Tuesday's Republican convention was supposed to be about jobs. Guess what was barely mentioned?
The theme of Tuesday night's Republican National Convention was "Make America Work Again," but it might have more accurately been dubbed "Work to Make America Hate Hillary Clinton." According to a tally from FiveThirtyEight, speakers on Tuesday said "Hillary" 87 times, "Clinton" 70 times, and "jobs" just 24 times. "Donald" was said 59 times, as was "Trump" — and two of Trump's children were among the featured speakers. "Work" fared better than jobs, with 37 mentions, and "business" tied with "government" at 25 nods.
Donald Trump's son Don Jr. and daughter Tiffany probably account for the bulk of the business talk. Most of the night felt like a criminal trial for Clinton — in fact, Chris Christie literally laid out his case to the Republican delegate jury. Ben Carson went Biblical on Clinton, and House Speaker Paul Ryan dedicated much more of his speech to attacking Clinton that he did supporting Trump. Now, Trump leads a divided party, so it makes sense that the Republicans would unite around a common foe if they can't all rally around their nominee. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats handle Trump next week.
But it is also true that in a night billed as focused on the "need to get America's economy up and running ... and get Americans working again," Republicans had basically four policy prescriptions to make that happen: Repeal ObamaCare, dig more coal, rip up government regulations, and elect Donald Trump. Or, as Hillary Clinton put it:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
For what it's worth, Wednesday's theme is scheduled to be "Make America First Again."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
5 editorial cartoons about ICE killing Renee Nicole GoodCartoons Artists take on ICE training, the Good, bad, ugly, and more
-
Political cartoons for January 10Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a warning shot, a shakedown, and more
-
Courgette and leek ijeh (Arabic frittata) recipeThe Week Recommends Soft leeks, tender courgette, and fragrant spices make a crisp frittata
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
