The hair was the first thing one noticed, brilliantly fixed in place. He walked slowly, shoulders square, soaking in the adulation. It was astonishing that he looked exactly like his representations—the hair, the blue suit and red tie, the face preserved in plastic. But then he stepped up to the podium and spoke, and the voice was a surprise; dissonant and even a little froggy as he mentioned all the “hard-working, God-fearing American people” who hadn’t been able to get in and were standing outside. There were still empty seats in the bleachers.
Trump spoke for nearly 90 minutes. He gave the impression that he was sitting across the sofa from you, a strong, honest man airing his strong, honest opinions, but then there would be bursts of standing ovations, and one surveyed the crowd and remembered that the fate of nation, empire, and the vast, suffering world was at stake. The speech came at you like the tide, covering a little more fresh ground each time. The failed policies of the Biden administration, the suspicious “Democrat” backing for Nikki Haley, the radical left consisting of communists and fascists rigging the election in 2020. The rapists and thugs coming across the open border from the Congo, from all over Asia, from the Middle East and Latin America, monsters everywhere. The speech brought in the achievements of his administration, of “the rising wages for Americans of every race, religion, and color” and 571 miles of border wall, taking on the occasionally solemn tone of a swearing-in oath as promises were made to improve things further the second time around.
There were few pauses in the speech, just shifts in intonation and volume, an endless patter that gradually brought in the indictments against him. Trump talked about it with a smile and a shrug, pausing to take in the loud cheers for him and the chants of “USA! USA!” The enemies were personalized more deeply now: “crooked Joe Biden” and Nikki Haley, who was portrayed as a hapless schemer. Mitt Romney was kryptonite, Rush Limbaugh was missed, and there, on the media platform, were the eternal representatives of fake news.