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      Biden and Trump Have Succeeded in Breaking Reality

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      Four years ago the Republican convention was a bizarre spectacle, a cross between a Napoleonic fantasy and a Leni Riefenstahl movie. The dominant image was of an imperial dynasty laying claim to forever rule. I expected more of the same when I tuned in on Monday night to watch this year’s convention, but amped up even further by the weekend’s terrifying near-miss assassination attempt.What I saw instead was an even-toned, inclusive performance that seemed designed to resemble conventions of a more, well, conventional era, or perhaps just entertainment-world award shows. The lineup of speakers offered racial, gender and even ideological diversity — including the Teamsters’ president, Sean O’Brien, who announced from the main stage that his organization was “not beholden to anyone or any party.”You don’t have to agree with Donald Trump on everything was a consistent talking point. As for the shooting, it had been instantly mythologized as a miracle of survival: Speaker after speaker, including Trump himself, credited the Almighty with saving the former president so he could save America. There was no reference to the speculation, multiplying across the internet, that the deep state was behind the assassination attempt. Even Donald Trump was, by his standards, cogent and calm.While one half of the electorate was being served this bland spectacle, the other half struggled to follow a dispiriting and confusing story in which the stakes in the presidential election are existential — and the only man who can save American democracy is President Biden. Even as more and more funders, political operatives and ordinary Democratic voters said that he should withdraw his candidacy, the campaign told them to put their faith in a frail, diminished man — worse than that, it insisted that he was neither frail nor diminished.In the interview with Lester Holt that was broadcast on the first night of the Republican convention, Biden’s most energetic moment came when he lashed out at the press for criticizing him rather than his opponent — a favorite tactic of demagogues everywhere. If the media criticize him, then the media are bad. If the polls show a lack of support for his candidacy, then the polls are wrong. If his allies are trying to save him from himself, then they are no longer his allies. The president and his campaign have adopted the habits of the monster they promise to save us from.The week felt like an emotional reprise of the early months (or was it years?) of the Trump presidency. Every day, it seemed, brought news that felt like it would change history. We assimilated it and moved on, getting up in the morning, going about our business, pausing to express shock at another piece of news, and starting the cycle over again. We developed the ability to feel simultaneously shaken and bored, dismayed and indifferent. As media outlets engaged with Trump’s lies — some enthusiastically and others because it could not be avoided — we grew accustomed to an ever growing gap between reality as we experienced it and the ways in which it was reflected back to us by politicians and journalists.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Donald Trump Promised a Softer Image. He Delivered Hulkamania.

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      The last night of the Republican National Convention featured glimpses of a more sober tone — and a whole lot of testosterone.Who is Donald J. Trump?After over four decades of tabloid celebrity, reality-TV stardom and presidential politics, you would think this would be a settled question. But after his near assassination in Pennsylvania, the Republican National Convention teased that the former president was going to unveil a softer, changed version of himself. He would recast his acceptance speech to emphasize “unity,” a word that, in four days of TV coverage, was endlessly parroted and rarely defined.Mr. Trump turned himself into his own surprise guest. Would the final night of the convention portray him as a bellicose, combative alpha male, or as a sensitive late convert to empathy and self-reflection?The answer was: Yes, and yes. The night began with a pageant of hypermasculinity, with musclemen and ripped garments. It led to Mr. Trump’s taking the stage with a new, somber voice as he recounted his brush with death. Then, over the course of a digressive hour-and-a-half speech, he somehow changed back before our eyes.First came The Man Show. The introductory hours of the night featured a rotation of admirers, heavily male, who cited Mr. Trump’s close call and defiant survival as testimony to his macho fighting spirit.This is what male identity politics looks like. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality — who has embraced the alt-right angst over testosterone levels — spoke off the cuff, suggesting that the shooting established Mr. Trump as a leader on a biological level. “A leader is the bravest man,” Mr. Carlson said. “This is a law of nature.”Kid Rock retooled his rap-metal anthem “American Bad Ass,” exhorting the delegates to throw up their fists and “Say fight! Fight! Say Trump! Trump!” Dana White, the beefy chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, introduced Mr. Trump.But the splashiest spectacle brought Hulkamania to Milwaukee. Terry G. Bollea, the handlebar-mustached wrestler who performs as Hulk Hogan, took the stage in character to praise “my hero, that gladiator,” working himself into a rage over the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life and ripping open his shirt to expose a “TRUMP-VANCE” tank top.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Here Are the Speakers at Tonight’s 2024 Republican Convention

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      The Republican National Convention will end Thursday night with Donald J. Trump formally accepting the party’s presidential nomination.Before that, the night will include leaders of the Republican Party’s efforts to retain its House majority and retake the Senate, as well as former Trump administration officials and celebrities — among them the wrestler Hulk Hogan.The programming will begin around 5:30 p.m. Central time. Here are the major speakers on the agenda, in the order they are scheduled to speak, according to a person briefed on the planning.5 o’clock hourSenator Steve Daines of Montana, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial CommitteeRepresentative Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee6 o’clock hourDiane Hendricks, billionaire businesswoman from WisconsinDiane Evans, member of the “Trumpettes” group of female Trump supportersLinda McMahon, former head of the Small Business AdministrationMike Pompeo, former secretary of stateLorenzo Sewell, “everyday American” and pastorJohn Nieporte, top golf professional at one of Mr. Trump’s clubsSteve Witkoff, real estate investor7 o’clock hourAlina Habba, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyersTucker Carlson, former Fox News hostCarrie Ruiz, golf general manager at one of Mr. Trump’s clubsHulk Hogan, retired wrestlerAnnette Albright, former school board candidate in Charlotte, N.C.8 o’clock hourFranklin Graham, evangelical leaderEric Trump, Mr. Trump’s sonDana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship9 o’clock hourFormer President Donald J. TrumpMaggie Haberman More

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      A Party Now Molded in Trump’s Image Prepares for a Coronation

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      Thursday night, when Donald J. Trump accepts the Republican presidential nomination for the third time, will be the culmination of an extraordinary run of good fortune.Exactly seven weeks ago, Donald J. Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in Manhattan, an unprecedented conviction of a former president that looked like a political rock bottom.Since then, the Supreme Court handed him a critical legal victory that threw those felony convictions and more cases into limbo. President Biden’s disastrous debate plunged the Democratic Party into a rolling crisis. Two days before the opening of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, he narrowly survived an assassination attempt that shocked the nation and quieted Democrats’ criticism and any remaining Republican grumbling.And hours before Mr. Trump formally received his party’s nomination on Monday, the judge overseeing another of the criminal cases against him — the one involving accusations that he had mishandled classified documents — threw out all of the charges.Thursday night, when Mr. Trump accepts the Republican presidential nomination for the third time, will be the culmination of an extraordinary run of good fortune and a testament to his political instincts. His address will also in many ways serve as the Republican Party’s coronation of a leader who went from rattling the conservative establishment to refashioning it entirely in his image.“Eight years ago, Donald Trump shocked the system and defied the doubters,” Kellyanne Conway, the adviser who brought his campaign to the finish line then, said on Wednesday night.This week, the doubters in his own party proved hard to find. Over the first three days, Republicans of all stripes — elected officials, regular Americans, his family — have taken turns seeking to reintroduce Donald Trump: not the chaotic president from news headlines, but a softer, kinder leader, yet unafraid to fight. With a bandage on his right ear, where the would-be assassin’s bullet went through, he has basked in a hero’s welcome every night.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the U.S.A.’ Has Become a Trump Rally Anthem

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      Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the U.S.A.” has been former President Donald J. Trump’s fanfare since he became the leader of the Republican Party, embracing its status as an anthem in Grand Old Party politics dating back 40 years.To Mr. Greenwood, a Grammy Award-winning country music star, it is a match made in heaven. He sold the rights to the song for $1 in 1984, thrilled that Sig Rogich, responsible for creating ads for former President Ronald Reagan, had said that the campaign wanted to use it. More recently, it has been played to commence scores of Mr. Trump’s rallies, often to cheers and singalongs from the thousands in attendance.But as Mr. Greenwood took the stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday night, minutes before Mr. Trump’s first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt, the singer-songwriter, like the millions of Americans glued to their TVs, had no idea what to expect.“All I could do was guess what his emotions could be, what his physical condition would be,” Mr. Greenwood said in an interview. “I was like everybody else in the arena looking at the jumbotron, showing him walking down the hallway.”Mr. Greenwood, a self-identified conservative, is both Mr. Trump’s personal friend and business partner. He spent time late Wednesday afternoon taking pictures with adoring fans and signing wide-eyed supporters’ “God Bless the USA Bibles,” Trump-promoted bundles that come with lyrics from Mr. Greenwood’s song and foundational American documents. Mr. Greenwood said that he was “naturally emotional” and shocked when he learned that the former president would not be delaying his arrival to the convention after a bullet pierced his upper right ear on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pa.That information came in a phone call the day after the shooting. Mr. Greenwood was told to make sure that he was in Milwaukee by Monday morning — enough time to prepare for the live performance accompanying Mr. Trump’s entrance into the convention venue, Fiserv Forum, that evening. When Mr. Greenwood started singing, his voice competing with the cheers of attendees elated to see the former president — his right ear wrapped in a white bandage as he walked to his V.I.P. box, pumping his fist and mouthing “thank you” to his supporters — the two friends made eye contact for just a brief moment.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why MAGA Nation Embraces Donald Trump

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      More from our inbox:Exit Menendez?Joe, Keep Your DignitySpirituality in America Scott McIntyre for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “The Deep Source of Trump’s Appeal,” by David Brooks (column, July 12):I’ve always believed that the mass of Donald Trump supporters were fundamentally just working-class Americans who, as the country’s wealth increasingly skewed to the 1 percent ever since President Ronald Reagan, found themselves running faster and faster to stay in the same place, and finally (and justifiably) started to fume about it.While Mr. Brooks doesn’t flat out say it, I take away from his article that, rather than viewing their plight as old-fashioned liberals used to — as plain and simple economic class exploitation — the white working class has been conned by demagogues like Mr. Trump into seeing it as existential, zero-sum identity politics.If Mr. Brooks’s suggestion is that religious leaders guide Americans back to some form of enlightened democratic civility, they’re going to have to drop a bit more wealth redistribution into their message to the congregation.Steven DoloffNew YorkTo the Editor:Having been dismissed as “deplorables,” sniffed at as people who “cling to guns or religion,” and generally considered less worthy, it was only a matter of time before the voters who have become MAGA nation would decide to stand up for themselves and say, We matter, too, and as much as you do.For all his many shortcomings, Donald Trump does have a keen eye for a marketing opportunity, and he was happy to swoop in and exploit the concerns of this group.Democrats may prefer to fault President Biden’s frailty, but they have no one but themselves to blame or the burgeoning strength of the adversary they face.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Brother of Rachel Morin, Mother Killed While Jogging, Speaks at R.N.C.

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      As Republicans focus on crime and immigration during the second night of their convention, Michael Morin, the brother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was killed while exercising on a scenic trail in Maryland last August, took the stage. The death of Ms. Morin, who the authorities said was raped, has become one in a series of deaths that Republicans have seized on in criticizing the Biden administration’s immigration policies. An unauthorized 23-year-old immigrant from El Salvador was arrested in the killing, according to the police. “Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous, but there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother,” Mr. Morin said to the crowd in Milwaukee.Erin Layman, Ms. Morin’s 49-year-old half sister, said Tuesday ahead of the convention appearance that the “Biden administration does not do anything to protect us Americans,” and that the federal government’s immigration policy is “not fair to immigrants who came to our country legally.” Ms. Layman, of Abingdon, Md., said the family was attending the convention “to show the American people that we do have a crisis.” Facing record levels of border crossings and under pressure from some in his own party on the matter, President Biden toughened America’s immigration policies in the last year. A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, Alex Floyd, argued in a statement that “Donald Trump represents nothing more than empty words and broken promises when it comes to creating safer communities and securing our border.’ More

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      Babydog, a Plump Bulldog Who Is Apparently a Republican, Charms the R.N.C.

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      The crowd gathered on the second night of the Republican National Convention was promised a 60-pound bulldog. And when Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia walked on to the stage without one on Tuesday night, they began shouting the dog’s name in annoyance.“Babydog!” They chanted en masse, with an energy generally reserved only for former President Donald J. Trump or his brand-new running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.They needn’t have worried. After a brief few sentences, Mr. Justice — who is running for Senate in his state — relented. “I know that a lot of you want to meet my little buddy,” he said.And on cue, out came Babydog, a plump bulldog, belly swaying as she trotted across the stage before being quickly plopped by a human helper into a cushy armchair.Though they may not admit it, the goal of politicians given a speaking slot at a nomination convention is usually to make their mark and have the breakthrough moment of the night. But Babydog set the bar higher and may have upstaged her owner.Mr. Justice in many ways exemplifies the goal Mr. Trump has set this election of winning over voters who once backed Democrats but are eager for a change. He was a registered Republican until he ran as a Democrat for governor in 2016, then swapped parties again less than a year into his term and embraced Mr. Trump and his movement.That message might have been lost given the crowd’s intent focus on Babydog, an English bulldog that Mr. Justice frequently refers to as a “60-pound brown watermelon.” While the governor spoke, CNN put up a graphic declaring that Babydog’s chief interests were her owner, chicken nuggets and napping. Other networks split their shots between Mr. Justice and the dog, whose tongue was wagging along as her owner spoke.Most of Mr. Justice’s speech was standard Republican fare. He praised Mr. Trump, citing his children as evidence of the former president’s moral character, and suggested that America would be “totally unhinged” if Mr. Biden won in November.Still, at the end of his speech, Mr. Justice gave the crowd what they wanted, and what only he was in a position to provide: dog content. “Babydog’s got a prediction for everybody here,” he said, as the bulldog looked on. The prediction was the same one made by most of the speakers in Milwaukee: that Republicans would win in November in a landslide. But Babydog, Mr. Justice said, was confident in this prediction. Why? “Because we’re worth it,” he said.It was a bold assertion from an animal with no mastery of the English language, but admittedly one that revved up the crowd.And it was a hard act to follow, as Representative Jim Banks of Indiana, who had the misfortune to step on the stage next, acknowledged.“I don’t know about you,” he said. “But thank god Babydog is a Republican.” More