SAUNDERS: Forget his brave response. This was Trump’s wasted moment

MILWAUKEE — Since a would-be assassin tried to kill former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally Saturday, his team has been telling the world that the brush with death — which left Trump wearing a white bandage on his ear — had changed him.

And I believed it, until Trump addressed the Republican National Convention on Thursday night as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination.

It’s not just that Trump sent mixed messages — one was “fight, fight,” the other was unity. It was that Trump had squandered an opportunity to show a more human side of himself.

Before the RNC speech, Fox News anchor Bret Baier reported that he had talked to Trump and learned that Trump would not utter the name of his rival, President Joe Biden, during his acceptance speech.

But then, before his talk was over, Trump did say “Biden.” He couldn’t help himself.

Trump told the crowd, peppered with supporters who sported white bandages as a show of solidarity, that he would describe what happened, but only once because it was too painful to recall. But then he changed the subject. It felt like a return to the meandering and unfocused speeches that America saw during Trump’s one term in office.

In the moment that was supposed to show that Trump had looked at eternity and become a better man, Trump instead paraded his list of petty grievances and his laundry list of conservative policies. (I write this as someone who agrees with his policies, but not the self-indulgence.)

You can like his “no tax on tips” plank and still wish to hear it on another day.

In an attempt at humor, Trump even told the crowd, “I’m trying to buy your vote.” Ugh.

It was a wasted moment. I had come to expect a transformed Trump who had decided to put cheap shots aside, at least for the night. Instead, I heard a rant with the usual sound bites, such as his slam at “Deface the Nation” and his references to “the China virus.”

“Has anyone seen ‘The Silence of the Lambs’?” Trump asked at one point. Then he joked that the character Hannibal Lecter, a cannibal, would love to have you for dinner.

If there is one individual who benefited from Trump’s self-centered and long-winded rant, it was Biden. Or Vice President Kamala Harris, who could head the Democratic ticket within the week, if news reports are to be believed.

Expect the Democratic National Committee to have a field day with Trump’s acceptance speech. In one address, Trump likely burned much of the good will that his bravery and defiance had won him.

Earlier in the week, I attended an event put on by Concerned Women for America. I asked the dual U.S.-Israeli families of hostages seized on Oct. 7 how they thought Trump would be different than Biden. Liz Naphtali, the great aunt of 4-year-old Abigail Edan, who was released earlier this year, responded, “the Abraham Accords.”

It was a good moment that reminded me of some of the great things that Trump had done.

All week here in Milwaukee, Republicans have gushed at Trump’s courage and ability to bounce back after his close call with a bullet. He is formidable.

And now it feels like a return to 2020. Trump had a chance to redeem himself, a chance to woo a slice of the electorate to give him another look, a chance to demonstrate the focus his team had promised. But his ego got in the way.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.