Trump is mixing grievance politics with bread-and-butter GOP issues
Former President Donald J. Trump consistently made headlines during his campaign for his apocalyptic, often violent rhetoric and for extreme policy proposals that would reshape long-held norms of American government.
These include his vow to use the Justice Department to prosecute his enemies, his declaration that he would be a dictator, but only on the first day of his presidency, and his language consistent with authoritarian leaders.
But those comments are wrapped around more traditional political statements. A significant portion of Mr. Trump’s stump speech focuses on fundamental conservative issues that are the bread and butter of Republican politics.
Although they attract less media attention, his statements on these issues, which often push the edge of the truth, seem to resonate more with his audience. Here are some of Mr. Trump’s biggest applause lines from a speech in Reno, Nevada, on Sunday, many of which have been a regular part of his appeal to voters during his campaign.
Law and order
In his 2024 bid, Mr. Trump is building on two security-related messages from his previous campaigns, when he stoked fears of urban crime in Democratic-run cities and took a tough stance on immigration, in part by using immigrant rhetoric to target migrants to portray them as criminals.
“On my first day back in the White House, I will end every ‘open borders’ policy of the Biden administration.”
Since leaving the White House, Trump has continually attacked President Biden’s record on immigration, criticizing him for doing little to deter the record number of migrants crossing the border. The proposal is one of many in which Trump promises to restore and strengthen his previous immigration policies, which were extremely popular with his supporters. Mr. Biden recently indicated his willingness to implement new restrictions on migration.
“Once we win the election, the momentum of our great victory will immediately put an end to the hordes of illegal migrants rushing across our border in the hundreds of thousands.”
Underlying this line is Mr. Trump’s oft-repeated idea that Mr. Biden is a weak leader who has caused America’s adversaries to view the country as vulnerable. With statements like these, Mr. Trump suggests that he is projecting such a powerful image that his election alone — which he presents as an inevitability — will deter migrants from crossing the border illegally.
“Safety is being restored so that children can go outside with their parents – father and mother – and play in the park without being beaten up, molested or shot.”
Mr. Trump presents a dark, often dystopian vision of a crime-ridden America, building on his 2020 message that the nation’s cities were in decline. He is trying to recast himself as a law-and-order candidate, vaguely referencing crime in Democrat-run cities, for which he blames progressive politicians, activists and policies. (Mr. Trump sometimes exaggerates crime statistics to make his point.)
Energy and the economy
Pocketbook concerns are at the center of Trump’s campaign this year. He recently started using the slogan “Better Off with Trump,” telling voters that the economy was better when he was president.
“I will quickly put an end to corrupt Joe Biden’s inflation nightmare, end his war on American energy, and we will drill, baby, drill.”
“Drill, baby, drill,” a mantra during the 2008 presidential campaign, has become a rallying cry for Mr. Trump, who is pushing for America to rely less on oil and gas imports. He presents increased domestic production of fossil fuels as a solution to rising energy prices, which he mainly blames for inflation in the United States. And he is critical of environmental restrictions imposed by the Biden administration that limit oil and gas drilling.
“They are going to make all electric cars in our country, but not when I am there. I will put an end to that on day one.”
Trump draws loud approvals as he talks about rolling back the Biden administration’s efforts to encourage Americans to switch to electric vehicles. (The government has no federal mandate for electric vehicles, as Mr. Trump often claims.)
He often tailors his criticism to his audience. In Nevada, he suggested the move would hurt auto union workers, a criticism he has made in other speeches. But when in Iowa, Mr. Trump views electric vehicles as a threat to ethanol, a fuel made from corn and other crops that is a major factor in the state’s economy.
Cultural battles
Often toward the end of his speech, Trump focuses on a series of divisive social issues that have become rallying cries for the Republican Party.
“On Day 1, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding to any school that pushes critical race theory, transgender inanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”
These vows, which include a number of issues that have inflamed Trump’s conservative base, consistently provoke some of the loudest reactions at his events. His views largely mirror those of his 2024 rivals for the nomination. Republicans have hoped that such “parental rights” issues could help them win over suburban voters in particular.
“I will not give a dime to any school that has a vaccine mandate or mask mandate.”
Mr. Trump often downplayed the effectiveness of masks during the coronavirus pandemic. Even as his vaccine development program, Operation Warp Speed, spurred progress, the vaccines are deeply unpopular with his Republican base, and he has pushed back against calling them necessary as an affront to personal freedom.
“I will ban men from women’s sports.”
This line effectively reinforces the belief among many conservatives that gender is fixed at birth and based on biological sex. After saying it, Trump will often marvel that politicians even have to talk about it, a way for him to ridicule LGBT rights activists. The verdict has been criticized by LGBT rights activists as offensive for misgendering transgender female athletes.
Retaliation and the excesses of the left
Underlying Trump’s campaign speeches are two main grievances: his false claim that Democrats stole the 2020 election from him, and his position that the four charges against him are politically motivated. He uses both as he condemns his opponents and suggests that he would take revenge if elected.
“Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, Communists and Fascists denounce me, I consider it a great badge of honor. Because I’m being sued before you.
Mr. Trump faces a total of 91 felonies in four criminal cases. He spends a lot of time in his speech accusing Mr. Biden of masterminding all four. With this sentence, Trump positions himself as a kind of Christian political martyr: a victim of corrupt political enemies who take their blows to spare his conservative supporters.
“Our enemies want to take my freedom because I will never let them take your freedom.”
Mr. Trump consistently portrays himself as the last bulwark defending American democracy against an onslaught from forces, including the political left. With this punishment he turns his legal problems into a collective problem. He often adds, “At the end of the day, they’re not after me, they’re after you. I just happen to be in the way.”