Donald Trump’s much anticipated “pivot” seems to be far more about style than substance. In a speech held at a Trump hotel in Manhattan on Wednesday, the presumptive Republican nominee read his remarks deliberately off a teleprompter. There were few ad libs and Trump stayed relatively on-script.
However, the Republican nominee still alleged without evidence that the Chinese government had a “blackmail file” on Hillary Clinton, whom he blamed for the deaths of thousands of Americans; repeated debunked claims that he had opposed the Iraq war before it began; and used demagogic rhetoric about Syrian refugees. His message barely changed, it was just presented in a far more conventional way.
The main theme of Trump’s speech, originally scheduled for last week in New Hampshire but postponed due to the Orlando massacre, was that Clinton “is a world-class liar” and that the former secretary of state “lacks the temperament, the judgment and the competence to lead”. The presumptive Republican nominee regurgitated allegations from two books – the controversial Clinton Cash by journalist Peter Schweitzer, and Crisis in Character, a memoir by a former secret service agent that has been blasted as inaccurate by the nonpartisan association of retired secret service agents.
These books provided the basis for Trump’s claims that his Democratic rival “may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency”. In the course of his speech, Trump in essence alleged, without clear evidence, that Clinton had been bribed by foreign governments when serving as the United States’ top diplomat; the presumptive Republican nominee claimed his Democratic rival was “doing favors for oppressive regimes, and many others, in exchange for cash”. He also held Clinton responsible for the rise of Isis and claimed that the former secretary of state “spread death, destruction and terrorism everywhere she touched”.
It is not unusual for Republicans to criticize Clinton. But Trump did so in an over-the-top manner far beyond the normal bounds of American politics. Even though other Republican presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz would joke about Clinton going to prison in the course of the primary and vociferously criticized her handling of the 2012 terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, such personal attacks by one presidential candidate on another are almost unprecedented in American politics.
Trump, though, did sound more polished at times. He continued his attempts to appeal to LGBT voters, made an outright appeal to former supporters of Bernie Sanders, and even went out of his way to reference “peaceful Muslims across the world”.
He also made efforts to adjust controversial language he has used before. While he has often falsely claimed Clinton wants to “abolish the second amendment”, he added the caveat “virtually” on Wednesday, and he amended his repeated lie that he was against the Iraq war before it started, saying now: “I was among the earliest to criticize the rush to war.”
But the speech wasn’t a brand new Trump, somehow transformed by the departure of his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Instead, it was the same candidate who won the Republican primary demonstrating a touch more discipline than he had in the past. A candidate who shows a little more polish hasn’t pivoted. Instead, voters saw the same Trump – only one slightly better at reading off a teleprompter.
