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Home , Al Franken

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: THE DEMS CONVENE AND TRUMP IMPLODES

The Republican convention was judged a “big hot mess” by many critics,88 and Trump’s speech was seen as overly pessimistic, uninspiring, and poorly delivered, playing on the rage and fear that motivated many who came to Trump’s rallies, but not to mainstream Republicans. The Democrats convention, by contrast, was appraised a success. After a rocky start, in which Bernie Sanders’ followers booed and even Bernie himself when he endorsed Clinton and told his followers in “the real world,” she is the alternative to . Sanders also insisted that his forces had pushed the Democrats to approve the most progressive platform in party history. The first night of the Democratic National Convention was “progressive night” with a dramatic speech by , followed by a passionate presentation by liberal icon Elizabeth Warren, and a fiery talk by Sanders who again endorsed Clinton and made the case why she was far superior to Trump. The Dems’ slogan was “Stronger Together,” and in the following days the party appeared unified and enthusiastic to hear their Party Stars like , , and make the case for Hillary Clinton and bash Trump. While Trump had promised to get top celebrities and entertainers to make the Republican convention spectacular entertainment, he failed miserably in getting any celebrities, settling for a C-list ex-sit com bit player and soap opera actor, while the Democrats got Meryl Streep, and Al Franken who did an effective comedy routine, and a series of popular singers and musicians. The Dems also mobilized ex-generals, diplomats, and military families to endorse Clinton and indicate the dangers of a Trump presidency for national security. One memorable appearance involved the Khans, a Muslim “Gold Star” family who had lost their son in Afghanistan, who sacrificed his life to save his comrades. When the father excoriated Trump, saying he did not know the meaning of “sacrifice” and that his anti-Muslim ban would not have permitted

59 The Dog Days of Summer: The Dems Convene and Trump Implodes the family to enter the country, Trump fired back with a series of tweets attacking the Khans and appeared on TV the next day insisting that he had performed many sacrifices in building up his real estate empire. More astonishing, in a much-discussed aftermath of the Democratic National convention, Trump continued to attack the Khan family, that had lost its son in military service and testified to their loss and disgust at Trump’s attacks on Muslims at a much-discussed moment in the Democratic National Convention. Trump tweeted a nasty attack on the grieving mother who had stood as a silent witness beside her husband, and whose silence he attacked as evidence that Muslims didn’t let women speak in public. Trump’s attacks on the Khan family continued for days after the convention and major Republicans distanced themselves from Trump’s rancorous and vile comments. Continuing to shock the Republican establishment, Trump proclaimed on August 2 that he was not endorsing Republican House Leader Paul Ryan, former Presidential candidate John McCain, and others who had criticized him, thus threatening to blow apart the Republican Party – driving Party leaders to declare that they were staging an “intervention” with Trump over the weekend to try to persuade their candidate to act more “presidential” and to stop attacking Republican leaders – a gesture his base seems to love.89 Demonstrating Trump’s deeply rooted and uncontrollable malignant aggression, Trump had what observers saw as the worst week of his campaign in early August as he continued to malign the Khan family, praised Vladimir Putin and called on the Russian strongman to hack Hillary Clinton’s email, refused until the last moment to endorse fellow Republicans Ryan and McCain, threw a crying baby and its mother out of one of his rallies, and continued to make crazy off-the- cuff remarks. Topping off his going over the top, on August 9, 2016 in a rally at Wilmington, North Carolina, Trump appeared to suggest that gun rights supporters might take matters into their own hands if Hillary Clinton is elected President and appoints Judges who favor stricter gun control measures. Repeating the lie that Clinton wanted to abolish the right to bear arms, Trump warned that: “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said, as the crowd

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