolling the virtues of the president.

Perhaps taking their cue from Trump himself, who earlier in the day delivered a dark and error-laden speech in North Carolina as he was officially nominated as the party’s presidential candidate, most of the speakers on Monday night echoed the president’s message of grievance and fear.

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Charlie Kirk, a prominent young conservative and one of the first to speak, set the tone for the evening. Describing Trump as "the bodyguard of western civilization", he declared: "Trump was elected to protect our families, our loved ones, from the vengeful mob that wishes to destroy our way of life, our neighbourhoods, schools, church, and values."

While there were fewer “regular” Americans featured on Monday than the Democratic convention, the audience did hear from a business owner in Montana and a cancer survivor who spoke about the rights of terminally-ill patients.  All were fervent Trump supporters.

Trump family

As expected, the event put a strong emphasis on the Trump family. All of the president’s adult children and his wife Melania will address the convention.

First up on Monday was Donald Trump jnr, the president's eldest son. While his sister and brother-in-law may have positions in the West Wing, he is the most politically-engaged member of the family when it comes to grassroots Republican politics.

The 42-year-old is thought to have political aspirations of his own. His speech was predictably incendiary in its content, but curiously flat in its delivery, his stilted hand movements and apparently tear-filled eyes becoming the subject of Twitter speculation throughout his evening.

Unsurprisingly, he presented a defence of his father’s tenure, claiming that the president had – “fortunately” – acted “swiftly” when coronavirus hit.

A frequent critic of Joe Biden on Twitter, he described his father's political rival as "the Loch Ness monster of the swamp".

“For the past half-century, he’s been lurking around in there. He sticks his head up every now and then to run for president, then he disappears and doesn’t do much in between.”

Dystopian vision

His girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, also had a starring role. The 51-year-old former prosecutor and Fox News personality is a major fundraiser for the president. In a dramatic and highly-charged speech, pre-recorded in an empty Mellon auditorium in Washington DC, she delivered a dystopian vision of a Democratic-run America.

“They want to steal your liberty, your freedom. They want to control what you see and think, and believe, so they can control how you live,” she declared, her voice rising. “They want to enslave you to the weak, dependent, liberal, victim ideology, to the point that you will not recognise this country or yourself.”

"Just take a look at California," she said, describing the state as a land of "discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets and blackouts in homes" – and omitting the fact that she was once married to the current (Democratic) governor of California, Gavin Newsom.

Whether the remaining nights of the Republican convention will see a reset in tone and content remains to be seen. What is clear is that the opening night may have satisfied Trump’s base, but it is unlikely to have attracted any new supporters.