On Twitter and on television, observers had visceral reactions to Donald Trump’s nomination speech outlining a dark, dangerous vision of America.
On CNN, Nicolle Wallace, a former George W. Bush aide and senior adviser to the 2008 McCain campaign, declared her party “dead.”
“The voters picked this guy,” Wallace said. “This is where the Republican party is now…The party I was part of for two decades is dead.”
Also on CNN, Republican strategist Ana Navarro said, “I’m embarrassed of my party. He sounded like a fearmonger. This is not Republicanism.”
.@ananavarro on Donald Trump: His speech “does nothing but bring out the darkness in America” #RNCinCLEhttps://t.co/HMKjC1Lj3l
— CNN (@CNN) July 22, 2016
Prominent conservative Erick Erickson railed on Twitter:
Trump’s speech sounded better in the original German.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 22, 2016
Shorter Donald Trump: Everything is terrible. Everyone is going to die. Vote for me.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 22, 2016
This may be the most pessimistic speech ever given by a major party Presidential candidate at his convention.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 22, 2016
I hope you’re proud, Republicans. I hope you’re proud.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 22, 2016
Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin called Trump’s speech “apocalyptic”:
Trump’s apocalyptic vision coming up
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 22, 2016
I never realized America was such a crappy place
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 22, 2016
Huffington Post reporter Elise Foley noted that there was no long-awaited general pivoting happening. In fact, Trump is just getting more extreme:
In Trump’s version of America, refugees from one of the most dangerous countries on the planet couldn’t be simply wanting peace here. Central American women and children couldn’t be seeking safety, and undocumented immigrants couldn’t be looking for a better life. Killers are the rule, not the exception. Foreigners are here to take our jobs and do us harm.
Not even some of them are good people.
Daniel Garza, executive director of the conservative LIBRE Initiative group, told Buzzfeed:
“It was disappointing, I was cringing the whole time when he was talking about immigrants,” said Daniel Garza, executive director of the LIBRE Initiative who spent the week speaking at Latino events in Cleveland bashing Hillary Clinton but also admonishing Trump for his hardline approach to the issue.
“What disturbs me the most about Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants is he makes the criminal element seem like the rule when they’re really the exception,” Garza said. “Immigrants contributing to the economy is the norm.”
Meanwhile, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, praised the evening, and today announced he would be running for the United States Senate:
Great Trump Speech, America First! Stop Wars! Defeat the Corrupt elites! Protect our Borders!, Fair Trade! Couldn’t have said it better!
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) July 22, 2016
BREAKING: Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has announced that he plans to run for U.S. Senate in Louisiana.
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 22, 2016
Former KKK leader David Duke, announcing candidacy: “I’m overjoyed to see Donald Trump…embrace most of the issues I’ve championed for years”
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 22, 2016
