Trump sent many reporters and commentators into a fury when he pardoned a former convict and presided over a naturalization ceremony in the middle of the convention. But the whole thing worked, both as political theater and as campaign strategy. Trump’s interactions with normal Americans humanize him and allow him to display rarely seen compassion and to utilize his self-deprecating sense of humor. And the men and women highlighted in these two segments are living rebukes to the critical narratives surrounding Trump on race and immigration. Trump’s exchanges with each of the new Americans were charming and amusing. After he finished reading aloud the resume of a new U.S. citizen from Lebanon who is a multilingual psychologist, Trump quipped, “In other words, she can figure me out.” Everyone in the room laughed.

Trump welcomed the new citizens to “the great American family.” They fit right into this vast, bumptious, diverse, energetic, incomprehensible place. So far, the RNC has served as a reminder that for all of the ravages of the coronavirus, the economic fallout, protests that turn into riots, political correctness, and rising crime, most Americans remain proud of their country. They are eager to work to better their condition. And they are uninterested in the social and cultural agendas of the progressive left.