Trump proves he can take it

Last night, Donald J. Trump formally accepted the nomination he had won in Monday’s voting at the Republican National Convention. But he also had two things to prove that night – and in two hours, he did prove them. His was probably the longest Presidential nomination acceptance speech on record. Certainly he showed he had the intelligence, the good will, and the stamina to be President again. He also provided a stark contrast to his opponent – who could never have spoken for so long.

What did Donald Trump have to prove?

More than anything, Trump had to prove that a would-be assassin’s bullet did not enfeeble him. He proved that in part by standing up and raising a fist on the stage after the shot hit him. But a brief pose is one thing; a long speech, quite another. As the country saw on June 27, when Donald Trump could keep talking, and Joe Biden could not.

Which brings us to the other thing he had to prove: that he has the stamina, and Joe Biden doesn’t. In fact Joe Biden has literally called out sick. Apparently he “tests” positive for coronavirus, and is mildly symptomatic ,after showily taking a vaccine in his makeshift studio. (He cannot deliver a televised address from the Oval Office, because he might trip over a wire if he tried.) So Biden canceled an address to the UnidosUS conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That leaves Trump alone on the public field. Last night especially he knew the whole country would be watching. The country had already heard from his Vice-Presidential running mate, Sen. J. D. Vance (R-Ohio), and members of his family. That last included his eldest granddaughter, Kai, who spoke the night before last. She, more than any other speaker before or since, paved the way for Trump’s speech, by describing his softer, caring side.

And that’s the side Trump showed last night.

The speech

The best full transcript of Trump’s acceptance speech is available from Station WBTS (Channel 10, NBC, Boston, Mass.). As noted, he spoke for two hours, longer than any other Presidential nominee has spoken at his convention.

Very early, Trump proved a third thing: his near-assassination had humbled him. He will still fight for the causes he believes (correctly, in CNAV’s view) are just. But he clearly knows to give glory to God. As a case in point, he took time to recount the attempt on his life from his point of view. In the middle of it, he repeated remarks he apparently made to The New York Post the next day:

I am not supposed to be here tonight. I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God. Many people say it was a providential moment.

He also seemed to thank the crowd for not trampling over one another in any rush to escape. No such rush happened – no one wanted to leave Trump alone, and perhaps they were too stunned to move. But that apparent forbearance, he said, saved lives.

Then he turned to his “vision for the whole nation.” Allegedly he had planned to slam the policies of the current administration. He made passing reference to those policies, but spent most of his time telling how he plans to do things. Carefully he addressed inflation, energy dependency and expense, immigration, misguided mandates (like one for electric vehicles), war in the Middle East, and the Russia-Ukraine War. Lastly, he called for unity, and the renewal of a spirit that tamed a wilderness, centuries ago.

Reaction

Bill Barrow and Michelle Price of the Associated Press seemed to be in no mood to heed any call for unity from Trump or any other Republican. In their article, “Five Takeaways from Trump’s RNC speech,” they repeated the rhetoric of the last four years:

• “chaos and infighting” in this first administration, and
• “a violent insurrection” in an attempt to retain power.

One can take these five things away from their article:

1. Their idea of unity is to admit fault on both sides, whether the fault lies on both sides – or not. And, being part of the problem, they lack insight to see that the fault lies with them and their allies.
2. They remain openly skeptical of what they call his attempt “to humanize his image.” But they did note that he didn’t spend time criticizing the Secret Service. Nor did they reflect on whether the Secret Service deserves the criticism.
3. Never will they admit that anyone except Trump and his allies act, or have ever acted, in bad faith. But again, they’re part of the problem.
4. Nor will they admit that the Democratic Party is the party of tax, spend, starve and freeze. Donald Trump spent two hours laying out his program, and they still accused him of being short on detail.
5. But they did acknowledge one thing: Trump barely mentioned Biden or Harris. Of course he didn’t: he wants people’s votes for his program – not against someone who might not even be running.

Biden not running?

Yesterday afternoon, Mark Halperin of 2wayTV started sharing speculation on Democratic leaders wanting Biden to drop out. Bear in mind that his positive test result happened the day before. Halperin suggested that Nancy Pelosi had a definite wish list “when and if” Biden bows out.

He also suggested that Kamala Harris wouldn’t necessarily be the nominee-in-waiting.

Two hours later he posted this detailed statement that he attributed to “multiple sources.”

BREAKING NEWS: Multiples sources outline the apparent state of play on Biden at this time:

* plans to announce withdrawal from nomination as early as this weekend, with Sunday most likely

* Jon Meacham polishing up remarks

* Biden with NOT resign the presidency

* Biden will NOT endorse Harris

* open convention with Harris and about 3 others

* super delegates will not be allowed to vote on 1st ballot

* Harris is vetting at least four possible running mates, including [Gov.] Andy Beshear [D-Ky.] and possibly [Gov. Josh] Shapiro [D-Pa.]

A certain other reporter, who shall remain nameless, disputes the above. But that doesn’t mean Biden is still stubbornly refusing to bow out. He dropped a hint of dropping out, by saying “a medical condition” might persuade him – before the coronavirus test result announcement. The competing version runs like this:

• Biden has called out sick and is thus unavailable even for comment.
• Several Democratic Party wheels are trying to tell a Big Lie and have others repeat it. Then Biden, unable to deny it, would drop out because anything else would be futile.
• Biden does not want an open convention, and hasn’t even made up his mind to leave. People trying to make that decision for him, aren’t helping.

On one point this other reporter agrees with Halperin: Biden does not intend resigning the Presidency. That, of course, would trigger Amendment XXV, Section 1, which reads:

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death or resignation, the Vice-President shall become President.

Betting against Trump before the attempt?

Meanwhile, more evidence is surfacing to suggest that Thomas Matthew Crooks did not act alone in trying to kill Trump. Furthermore, an institutional-level investor or investors, knew about it in advance.

On July 12, the private equity firm Austin Private Wealth filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a report of a short sale of twelve million shares ofTruth Social (NASDAQ:DJT). X influencer George Behizy shared that on Wednesday:

Note that this filing happened the day before the assassination attempt. The SEC Archives list the report with the following dates:

• Period of Report: June 30, 2024
• Effectiveness Date: July 12, 2024

The short volume on Truth Social does appear to show a tremendous spike on July 12 – despite a Community Notes post denying this.

Austin Private Wealth hastened to report that their SEC filing was in error, and the correct share count was twelve hundred, not million. (Sources: News.com of Austalia, FinBold (see also here), and “County Local News.” See also this Wayback Machine capture of APW’s “news and events” link.) Here is the APW statement:

The SEC filing which showed that Austin Private Wealth shorted a large number of shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (DJT) was incorrect and we immediately amended it as soon as we learned of the error.

No client of APW holds, or has ever held, a put on DJT in the quantity initially reported. The correct holding amount was 12 contracts, or 1,200 shares — not 12 million shares, as was filed in error. In submitting the required report for the second quarter of 2024, a multiplier was applied by a third-party vendor that increased the number of the shares by a multiple of 10,000 for all options contracts (not just DJT). We did not catch the error before approving the filing.

We filed the report on July 12 to reflect our positions on June 28. We amended it on July 16.

We deeply regret this error and the concern it has caused, especially at such a fraught moment for our nation. We are committed to full transparency and maintaining the trust of our clients. As such, we are reviewing our internal procedures and our processes with the third-party vendor that assists with SEC filings to better understand how this happened and avoid similar issues moving forward.

But that doesn’t explain this further finding by Behizy. APW shorted Rumble in the same filing, to the tune of 34 million shares.

Add this to it: the channel operator Peak Prosperity claims sound analysis shows that two shooters, not one, fired shots at Trump.

Grassy Knoll time again! CNAV thinks we need to hear from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Moving forward

We see two kinds of evolution in the last week. First, we see the humble Trump, paying tribute to one who fell in his place, and to the crowd. And also giving glory to God in a way he hasn’t done before.

Second, we see the change in the evaluation of an official narrative. This has gone from:

What kind of incompetent boobs were these, who presume to offer to protect a Presidential candidate?

To:

This incompetence is so bad, that we can’t blame those who think this was intentional, not just careless.

To:

They let it happen.

And now to:

They MADE it happen.

All this has come out on the eve of a hearing before the House Oversight Committee, next Monday. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle will sit at the witness table.

Donald Trump will need all the protection – private protection – he can get. Happily, after the speech he made last night, he should have no shortage of volunteers.