by Emil Guillermo
The American political dictionary has a new entry for leadership and patriotism. It is Joe Biden. Recently, the president made the toughest decision of his political career for the nation’s good.
He passed the torch.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in an open letter to America.
“And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Writing from Delaware while recuperating from COVID-19, the President subsequently gave his full support to Vice President Harris.
And once again election 2024 took a surprising turn.
Reports say it was the polling data that showed Democrats failing to hold up against Trumpism that persuaded the president to change his mind.
The President said he had been thinking about his decision over the last 48 hours, approximately the end of the Republican National Convention.
He probably saw that alarming acceptance speech of Donald Trump.
That speech
A third of all Filipino Asian American voters said they would vote for Trump, according to a recent Asian American national survey.
I’m sure there have been at least some Filipino Catholics saying an extra rosary since that ominous weekend.
Well, now you can go back to praying for your Lolos, Lolas, and lottery numbers.
Just stop praying for Donald Trump.
After the assassination attempt, Trump’s back to normal. Turns out he’s not some born-again Messianic force. He’s the same old Don the Con.
On the last day of the Republican National Convention, the former president accepted the nomination of his party and then went on for over 90 minutes in the longest nomination acceptance speech in modern American history.
“It was both chaotic and troubling,” said Derek Turbin, Chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii in a statement after the speech. “Trump rambled without presenting a clear vision of our country’s future.”
The Trump vision was simply a brain dump of his “greatest hits” on the American people, including the repeating of the phrase “China Virus” a call back to Trump’s scapegoating words. They were words that brought on often violent transgressions against Filipinos and other Asians and inspired #StopAAPIHate.
Trump’s bumbling incoherence
The speech was laced with lies like many of his answers in the now infamous June 27 debate. Trump took swipes at Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi by name and fumbled words several times.
For example, Trump talked about building an Iron Dome like Israel’s over America. Was that to keep “illegal aliens” from airlifting to America?
“It’s like Reagan’s Starship, Spaceship,” Trump said, as he flubbed correctly identifying Reagan’s “Star Wars” idea.
But that’s the real Trump, much older and forgetful with a poor memory at age 78. People should subject Trump to the same detailed scrutiny being given to Biden.
Trump’s convention finale showed the public that the former president’s instability is the significant takeaway from the end of his “Post-Assassination World Sympathy Tour.”
What Hawaii Dems heard
Hawaii Democratic chair Derek Turbin was puzzled by Trump’s references to a fictional character like Hannibal Lecter, and Trump’s praise of Kim Jong-Un.
“These bizarre inclusions emphasized the unhinged nature of his remarks,” Turbin said. “We must reject the regressive policies and false narratives propagated by Trump and the Republican Party.”
And to think the speech was all set up as if on a tee for Trump to show people how he would end the divisive nature of American politics that led to acts of senseless violence.
Immediately after the assassination attempt, Trump had been one of those who called for American unity.
It made people think maybe a bullet convinced Trump of the error of his ways during his 2016-2020 administration which was marked by a coarse, vulgar, and racist undercurrent.
The assassination attempt had many of Trump’s liberal opponents praying for the man’s life.
For the first few minutes of his acceptance speech, Trump, speaking for the first time publicly about the shooting, had the political world in his hands.
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of the Almighty God,” Trump told the crowd.
“The crowd thought I was dead. And there was this great sorrow… There was blood pouring everywhere and yet in a certain way, I felt very safe because I had God on my side.”
A mention of God was like Trump’s deathbed conversion. It set a sober and quiet tone for about 10 to 15 minutes.
It then turned a bit when Trump honored the local Pennsylvania fire chief, Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed at the rally when he threw his body over his family to protect them.
Trump stood by a uniform of the firefighter and even kissed the helmet.
It felt staged, manipulative, and a little creepy.
Didn’t we just see a half hour ago how Trump imported into American politics the white rap of Kid Rock? Topped off with no less than wrestler Hulk Hogan?
Sure, the Dems have celebrities too like George Clooney, but is Trump having a wrestler on the final day of a serious political convention? That sounds more like a joke. Or a party. And maybe it would have been fine if it had stayed with that celebratory air.
But using the fire chief’s uniform as a prop changed the convention vibe from fun to funereal.
It was just Trump, of course, wanting all the emotion of assassination for himself, and it backfired.
Trump should have stuck to the pre-written soundbites that he read off the prompter.
Anticipating victory in November, Trump said, “Together we will launch a new era of safety, prosperity, and freedom for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed.”
At last, a hint of unity. But was it sincere?
“The discord and division in our society must be healed and must heal quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together, or we fall apart. We’re all Americans, not half of America because there is no victory in winning half of America,” said Trump, the unconvincing unifier.
Trump’s omissions
After all, he conveniently left off any mention of his divisive anti-woman, anti-abortion, anti-Roe v. Wade stance. For the balance of the 90-minute speech, it was the same old Trump rhetoric.
Illegal aliens are bad. Inflation is bad. Biden is bad and weak.
He even added high praise for Aileen Cannon, the federal district judge who threw out the documents-in-the-Mar-a-Lago-bathroom case, the one with AAPI Walt Nauta as co-defendant, and all the damning evidence.
Judge Cannon dismissed the case, ruling that the appointment of a special prosecutor was unconstitutional. What would you expect from a Trump appointee?
The most important lie? Probably that inflation is at record highs? Not anymore. It’s around 3% now. CNN pointed to more than 20 such lies and misstatements in the speech.
And while Trump spoke, the bullet’s impact was always present in that white bandage over his right ear, a constant reminder of danger averted. Now, it’s just used for effect and exploitation.
Trump continued his claim of the weaponization of government in the criminal cases against him, including his 34 felony convictions in New York. His bandage was like his white badge of victimhood.
But it was his undoing. The amazing string of luck in the last few weeks–from the debate to surviving the assassination attempt–ran out on day 4 of the RNC with that acceptance speech.
One bad speech? One bad night?
More than that, Trump’s acceptance put the assassination attempt into its proper context.
Think of all those images of Trump and the flag, being propped up, fist pumping after being shot at. It didn’t give us a changed man.
It’s the same old Trump, bloodied, bandaged, and vengeful—a stark reminder of his chaotic first administration, and the damage that a second one would do to America.
But the debate continues. Even with Biden stepping down, will there be obstacles to the Democrats coming together behind Harris?
What else would you expect from an election year described as existential for the state of our democracy.
There will be however no debate as to the legacy of Joe Biden. He stopped Trump and righted our fallen ship.
There is no debate there.
EMIL GUILLERMO is a journalist and commentator, who has covered race, media, and politics from Hawaii to Washington, DC. He was the first Filipino American to anchor a national news show when he hosted NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
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