It is a bit of an understatement to say that Donald Trump has not been known for creating peace and harmony within the United States. Ronald Reagan has gone down in history as The Great Communicator. It is a safe bet that Trump will not be known as The Great Unifier. Or so most people thought, until Trump was shot at his rally. Traumatic events can change people, and after that terrible event we were told by some of Trump's allies that Trump was different now. He was more contemplative, serene--even spiritual. They told us that we would see this dramatic change in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. And indeed we did see Trump's call for unity to heal the nation within the first two minutes of his speech. There were three passages in particular that I will cite, with their time stamps below.
Four months from now we will have an incredible victory, and we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country. Together we will launch a new era of safety prosperity and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America. So tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for president of the United States.
In an age when our politics too often divide us, now is the time to remember that we are all fellow citizens. We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement which is what's been happening in our country lately at a level that nobody has ever seen before. In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy, especially since that is not true. In fact I am the one saving democracy for the people of our country.
And very big news. As you probably just read. On Monday, a major ruling was handed down from a highly respected federal judge in Florida, Eileen Cannon, finding that the prosecutor and the fake documents case against me were totally unconstitutional, and the entire case was thrown out of court. . . . If Democrats want to unify our country, they should drop these partisan witch hunts which I have been going through for approximately 8 years. And they should do that without delay and allow an election to proceed that is worthy of our people. . .
[Melania] also did something really beautiful a letter to America calling for National unity, and it really took the Republican Party by surprise. I will tell you, it was beautiful. In fact, some very serious people said that we should take that letter and put it as part of the Republican platform. That would be an honor, wouldn't it?
Just like our ancestors, we must now come together, rise above past differences. Any disagreements have to be put aside and go forward, united as one people, one nation, pledging allegiance to one great . . . beautiful American flag.
Was Trump truly sincere in his desire to heal the nation? Was he really a changed man? We can look at Trump's posts on Truth Social to find out. Click the links to see the actual posts.
Trump gave his acceptance speech on July 18, and his posts on Truth Social got off to a great start the next day.
But of course, it was too good to last. Roughly 48 hours after his appeal for unity, Trump was back to his usual form.
"Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation. He has done everything possible to destroy our Country . . . " (July 21, 2024)
Trump calls ABC Fake News, accuses the Democrats of being Radical Left, and calls George Stephanopolis "George Slopadopolus" (July 21, 2024)
Trump wonders whether the Republicans should be reimbursed for fraud after Joe Biden dropped out of the race. (July 21, 2024)
"It’s not over! Tomorrow Crooked Joe Biden’s going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today!" (July 21, 2024)
"Biden never had Covid. He is a threat to Democracy!" (July 21, 2024)
Trump calls the Democrats the real THREAT TO DEMOCRACY! (July 22, 2024)
Trump showed his approval of the following long screed by an account named Patriot4Life (July 22, 2024). It was too long to capture in a single snapshot, so here are two overlapping snapshots of a post that claimed that Donald Trump was chosen by God to lead the war of GOOD VS EVIL. I think that Trump has missed his chance to be the Great Uniter.
Trump posted a video of his rally. Pay attention to what he says at 0:42: "These are nasty people, the Democrats. So we better beat them or we're not going to have a country left. You're not going to have a country left." (July 24, 2024) Note how this mirrors Trump's speech on January 6 when he riled up the crowd by saying, "We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." See 1:10:01 - 1:10:12. Forgive me if I missed how this message unified the country on January 6. I'm sure it will be a great unifier now.
"We’re not ready for a Marxist President, and Lyin’ Kamala Harris is a RADICAL LEFT MARXIST, AND WORSE!" (July 25, 2024)
It looks like Trump's effort to be the Great Unifier that our country needs so badly is going about as well as I expected it to.
Update 8/1/2024: Trump demonstrated his unique approach at fostering peace and unity and lowering the temperature of the nation when he appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists. Kumbaya, Motherfuckers. Kumbaya.
