Last night I listened to President Trump’s address to the nation on the Iran War. Delivered in his typical stream of consciousness shotgun style with his vestigial Atlantic seaboard prep school honk at nineteen minutes it was mercifully short.
In the address he spoke about the reasons for the war, returning multiple times to the urgency of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and its status, speaking in exaggerated terms of the excellence with which our military has carried out its missions. Much the same speech could have been delivered at the very outset of the war and at that time it might have bolstered American support for it. At this point I suspect that most Americans have already made up their minds both about President Trump and the war against Iran.
What I noticed most about the speech was not its content but its delivery. Not just its uncharacteristic brevity but its terseness. It lacked the ad libs that frequently punctuate the president’s speeches and it largely stuck to the subject of the war with Iran without notable digressions.
I was struck by how labored his delivery sounded—something I don’t recall noticing before. Whether that reflects the moment or something more persistent, it stood out. He seemed out of breath throughout.
For a broader sampling of reactions at James Joyner has a useful round-up of media commentary at Outside the Beltway.
I’m still amazed Trump has gambled (and perhaps lost his Presidency and perhaps much more) over a course of action that only the practically extinct Bush wing of the GOP would approve.
Don’t ask me to explain it. I can’t.
I didnt watch it but looked at some excerpts. I remember when he said we had obliterated the Iran nuclear program. Now we needed to do it again? When is he telling the truth? As to looking terse it reminded of the month or two before he won the 2016 election. For that time period he was much more restrained in his speech and he limited his nasty tweets. His advisors told him he needed to tone it down to win and he did. It had, for me, the same feel. He was restraining himself on advice and didnt like it. It worked in 2016 (with some aid by the FBI and the emails). Not so sure it will work this time. Maybe as you pointed out if he used a speech to solicit support at the start but now it sounded like justifications, exaggerations and complaints.
Steve