Dan Mitchinson: US correspondent on Donald Trump's lengthy speech at the Republican National Convention

Donald Trump has spoken at the Republican National Convention after accepting the party’s nomination for November’s Presidential election. 

The former President spoke for 90 minutes, covering a range of topics including his assassination attempt and jibes at his Democratic opponents, including former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and incumbent President Joe Biden. 

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson has described the day as a three-ring circus, which also saw Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan and Dana White speaking prior to Trump. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business and UIs correspondent Dan Mitchenson is
with us this Ofteno and Hi Dan toalk us through
Donald Trump's speke at the Republican National Convention.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
You know, Jack, I think it felt more like a
three ring circus than it did a convention between as
you mentioned Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan ripping off his shirt
just like he used to do for the WWE. You know,
Trump saying he was going to bring the nation together,
but then he started ripping Nancy Pelosi and as you

(00:37):
heard their former recurrent president Biden right now, he claimed that,
you know, North Korean leader Kim Jong un might miss
some Democrats cheated the election. And it just kind of
went on and on and on. In fact, it was
the longest speech ever given. It ran ninety minutes.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Huh yeah, that's something I mean from my bespect I
was watching it down. Some of it was really him
talking about surviving that assassination attempt was amazing. They just
he just really steadily talked through his experience and it
was something to behold. There were some other like classic trumpisms.
There was one at one point where he went off

(01:15):
script quite clearly. He was talking about illegal immigration, and
he asked the audience if they've seen the Silence of
the Lambs, and then he said, well, you know the
late great Hannibal Lector, you know, that's who they're ending.
Was like, oh, okay, that's that's pretty out there. So
how do you think his speech is going to be received?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
I you know, his his handlers if you can see
that anybody handles. Donald Trump had said he wasn't going
to go off script, but as you mentioned, he did
a number of times. There were moments there. I mean there,
you know, we had the fire jacket and the helmet
of the man that was killed during the assassination attempt
on stage when he walked out, you know, to accept

(01:54):
the nomination, and you know, he kissed the helmet there
and then he announced it more than six million dollars
they had been read for the victims of the of
of that, which was nice. His wife, Milania Trump, who
has only been seen or made I think two public
appearances on his behalf, made a little bit of a
dramatic entrance before she spoke. The rest of the family
came in, and then there was this well, is she

(02:15):
going to be there or is she not going to
be there? Will she won't she? And she did show up,
and you know, you're right. I think I think a
lot of people are going to remember it. But then
he said this was going to be the only time
that he he talks about this attempt at assassination because
he said it's too painful. But at the same time,
while he was doing that, you see all these pictures
behind him, and I don't know, it was just an

(02:38):
oxymoron at times. You know, it just was very confusing.
But he's a showman, and that's what it was. It
was a big show.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. And Trump is the
ultimate oxymoron at times. Right in to the other side
of the house, Nancy Pelosi is going around telling people
she thinks Joe Biden can be persuaded and fairly soon
to step aside as Democrats nominee.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I if I was a betting man, and I would
not have said this maybe a week ago, but I
think this weekend we may end up hearing something. You're right,
Nancy Pelosi is doing this. Multiple sources have said that
that Barack Obama has been bombarded by some of the
top Democrats right now and is trying to find a
way to call on Biden to drop out the campaign.

(03:25):
Aids are just doing what they're doing right now. But
I think a lot of people in Washington, d C.
And a lot of Democrats right now publicly are just
seeing the walls closing in and it's time for him
to call it a day. And the polls show that
he's not going to beat Trump. The attack on you know,
former President Trump that we had last weekend has only
rallied his base. And then Biden gets COVID right now.

(03:47):
I mean, this is just it doesn't seem like anything
Biden does is going to advance him down the road.
So that leaves you with, Okay, who's next, Kamala Harris,
I guess is going to step up?

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, well, I guess we'll see. I don't know. I'm
with you. I reckon this is the weekend. I reckon
by Tuesday, New Zealand time. I have nothing to base
that except that he's having a bit of time to reflect,
which might be a good thing in Joe Biden's case.
And finally, Dan bud Light was once America's favorite beer,
but it is now firmly falling out of favor.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
It is Modello out of Mexico is at the top.
And just you know, a year ago, a little more
than a year ago, I mean, Bud had ten percent
maybe a little bit more of beer sales here in
the US, I mean, it was huge. And then the
one of the marketing department decided to hire this transgender
social media influencer who has you know, a gazillion followers

(04:39):
across TikTok and Instagram as part of a brand for
March Madness. Well, that didn't go over with the conservatives
in this country, and they launched a nationwide boycott of
the brand, and that resulted in sales of Bud light
tanking and people thought, well, okay, everybody's got a short
memory span. This brand's been around for generations. Right now

(04:59):
it's going to come back. It has not, So it
slipped to number two, and then in the last three
months it's now slipped down to number three right now,
and this is costing them tens, if not hundreds of
millions of dollars just because somebody came up with this
idea of let's go with somebody that's on TikTok that
has nothing to do with our brand or the people
that consume our brand.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah yeah, yeah, it's a healthy and warning game. Thank
you so much. Dan appreciate it as EVA. That is
US correspondent Dan Mitchison. Thank you for your feedback. For
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