Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for Night 3 of the Republican National Convention. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rate the evening on a scale of 0 to 10: 0 means the night was a disaster for Donald Trump; 10 means it could lead to a big polling bump. Here’s what our columnists and contributors thought of the event, which included speeches from Peter Navarro, Kimberly Guilfoyle and J.D. Vance.
Best Moment
Kristen Soltis Anderson, contributing Opinion writer How can you not feel the heartbreak of the Gold Star families? A powerful reminder of the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, as well as President Biden’s incorrect assertion during the debate that no service members died overseas on his watch. Most important, a powerful reminder of the price of freedom.
Charles M. Blow, Times columnist Usha Vance, talking about her husband, J.D. Vance, and the veterans and families of soldiers killed or taken captive — they were the most effective and affecting speakers. Personal stories delivered with deep emotions, whether love or loss, break through the noise.
David Brooks, Times columnist The Gold Star families. The core Republican argument is that Biden has left regular Americans behind. These parents told that story with raw emotion. It was a moment when passion met the theme.
Michelle Cottle, political writer for Opinion J.D. Vance brought what Team Trump needed: a fresh face who can deliver even tough hits smoothly, with a charming smile and a sprinkling of humor. The political parts of his speech were nothing special. But the biographical bits were kinda glorious. The story from his youth about how his mamaw threatened to run over a local drug dealer was pure gold. And when Vance introduced his mother, who was in the crowd, “10 years clean and sober”? Chef’s kiss.
Ross Douthat, Times columnist Vance’s mother, 10 years sober, edging out the cuteness of Donald Trump’s granddaughter. Overall, an effective buildup with the Gold Star families and the 98-year-old World War II vet that squandered some momentum with Donald Trump Jr. and finished with Vance delivering a speech that was solid on charm and anecdote and likability but shorter on narrative and rhetorical sweep.
David Firestone, deputy editor, the Times editorial board The emotional gathering of family members of the 13 service members killed in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. They were assembled by convention planners to capitalize on a particularly dumb debate gaffe made by Biden, who said he was the only president in the decade who didn’t have any troops die on his watch. Trump was the president who ridiculed military sacrifice, and Biden’s mistake gave the G.O.P. an important way to neutralize that weakness.
David French, Times columnist Vance’s personal story is genuinely inspiring. Any time he can focus on what he’s overcome and how he’s helped his family members improve their lives, the more people will respond to him.
Dan McCarthy, editor of the periodical Modern Age Vance’s speech was masterly and more than a moment. The night’s most powerful individual moment, however, was hearing the Gold Star father Herman Lopez, whose son Hunter died in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, credit Trump with “a proven record of keeping the peace and honoring those in uniform,” in contrast to Biden’s forgetfulness about sacrifices like his son’s.
Megan K. Stack, contributing Opinion writer Vance’s polished and populist pitch landed like a cleaner and more heartfelt version of Trump’s guttural monologues. He skipped deftly from trade agreements to “cheap Chinese goods” to forgotten, drug-soaked communities like his hometown. He extolled the working man, “union and nonunion alike,” while disparaging Wall Street, the ruling class and undocumented immigrants.
Zeynep Tufekci, Times columnist The best moment for the Trump campaign came when families that had lost loved ones in the American withdrawal from Afghanistan took the stage to vouch for Trump — he’d apparently reached out to them and clearly left a positive impression — and to condemn Biden for not mentioning the names of their loved ones publicly. When Biden interacted with them, they found him uncaring.
Peter Wehner, contributing Opinion writer The extremely moving video recounting Biden’s greatest failure, the botched American withdrawal from Afghanistan, and especially the comments by the Gold Star families. The grief etched on their faces and the anger in their voices were painful and entirely justified.
Worst Moment
Anderson There were a few speakers who clearly overstayed their welcome. Early in the night, the former Trump official Peter Navarro’s overlong postprison appearance might have energized the room but came across as strange on television.
Blow Wednesday night brought the anger, fear and defiance. Immigrants were the enemies. Speakers condemned forever wars, honored veterans and stoked fights over campus culture. The theme of the night was “Making America Strong Again” — but Republicans reminded the country that freedom, to them, means isolationism and expulsions. And Vance’s long, rambling speech was the ultimate anticlimax, like being served a bowl of tapioca at meal’s end.
Brooks Kimberly Guilfoyle could set the world record for worst convention moments if she keeps this up. Four years after her last convention speech, she still doesn’t seem to know that a microphone is a device for amplifying your voice and that you don’t need to bellow from coast to coast.
Cottle I had assumed it would be the reliably terrifying Guilfoyle, but nope. I failed to anticipate Navarro ranting about the “Department of Injustice” and telling the crowd, “I went to prison so you won’t have to!” It was a poisonous, self-indulgent, Trumpian performance.
Douthat The rhetorical stylings of Guilfoyle.
Firestone Donald Trump Jr.’s slashing speech undermined his claim that many Americans are afraid their “country was being torn apart.” He used his platform to accuse the legal system of “copying” Vladimir Putin for prosecuting and gagging his father (a man who admires Putin) and resorted to low-rent culture-war attacks on the left for teaching kids that “there are 57 genders, but they can’t even define what a woman is.”
French When Vance called Trump our nation’s “last, best hope.” If Trump is our last, best hope, our nation is already gone. In general, however, it’s destructive to our political culture to put so much hope in one man. No single president can save us, and no single president can sink us.
McCarthy Gov. Doug Burgum gave remarks on the important theme of what he called “energy dominance,” but his delivery was no better than adequate. After so much speculation about the governor as a vice-presidential prospect, viewers had a right to expect more.
Stack Given the precarious state of reproductive rights and recent conservative rumblings about ending no-fault divorce, playing “It’s a Man’s World” while Trump swept victoriously into the hall felt like meanspirited mockery.
Tufekci Navarro went to the convention just a few hours after he was released from federal prison, to give a speech to much applause. He’d been active in the Trump campaign’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and was convicted of contempt of Congress.
Wehner The sustained standing ovation for Navarro. The outpouring of affection and support for one of the nation’s chief election deniers and conspiracy nuts epitomizes the moral compass of the current Republican Party.
What Else Caught Your Eye?
Anderson I loved the subtle moments when Usha Vance’s sense of humor came through while introducing her husband. I couldn’t help but smile as she described his working to impress her mother by learning to cook Indian food.
Blow A trend is emerging: condemning trans people while claiming to include gay people. Republicans have had success creating and exploiting divisions within minority groups — for instance, between established immigrants and new ones — and they may be attempting to do the same to the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
Brooks The Vance speech was interesting. At first, I thought it was a disappointment. The delivery was low-key. He literally has a cinematic story. I thought he could have done a lot more to connect with viewers and trace the emotional arc of his life. But the crowd gradually began to lift him up so that it became a playful conversation. Not what you’d expect from a candidate whose campaign is fired by righteous indignation at betrayal.
Cottle The convention organizers have been working hard to soften Donald Trump’s image, with lots of stories from various speakers about what a decent and caring guy he is. Wednesday night’s appearance by his 17-year-old granddaughter, Kai (Don Jr.’s eldest), was less eye rolling than most. Not too saccharine or overwrought, with plenty of material poking fun at her grandpa.
Douthat If he doubted his V.P. pick, the Burgum snoozer was an indicator that Trump chose wisely.
Firestone Pretty unusual in this crowd for Usha Vance to tell the convention that her husband cooks Indian food for their family and has adapted to her vegetarian diet. And even more unusual that in introducing J.D. Vance, she mentioned Trump not even once.
French Republicans are dishing out the red meat before the network cameras come on later in the evening. They’re playing to both sides of their base: The Fox News and social media obsessives hear all their talking points early on, and the more casual voters get the more normal G.O.P. later in the evening.
McCarthy The rapturous reception of Navarro, just released from federal prison, demonstrated how lawfare has backfired. Politically freighted prosecutions of Navarro, Steve Bannon and Trump have only raised their stature in their supporters’ eyes, and seeing such esprit and high morale helps win over the wavering.
Stack When Donald Trump Jr. marched out his 17-year-old daughter to talk about “Grandpa,” it smacked of a depressing desperation to fill time. But then! “A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell, and he’s still standing,” she said. And Trump … appeared to fight tears? It felt soft and authentic in a way I don’t associate with Trump events.
Tufekci Many speakers made the case that Putin wouldn’t have dared attack Ukraine had Trump been in the Oval Office, that Biden was weak and that that weakness encouraged wars around the world against U.S. allies and interests. This theme came up a lot when I interviewed Trump voters and seems to get a lot less attention than it deserves. Representative Michael Waltz even told the room that Trump had threatened Putin, saying that if he tried anything, Trump would “take the tops off the Kremlin.”
Wehner Republicans landed some devastating blows against Biden. If he steps aside, which is increasingly likely, the positive effects of this week will be largely nullified. If he isn’t the nominee, the Democratic Party will be liberated and energized, the Republican Party will be crestfallen, and the race will significantly tighten.
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