Trump to the Marginalized: ‘I Am Your Voice’

CLEVELAND — Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday, depicting himself as a strong leader who can protect Americans from a hostile world, dangers at home, and leaders ranging from indifferent to corrupt operating in a rigged political system.

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He struck themes that have animated his campaign — addressing his plans on the key issues of immigration, terrorism, and economic uncertainty. He wove them all into a law-and-order narrative and set himself up as protector-in-chief. He promised to use his wealth and experience to stand up for marginalized and maligned citizens who feel the country is spinning out of control and that they are powerless to stop it.

“These are the forgotten men and women of our country. And they are forgotten. But they are not going to be forgotten long. These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice. I am your voice.”

“These are the forgotten men and women of our country. And they are forgotten,” he said. “But they are not going to be forgotten long. These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice. I am your voice.”

Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort praised Trump’s performance but declined to predict what kind of a polling bounce he expected from the convention.

“The goal was to get the vision out,” he told LifeZette. “It’s way early to be worrying about that.”

The candidate who famously derided one of his primary rivals as “low energy” presided over a convention that at times had trouble generating enthusiasm. The New York Times snickered earlier this week about empty seats at the Quicken Loans Arena. That was not a problem Thursday: The convention floor was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder, and the basketball stadium’s seats were filled as well.

Trump threw down the gauntlet against Democrat Hillary Clinton, drawing lusty applause each time he swatted at her, foreshadowing what promises to be a brutal 15-week slog to Election Day. He spoke movingly about meeting the family of a 21-year-old Nebraska woman who died at the hands of an illegal immigrant.

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“But to this administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting,” he said. “One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders.”

Trump largely stuck to the written text, but did ad lib a line after the audience cheered a prepared remark about doing everything he could to protect gays, lesbians, and transgender Americans.

“And as a Republican, I have to say, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said,” he said.

Trump said the American people have been failed by their government for too long.

“America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics,” he said.

Trump stayed true to the policy outlines he has developed in a series of speeches over the past several weeks. He promised to create millions of jobs, jump-start a sputtering economy, add trillions of dollars of wealth to America, and defeat terrorists. The promises are vast and ambitious — and will be hard to keep, as much depends on cooperation from Congress and worldwide events that are hard to control. But Trump has never been shy about thinking big.

But the details of converting rhetoric into reality are for another day. On this evening, it was about unifying a new, reoriented Republican Party. Trump predicted that millions of Democrats will join his cause, making explicit appeals to the supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s defeated primary rival.

“I have seen first hand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders — he never had a chance. Never had a chance.”

“I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders — he never had a chance. Never had a chance,” he said. “But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue — trade deals that strip out country of our jobs and strip it of our wealth as a country.”

Trump offered little in the way of new specifics, but instead focused on sketching a philosophy he laid out in a speech at an aluminum factory in western Pennsylvania last month. He said he would never sign trade deals that hurt American workers or diminish U.S. sovereignty. He said he would aggressively enforce trade rules and would be willing to walk way from deals that do not work.

When America does enter trade deals, Trump said, it should be on a nation-to-nation basis — not monstrous, complex, multinational compacts like the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Trump said he would marry America-first trade policies with a simplified tax system that takes less money, reduced regulations, and policies designed to encourage domestic energy production. He said he also would turn the government’s might toward building roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and railways — policies that he said would fix the country’s crumbling infrastructure while creating millions of jobs.

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“With these new economic policies, trillions and trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country,” he said. “This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans.”

Much of that agenda is in direct opposition to what has been Republican dogma for a generation. But Trump included plenty of traditional Republican themes in his speech. He promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, safeguard the Second Amendment, rebuild the military, and take care of veterans.

He also vowed to repeal a 1960s law that prohibits tax-exempt religious organizations from engaging in political speech and advocacy. It has been a priority of evangelical Christians, who see the law as an infringement on their First Amendment rights.

And, Trump repeated his vow to appoint constitutionalists to the Supreme Court, explicitly saying the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement would be someone of similar views and principles.

Trump reeled off statistics showing that homicides are up in many major cities and that many illegal immigrants with criminal records have been released. He painted a picture of a Middle East in chaos, and tied it to Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.

“This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, and terrorism and weakness,” he said. “But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy.”