Trump Speech In Gettysburg Intended To Outline Agenda As President, Turns Into Attacks On Media And Sexual Assault Accusers

Trump Speech In Gettysburg Was Supposed To Lay Out First 100 Days In Office. The Republican presidential nominee gave an October 22 speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which aides claimed would “outline important issues he will address in the early days of his presidency should he be elected,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The campaign said Gettysburg, the home of President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, would be “a great location to remember military veterans.” From the October 21 article:

Donald Trump is headed to Gettysburg, Pa., on Saturday to deliver his closing argument to the American people.

Aides to the Republican presidential nominee told reporters late Friday that Trump will outline important issues he will address in the early days of his presidency should he be elected.

“Mr. Trump wants to lay out his solutions and his goals for the first 100 days,” Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, said. “Change needs to come rapidly. ... What he pledges tomorrow and what he talks about on the campaign trail will form the basis for his presidency.”

Aides did not release details of Trump's speech, and time for any sort of campaign reboot or turnaround seems to be dwindling. In several battleground states early voting is underway and polls show Trump struggling in his path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

[...]

As for any significance to Trump's speech in Gettysburg, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his 1863 address at the dedication of a cemetery for fallen Civil War soldiers, Trump's campaign said it is, among other things, a great location to remember military veterans. [Los Angeles Times, 10/21/16]

Wash. Post: Trump Attacks Clinton, Media, Sexual Assault Accusers In Speech. Trump in his speech, rather than “laying out his vision for uniting the country,” “declared that the system is rigged against him, that election results cannot be trusted, that Hillary Clinton should have been barred from running for president, that the media is ‘corrupt’ and that he will sue all of the women who have accused him of sexual assault,” according to The Washington Post. From the October 22 article:

Donald Trump traveled Saturday to the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, where he suggested that the United States is nearly as divided now as it was then. But instead of laying out his vision for uniting the country, as President Abraham Lincoln once did here, Trump declared that the system is rigged against him, that election results cannot be trusted, that Hillary Clinton should have been barred from running for president, that the media is “corrupt” and that he will sue all of the women who have accused him of sexual assault.

[...]

Trump told the crowd of about 500 locals who are active in the Republican Party that he didn't have to run for president, but he did so because the country is in trouble, and he can fix things because he's an outsider who knows how the “very broken system” works. He described himself as being able to deliver “the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime.”

Trump said the system is “totally rigged and broken” because Clinton has been allowed to run for president, even though he says that she broke “so many laws on so many different occasions.” Trump also implied that what he called rampant voter fraud could cost him the election and said the media was “dishonest.”

[...]

Trump also accused media outlets of giving voice to women accusing him of improper behavior or sexual assault without fact-checking their claims, even though in many cases the women have provided the publications with the names of witnesses and others who have supported their accounts.

“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign,” Trump said, as the crowd cheered. “Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.” [The Washington Post, 10/22/16]

Journalists: Trump Gave “Grievanceburg Address” Filled With Conspiracy Theories

CNN’s Jim Acosta: Trump’s Speech “Sounded Like The Grievanceburg Address, Not The Gettysburg Address.” CNN correspondent Jim Acosta said the speech “sounded very much like the Grievanceburg Address, not the Gettysburg Address,” with Trump “running through basically everything that is getting on his nerves these days.” From the October 22 edition of CNN’s CNN Newsroom:

JIM ACOSTA: And just to sort of reiterate what someone was saying, this sounded very much like the Grievanceburg Address, not the Gettysburg Address. It was Donald Trump running through basically everything that is getting on his nerves these days, whether it's the national news media or these women who were accusing him of sexual assault. [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 10/22/16]

Roll Call’s Jonathan Allen: Trump’s Speech Is Him “Blaming Everyone Else For His Impending Defeat.”

So far this speech is Trump blaming everyone else for his impending defeat. So, it is what he'll be doing for the first 100 days.

— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett: “So Trump’s First 100 Days Would Basically Be A Personal Revenge Tour Against The Women Who Accused Him Of Assault, The Media And Mexico?”

So Trump's first 100 days would basically be a personal revenge tour against the women who accused him of assault, the media and Mexico?

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond: Speech Was Trump “Raging Against Establishment & Summing Up His Campaign’s Key Planks.”

So far, this speech is Trump raging against establishment & summing up his campaign's key planks. Nothing new so far on policy front

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

National Journal’s Ron Brownstein: Trump Speech Was Undermined “With Conspiracy Theories & Racial Animus.”

Speech encapsulating both the chance @realDonaldTrump had to embody change & also how he undermines with conspiracy theories & racial animus

— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

Wash. Post’s Jose DelReal: Trump’s Speech Is “Promis[ing] To Lock Up Clinton,” “Call[ing] Media Corrupt Over Critical Stories,” And “Misstat[ing] Voter Fraud.”

Trump's Gettysburg address so far:

1) Promises to lock up Clinton

2) Calls media corrupt over critical stories

3) Misstates voter fraud

— Jose A. DelReal (@jdelreal) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

NY Times’ John Harwood: Trump’s Speech Is Pushing “Conspiracy Theories Targeting “Democrats/DNC, Amazon/[Washington Post], Comcast/NBC, FBI/Justice [Department].”

Trump giving uncharacteristically sedate version of conspiracy theories targeting Dems/DNC, Amazon/WashPost, Comcast/NBC, FBI/Justice Dept

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

Time’s Zeke Miller: Speech “Sounds A Lot Like Every Other Speech He’s Given So Far.”

So Trump's closing argument speech sounds a lot like every other speech he's given so far

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs Mockingly Compared Trump Grievances In Speech To Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign” Lincoln in Gettysburg or Trump in Gettysburg?

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]

Politico’s Ben White: “Trump Turns Site Of America's Greatest Political Speech Into Festivus.”

Trump turns site of America's greatest political speech into Festivus. https://t.co/RCwStavl9C

— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) October 22, 2016

[Twitter, 10/22/16]