Republican National Convention: Tiffany Trump’s bizarre speech

Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany usually stays out of the spotlight. Today she stepped into it, and proceeded to go “bananas”.

COMMENT

Three members of Donald Trump’s family spoke on day two of the Republican National Convention and first up was his daughter Tiffany with a “bananas” rant.

Ironically, her appearance came immediately after a speech from former Florida Attorney-General Pam Bondi, who railed against nepotism in politics.

RELATED: Live coverage of Republican National Convention day two

While Pam Bondi is talking about Joe Biden's nepotism the chyron under her literally says: Coming up: Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump, Melania Trump.

The Onion should declare victory and go home.

— Sam Kamin (@ProfSamKamin) August 26, 2020

Ms Trump started with a pretty straightforward appeal to young voters.

“As a recent graduate, I can relate to so many of who you might be looking for a job,” Ms Trump said.

“My father built a thriving economy once, and believe me, he will do it again.

“This election, I urge each and every one of you to transcend political boundaries. This is a fight for freedom versus oppression, for opportunity versus stagnation, a fight to keep American true to America.

“I urge you to make a judgment based on results, and not rhetoric.”

Curiously, she neglected to mention America’s “results” on the coronavirus pandemic.

The next part of her speech got a little weird.

“People must recognise that our thoughts, our opinions, and even the choice of who we are voting for may and are being manipulated and visibly coerced by the media and tech giants,” said Ms Trump.

“If you tune into the media, you get one biased opinion or another. And what you share, if it does not fit into the narrative that they seek to promote, then it is either ignored or deemed a lie, regardless of the truth.

“This manipulation of what information we receive impedes our freedoms. Rather than allowing Americans the right to form our own beliefs, this misinformation system keeps people mentally enslaved to the ideas they deemed correct.

“This has fostered unnecessary fear and divisiveness amongst us. Why are so many in media and technology and even in our own government so invested in promoting a biased and fabricated view? Ask yourselves, why are we prevented from seeing certain information? Why is one viewpoint promoted, while others are hidden?

“The answer is control. Because division and controversy breed profit.”

Tiffany Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention.

OK, let’s take a break from this conspiratorial bullcrap for a moment to give it some context.

All the stuff about tech giants keeping people – what was it? – oh yes, “mentally enslaved” appears to be a complaint about Twitter and Facebook fact-checking posts? I think that’s what it is.

A couple of President Trump’s tweets in recent months were slapped with fact checks after he spouted blatant misinformation.

I would respectfully note that Facebook’s most-shared posts routinely include conspiratorial right-wing nonsense, so the company isn’t being particularly thorough here.

Right, deep breath, and back into it.

“But what are the consequences when only one side of the story gets out, or when only one viewpoint is acceptable?” Ms Trump continued.

“In short, our nation suffers by inhibiting our diversity of thought and inclusion of ideas. Working together outside of our political comfort zones will accomplish so much more.

“Some cynical politicians do not seem to believe in the miracle of America. Well I do.

“Having hope is not weakness, and believing in miracles is a gift from God. So tonight I want to tell you the uncensored truth of what we believe in.

“We believe in equality of opportunity. We believe in freedom of thought and expression. Think what you want, seek out the truth, learn from those with different opinions, and then freely, make your voice heard to the world.

“In America, your life is yours to chart. So, if you’re hearing these things, and thinking to yourself, ‘That is the kind of country that I want to live in,’ – well, whether you realise it or not, you are a Trump supporter.

“I encourage you to see beyond the facade that so many other politicians employ. They mask themselves in disguises of decency as they try to pressure us to mask our own identities and beliefs.

“My father is the only person to challenge the establishment.”

Tiffany Trump's speech was dubbed "bananas".

I’m a little lost for words after Tiffany’s speech – I genuinely wasn’t expecting that kind of thing from her – so I’m just going to post this admirably understated reaction from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.