Journalists Ridicule Lack Of Economic Policy During Trump’s “Make America Work Again” Convention Night

Day Two Of The Republican National Convention Focused On Emails, Benghazi, And Clinton-Bashing

Written by Craig Harrington

Published

The second day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) was billed as an opportunity to highlight Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposals to boost job creation and economic growth. Journalists blasted the RNC and Trump campaign after the speakers ignored the economy and instead attacked Hillary Clinton over issues like the Benghazi attacks and her use of a private email server.

RNC’s Second Day Branded As “Make America Work Again”

Talking Points Memo: Trump Picked An “Eclectic Mix Of Speakers” To Discuss “Bringing Jobs Back To The United States.” Talking Points Memo reported that the Trump campaign hoped Day 2 of the Republican National Convention would refocus the campaign after “a tumultuous opening day” by focusing on “a central theme of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign”: jobs and the economy.

Bringing jobs back to the United States has been a central theme of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and he has brought together an eclectic mix of speakers to address the topic. Among the daytime speakers are Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), golf pro Natalie Gulbis, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kerry Woolard, the general manager of Trump Winery. Trump’s 22-year-old daughter ,Tiffany, described on the convention’s site as a “fashion model, singer, and influential presence on social media,” is also slated to address the crowd in Cleveland. [Talking Points Memo, 7/19/16]

NPR’s Mara Liasson: “The Theme Of Tonight Is ‘Make America Work Again,’ And It’s Supposed To Be About Economic Growth.” NPR political correspondent Mara Liasson reported on July 19 that “the theme of tonight is ‘Make America Work Again,’ and it’s supposed to be about economic growth” but noted “when you look through the speakers there are actually very few businessmen.” Liasson noted that the list of speakers includes some Republican elected officials who “differ with him on all sorts of things” including economic policy. [NPR, 7/19/16]

Journalists Slam RNC Speakers For Lack Of Economic Policy

CNN’s Van Jones: “I Thought We Were Going To Talk About His Economic Ideas.” Immediately following a series of Trump boosters who slammed presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while offering no specifics on economic policy, CNN contributor Van Jones argued that the speakers were “all anger, no answers” and exclaimed “I thought we were going to talk about this economic ideas”:

VAN JONES: I’m baffled by what I’m seeing. So far this is all anger, and no answers if what you’re trying to figure out is what is Donald Trump going to do … Basically, I think the main emotional tenor of this is Hillary Clinton is a horrible person, Hillary Clinton is a horrible person. All anger, no answers. I thought we were going to talk about his economic ideas. I thought we were going to talk about how he was going to put America back to work. We haven't heard a single thing about that yet. I'm concerned about that.

[...]

I still haven’t heard a single answer for how, specifically, you’re going to get a job in this country, tonight, not so far. Have you?

[...]

I don’t think we’re talking about needing to hear dissertations on economics and high theory. How about one proposal to put veterans to work? How about one proposal to build a bridge? How about one proposal to do anything at all, except to bash Hillary Clinton? [CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, 7/19/16]

Vox’s Matt Yglesias: “The Republican Jobs Plan Is … To Talk About Benghazi And Emails?”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

Vox’s Matt Yglesias: “Chris Christie’s Plan For Jobs And Growth Is Impressive.”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin: “Wasn't Tonight Supposed To Have An Economic Theme Of Some Kind?”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

Wash. Post’s Philip Bump: “Republicans Transition From Talking About Benghazi On Night 1 To Talking About Jobs And The Economy Benghazi On Night 2.”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

Wash. Post’s Philip Bump: “‘Lock Her Up!’ - Chant On The Jobs/Economy Night Of The GOP Convention.”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins: “Another Stirring Speech Here About The Republicans' Plan To Improve The Economy And Make America Work Again.”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

Wash. Post’s Philip Rucker: “Tonight’s Theme Is “Make America Work Again,” As In Economy. Speeches So Far: Benghazi! Emails! Benghazi! Sexual Abuse! Benghazi!”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

Politico’s Glenn Thrush: “.@GovChristie Isn't Bad On The Foreign Policy Stuff -- But Isn't Tonight Supposed To Be About The Only Thing Americans Care About -- Jobs?”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

CNN’s Tal Kopan: “In Case You Forgot, The Theme Of Tonight Is ‘Make America Work Again’”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter: “Another Example Of Poor Convention Organizing: The Theme For This Evening Has Been Mangled Beyond Compare.”

[Twitter, 7/19/16]

CNN's Alisyn Camerota: “Last Night Was The Anti-Hillary Convention Rather Than The Jobs Plan.” CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski about the lack of economic discussion, labeling the night “the anti-Hillary convention rather than the jobs plan.” From the July 20 edition of CNN's New Day:

JENNIFER GRANHOLM: Well, last night, it is true that it was a fantastic case of serious Clinton-derangement syndrome. There's no doubt that people were all about hating Hillary Clinton. 115 mentions of Hillary Clinton, 65 mentions of Donald Trump. 13 speeches against Hillary Clinton, six speeches in favor of Donald Trump. But that's not the economic -- I mean, there was nothing about --

ALISYN CAMEROTA (CO-HOST): What about that, Corey? I mean, what about that? That they do seem to -- last night was the anti-Hillary convention rather than the jobs plan. ​

​COREY LEWANDOWSKI: ​Well, so, are we going to have the pro-Trump convention next week? Do we think the Democrats are going to be any different? Next week is going to be the pro-Trump rally in Philadelphia? [CNN, New Day, 7/20/16]

Conservative Review's Amanda Carpenter: “Unless The Plan Is To Make All Republicans Prison Guards To Lock Up Democrats, I Didn't See A Jobs Plan Tonight.”

[Twitter.com, 7/19/16]

Politico Magazine's Mike Grunwald: “So Trump Will Create Jobs For Coal Miners And Make Avocado Farmers Richer. Otherwise, Not Sure How He'll Make America Work Again.”

[Twitter.com, 7/19/16]

The Intercept: “Neither Jobs Nor Trump” Received As Much Focus As “Demonizing Hillary Clinton.” The Intercept's Zaid Jilani wrote that RNC speakers “spent most of their time demonizing Hillary Clinton and talking about themselves" instead of “offering an affirmative case for the nominee or a concrete economic policy agenda” From the July 19 article:

Tuesday was "Make America Work Again” day at the Republican National Convention, which also happened to coincide with the party formally nominating Donald Trump as its nominee.

But neither jobs nor Trump got much attention as a grab bag of Republican headliners Tuesday spent most of their time demonizing Hillary Clinton and talking about themselves without offering an affirmative case for the nominee or a concrete economic policy agenda.

The keynoter, House Speaker Paul Ryan, spoke nearly 1,500 words, but mentioned Trump’s name just twice. Promising he’ll be standing alongside “Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump” at next year’s State of the Union address, Ryan spent the lion’s share of his time castigating the Democratic Party instead.

[...]

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, similarly appeared under a giant screen proclaiming the day’s slogan: [“Make America Work Again”]

But he offered no economic policies. Instead, he immediately launched into a speech about perceived flaws in Hillary Clinton’s testimony about the Benghazi tragedy, and then pivoted to rhetoric about “Islamic terrorists.” [The Intercept, 7/19/16]