There are two kinds of Trump speeches. The first kind, of which “American Carnage” is the best known, is the Batman speech, in which Trump paints a picture of American dystopia, grits his teeth, and vows revenge against the forces of evil, which include everyone who disagrees with him. The second kind is a kind of unhinged used car salesman patois. Trump invents “facts” on the spot, identifies everything about him and his allies as the greatest ever, and assures us that we can trust him to solve all of our problems through his general awesomeness. Ideas and expertise are unnecessary in this universe; all that is required is strength and the will to use it.
With the exception of the long section on illegal immigration, which was to be expected, this was a car salesman speech. Trump specifically disclaimed any desire to be an authoritarian. He actually boasted about his lack of policy ideas at one point in the speech. The economic section focused on tax cuts, not tariffs. On foreign policy, he basically just told us that he would terrify the world into submission by projecting strength and making demands on friends and foes alike. That’s the plan, I guess.
Two observations are pertinent here. First, most of America finds even the car salesman to be unsettling, so running past the bedtime of most of the viewers might have been an unintentional stroke of genius. Second, just because he left Batman at home for the night doesn’t mean he is gone for good. He’s just around the corner. Believe me. Believe me.