Donald Trump’s Speech Was Insane – No, Not His Nomination Speech, the One He Just Gave This Morning

Trump Proves There Will Be No ‘General Election Pivot’

Donald Trump’s speech accepting the Republican nomination for president was not only the longest in history, but the most insane. It was dark, hate-filled, and terrifying. On-air, MSNBC’s Joy Reid called it a mix between “Penny Dreadful” and “The Purge,” and posted this tweet:

Friday morning, appearing with his vice presidential nominee on stage and for about an hour Trump delivered a speech that was supposed to be a short “thank you” to campaign staff and volunteers. But it, too, was insane.

Just 12 hours prior his daughter, Ivanka, told America on stage how her father is such a great boss, how he knows everyone’s name and is such a great boss. But Trump thanked at least one billionaire funder by name but not the people who did all the work. (And since he’s bragged there are so few on staff, it would not have been difficult.)

Stunningly, Trump did not talk much about the general election, or Hillary Clinton, or how he plans to “fix” America; he talked about Ted Cruz.

Cruz is clearly no threat to Trump now that he’s no longer a candidate and promised to not work against Trump, but the Republican nominee for president spent a good portion of his speech attacking his former rival.

Trump even trotted out the National Enquirer story that showed a photo of an unnamed man passing out leaflets with JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, whom the tabloid insisted was Ted Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz. Trump went so far as to wonder why the Enquirer, a supermarket tabloid that on rare occasions breaks news that’s actually true, has never received a Pulitzer prize for journalism:

As CBS News reporter Sopan Deb, who follows the Trump campaign notes, Trump announced Cruz’s refusal to endorse him might very well be the end of the Texas Tea Party Senator’s career:

And he brought up the time he retweeteed a very unflattering photo of Cruz’s wife, and threatened to spill the beans” on her:

While saying he “never started anything with the wife,” meaning Heidi Cruz:

Trump also said he doesn’t even want Cruz’s endorsement, and will refuse it – not that he’s likely to ever get it:

And even “joked” he might create a super PAC to defeat Cruz’s future political campaigns:

This man could become the leader of the free world. That very thought should be terrifying to every American.