Donald Trump Jr. sells his father as a president who will do the impossible for America


Donald Trump Jr. delivered a real stem-winder at Tuesday night's Republican National Convention, but he introduced himself as "the father of five young children... and the son of a great man." Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has a "track record of accomplishing the impossible," Don Jr. said. "For my father, impossible is just the starting point," and that's important because "we've actually started to believe that solving our own problems is impossible." America is no longer great, but if his father is elected, Trump said, "we're gonna get it all back. We'll get it all back better than before."
Don Jr. spoke about his father's business acumen, saying the same things that have made him a successful businessman would make him a good president, starting with his "unrelenting determination" and ability to see and promote "potential that other people don't even see in themselves." Trump said that his father made all his children work in low positions at their father's business, and so "we didn't learn from MBAs, we learned from people who had doctorates in common sense."
Trump ended his speech with a tough indictment of Democrats generally and President Obama and Hillary Clinton specifically. He called Democrats "the party of risk," mentioning Benghazi, gun control, "the worst immigration system in the world.... that favors illegals," a dangerous "PC culture," energy regulations, and the Dodd-Frank banking reform law, calling it "consumer protection for billionaires." He also attacked teacher unions, asking: "You want to know why other countries perform better in K-12? It's because they allow parents to choose where they send their children to school." Donald Trump, on the other hand, would stand up for all Americans, "not a class of crony elites at the top of the heap," Don Jr. said, and unlike Clinton, he "doesn't have to use a focus group or data analytics to form a simple opinion." Trump ended with his father's motto: "When we elect him, we will have done all that. We will have made America great, greater than ever before."
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.
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.
-
‘A legacy news brand brings a visibility of its own’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
8 of the best ‘cozy crime’ series of all time
The Week Recommends Murder mysteries don’t necessarily have to make us miserable, and these shows have perfected a feel-good crime formula
-
Youth revolts rattle Morocco as calls against corruption grow louder
THE EXPLAINER Snowballing controversy over World Cup construction and civic services has become a serious threat to Morocco’s political stability
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US