MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president last night in a 90-minute speech that began somberly, with a recounting of the moment he was shot at last week.
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DONALD TRUMP: There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way, I felt very safe because I had God on my side. I felt that.
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MARTIN: Trump went on to express a desire for national unity.
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TRUMP: We rise together, or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America...
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TRUMP: ...Because there is no victory in winning for half of America.
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MARTIN: But Trump's speech, which set a new record as the longest in convention history, then went on to familiar themes - complaining about Biden's record and his opponents, the court cases against him and illegal immigration.
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TRUMP: Tonight, America, this is my vow - I will not let these killers and criminals into our country.
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MARTIN: We called the veteran Republican communications specialist Ron Bonjean to get his take on all this. Good morning.
RON BONJEAN: Hi. Good morning.
MARTIN: So let me just start by saying that you are not advising any candidates at present, correct?
BONJEAN: No, not at all.
MARTIN: OK, but we called you because you've worked at so many levels of government - I mean, advising the House, the Senate, heads of Cabinet agencies - so, you know, you've done all the things. So let me get your take on this speech. And so in politics speak, I'm wondering, what did he need to do, and did he do it?
BONJEAN: Yeah, I thought this was a highly well-produced convention throughout, all meant to try to humanize and personalize Donald Trump to some voters that maybe don't know him - the few voters that are left - and to recast him, especially after the assassination attempt. I thought - because it was such a long speech, I thought the first 28 minutes of it were really focused on the assassination attempt and his - you know, and working to try to unify America, and with that, I think everyone was riveted and watching just to see who - especially those who watched him so closely, who the - you know, what type of thematic they were going for.
The rest of it was familiar rally - you know, rally speeches, and frankly, I was wondering why this speech was happening so late, and now I'm sure many of his allies and supporters are glad it was. The first 30 minutes I thought were effective. It talked about unifying the country, bringing people together. It was a new Donald Trump. But then we had the old Donald Trump for the rest of the time, which I think, you know, can be very divisive and can really play to his base at the same time. He was firing up his base. He didn't need to do that. All he needed was those 30 minutes, that 30-minute speech, and that would have been it.
MARTIN: Interesting. So you - but you feel, in a way, the fact that it went so long may have gone to his favor, because by the time people - maybe people didn't stick it out for the point at which it became kind of a turnoff. You know, to that point, our politics team has been reporting on so-called double haters, people who are dissatisfied with both major-party candidates. Did the former president do anything to appeal to people who are skeptical of him? I mean, I cannot forget that tens of thousands of people voted for Nikki Haley after she dropped out of the race, so did he do anything to appeal to people who may not be sold on his candidacy yet?
BONJEAN: Yes, I think he did. I think the convention as a whole appealed to it. I thought it was a much different convention than I've ever seen in the past, a lot of different characters that were brought in and more stories, more emotional stories that were being told. You know, instead of the standard Republican speeches that involve economic numbers and facts, we heard a lot more from people out there and from - you know, from people that are well-known like - you know, like Hulk Hogan.
But we also heard from those who - from the Gold Star families. We heard from all kinds of people, and I thought it was a very good, well-programmed convention, as I mentioned, and I thought the first 30 minutes of the speech was great. And I do think that many Haley supporters are looking at who the alternatives are to vote for, and right now, I don't see - I don't think they can see anybody on the Democratic side, because they're in such disarray. Obviously, they're going to come to a consensus at some point. Donald Trump did give them an opening for an alternative, but also reminded them that the old Donald Trump is still there.
MARTIN: And what is the vision he communicated in this speech because if - you know, you referenced the chaos among the Democrats, and, you know, we can talk about that in a minute, but one of the concerns that the Democrats have is, OK, it's one thing if the president can win this election, but then what is he capable of carrying forward for another four years? So did Donald Trump express a vision for the country for the next four years and not just kind of reciting that litany of grievances from the last four?
BONJEAN: Yeah, no, he did lay out an agenda. It was just over a course (laughter) of a long period of time. So he talked about how, you know, the first actions he would take would be focused on increasing America's energy independence, would focus on stemming the immigration problem, would work on inflation, would deal with foreign policy. I mean, he did do all that, but it was woven in with, you know, some of his usual, you know, lines that he uses in his rallies about being pursued by the Justice Department or, you know, his relationships with foreign leaders.
MARTIN: So even given the chaos among the Democrats right now, is there something that Trump and the Trump campaign need to keep in mind, if they want to hold on to what seems to be the momentum that he's developed?
BONJEAN: Right, yeah, I know. I was - I think that they still have a moment, for Americans that are still watching, to capture their vote. They need to focus on Trump the unifier. They need to talk about how he's going to be a president for all Americans, not just half of America. I think that was a line that - when I heard the first, you know, 30 minutes of that - 28 minutes of that speech, I thought, wow, if he can stick with (laughter) this type of a thematic, he's going to...
MARTIN: Can he?
BONJEAN: ...Bring in a whole lot more people.
MARTIN: Can he?
BONJEAN: You know, it's hard to say. Donald Trump is historically noted to not, you know, stay on message, but if he's incorporating this into his - into the rallies that he goes out - that he will do between now and the election, it's possible. What he doesn't want to do is have those gotcha moments where he says something so outlandish or so offensive that it could turn off voters that would come to his side.
MARTIN: That is Republican strategist and communications specialist Ron Bonjean. Ron, thank you so much for joining us.
BONJEAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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