If you hoped you’d put crowds demanding political prisoners and turning America into a super-sized East Berlin behind you … sorry. Chants of “lock her up” and “build that wall” racketed around Cincinnati on Thursday night as Trump traveling back to the scene of his nomination on a victory tour that foreshadows the rolling white nationalist tent revival Trump has already promised will mark his time as President of some of the people.
Trump said that it was important for a "divided" country to unify, and that he was the leader to do it. "I know you find that hard to believe," he joked.
Yes. Especially since Trump immediately launched back into attacks on immigrants and political opponents, and he once again made clear his intent to invent the punishment of exile for those who are insufficiently patriotic.
But he also belabored ... his recent proposal to make flag-burning a crime punishable by loss of citizenship.
For the press that had all those nice meetings in Trump Tower, and which spent the last few days painting Trump and Pence giving into Carrier’s demands as a “win,” a very special message: nothing has changed.
"The people back there, the extremely dishonest press, very dishonest people,” Trump said.
It was just like old times. Except that now the threats against immigrants, against the press, and against political opponents, against anyone who fails to toe the Trump line are coming from someone who will very soon have the power to carry through on those threats.
Trump spent a good portion of the rally giving a recap of election night and mocking those who said he couldn’t win.
"We won in a landslide. That was a landslide.”
So long as a landslide is defined as losing by more than two and a half million votes, and an electoral victory that was decidedly mediocre even among recent, closely divided elections. Landslide.
Trump continues to give no press conferences, and his outspoken hatred for the press doesn’t indicate that any are coming soon. However, he has announced that he intends to keep his rallies going, so that he can reach out directly to his supporters.
It was a strongly nationalistic message, and Trump repeated his pledge to put “America first.”
“There is no global anthem, no global currency,” Trump said. “We pledge allegiance to one flag, and that flag is the American flag.”
Trump also used the evening rally to introduce retired Marine General James “Mad Dog” Mattis as his new Defense Secretary, an announcement that Trump followed by describing his new line up as …
“The greatest killers you've ever seen -- it's time."
Which will surely be a line that other nations love to hear.
Trump’s appeal to the rally audience was that they stay involved, and it’s clear that Trump’s intent to continue the rallies throughout his term is meant to keep the energy and support of his voters channeled toward his goals. It worked for Trump before the election, and he has no intention of stopping.
In fact, the only thing different from a pre-election rally was that when Trump was announced by Pence as "the next President of the United States" -- it did not represent a seemingly distant hope -- it was a statement of fact.