There was no flow, no argument, no central core. He praised himself and he attacked Joe Biden, just as you’d expect. But he didn’t build a case for himself or a case against Biden — and it’s the construction of such cases that provide the dramatic structure a major speech needs to engage both the head and the heart.
For someone who relishes drama, Trump provided none.
Instead, we got laundry lists featuring the kinds of claimed accomplishments that are usually the province of a tiresome State of the Union address.
And when it came to going after Biden, he couldn’t find a common thread. Once again, rather than building an indictment that would then not only justify but hammer home his climactic soundbite — “You won’t be safe in Biden’s America” — he provided a dog’s breakfast.
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