‘This Is Lunatic, Fascist Stuff’
Kimberly Guilfoyle’s remarks on the opening night of the GOP event brought “the convention’s fascist timbre to the next level,” wrote one observer.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump, Jr. at 2020 Orlando Republican rally.“Terrifying.”
“Insane.”
“Fascist.”
That’s just a small selection of the adjectives commentators mustered in an attempt to describe in words the unhinged performances Donald Trump Jr. and his partner Kimberly Guilfoyle delivered Monday from a largely empty auditorium in Washington, D.C. on the opening night of the Republican National Convention.
But other observers struggled to verbally characterize the falsehood- and conspiracy theory-riddled remarks, leaving those who want to get a sense of how just bizarre and alarming the speeches were to simply watch for themselves.
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News personality and a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, spoke early in the night, warning—at what was described as an unusual volume, given the lack of crowd—of supposed Democratic plots to “destroy this country” and “steal your liberty” with “socialist policies.”
“This is lunatic, fascist stuff,” tweeted Vox‘s Aaron Rupar.
Watch Guilfoyle’s full speech:
As Matt Stieb of The Intelligencer wrote, “The speakers after Guilfoyle were faced with the impossible task of matching her energy.”
“While the night was already governed by a bleak message of the threat of life without Trump—contrasting with the president’s promise that the evening would be ‘uplifting and positive’—Guilfoyle brought the fear, the fanaticism, and the convention’s fascist timbre to the next level,” Stieb added.
But Don Jr. followed shortly thereafter with a 10-minute primetime speech that was characterized as at least equally disconcerting, both because of its contents and the first son’s appearance while delivering it.
Watch:
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