A Speech Only Melania Could Give

A Speech Only Melania Could Give

By Mollie Hemingway  

Melania Trump gave a long and detailed speech to end the night. Her 2016 convention speech was well received but was found to have included lines from a speech Michelle Obama had previously given. There was no way that the speech she gave last night could be delivered by anyone else, and certainly not by Michelle Obama.

The media worshiped and adored Michelle Obama's speech, which included lines suggesting that if you disagreed with it, it was because you were racist. Both she and her husband were seething with disdain and hatred in their speeches, which the media found very compelling.

Melania Trump, by contrast, gave an incredibly positive and empathetic speech. She expressed concern for pretty much all Americans, from those affected by the coronavirus to those concerned about unequal treatment under the law. She asked the rioters to stop rioting — something Biden didn't have the courage to do — and asked Americans to try to look at things from each other's perspective.

One line really drove home the contrast between the current and former first ladies. She said, "As you have heard this evening, I don't want to use this precious time attacking the other side, because as we saw last week, that kind of talk only serves to divide the country further."

Instead she concluded by making the case that her husband is "what is best for our country." She spoke lovingly of her husband, who had been attacked relentlessly at the Democratic convention. "We all know Donald Trump makes no secret about how he feels about things. Whether you like it or not, you always know what he's thinking. And that is because he is a person who loves this country and its people and wants to continue to make it better. Donald wants to keep your family safe, he wants to help your family succeed. He wants nothing more than for the country to prosper and he doesn't waste time playing politics."

Democratic Counter-Programming Is Riots And Mobs

Democrats decided to endorse the violent "peaceful protests" that have gripped the nation's cities this summer. At no point in their convention did a single speaker speak against the riots or the violence that have hurt cities and their inhabitants. Many praised or justified the unrest.

On the second night of the Republican convention, the riots continued in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a small city north of Chicago. Democratic mayors and governors have resisted pleas from citizens to restore order. Yesterday, the Democrat governor of Wisconsin refused an offer from the Trump administration to send in help. As the Republican convention concluded, the riots had "intensified" into greater unrest. Portland also experienced another night in its three months of unrest.

In Washington, D.C., this week, mobs of activists roamed streets forcing strangers to raise their fist in a show of solidarity with their cause or be shouted at and threatened until they succumbed.

Political parties usually try to lay low or provide effective responses to the opposite party's convention. Democrats, having squandered their opportunity to speak against the leftist mobs hitting cities during their convention, may struggle with how to seem less friendly toward the riots in the months to come.

CNN's Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo worried about how the riots were "showing up in the polling" and pleaded with Democrats to stop being so silent.

It's not just that the Republican convention is going well, but that the Democratic counter-programming of riots and mobs couldn't be worse for Democrats.