What. A. Godawful. Gaudy. Mess.

[highplainsdem]

I guess we shouldn't have expected anything else of Trump.

From the typically disreputable looking Trump rally audience, to the preening functionaries (with Mark Meadows' wife even having him take her lipstick out of an inner pocket of his jacket so she could do a quick touchup), to the history-blind president reading a speech warning of something he couldn't pronouce (totalitarianism) and listing accomplishments of great presidents which he probably had known little of before, to a horrible mishmash of music with a clumsily overdone fireworks show, to the worst rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" that I've ever heard (though the band and singer were good).

With President Tiny Hands shaking his tiny fists in the air from time to time.

The best part of the evening was watching to see if the breezes could finally take apart Trump's ridiculous imitation of hair.

Unfortunately hair spray and hairpins held their ground, or scalp, but not before we got a few glimpses of a pink pate above the mask of bronzer.

I wonder how much that badly produced hours-long Trump campaign rally and commercial cost American taxpayers?

[2naSalit]

1. I could only stand to look at

About two minutes of it with the mute on. I did watch about an hour or so of the protest live feed, though. That was interesting.

[highplainsdem]

2. I watched the entire thing, mostly via PBS's livestream.

Honestly, if I used drugs, I probably would've wondered if I was hallucinating some of it.

But I didn't even have a drink till I got through watching all of it.

Now I may be up much of the night drinking...

[Skittles]

3. could you explain how the Battle Hymn was bad if the band and singer were good

(I can never bring myself to watch that hateful bastard)

[highplainsdem]

4. They tried to jazz it up with an arrangement that was painful to listen to. But the singer and band

were very competent.

[Skittles]

5. ooh

no need for that, for sure

[highplainsdem]

9. I've checked Twitter for reactions. Some people, most apparently MAGAts, loved it, and others

felt the arrangement was butchered.

The ones who loved it apparently loved everything else about the evening. So I have to question their taste.

[Hortensis]

13. We were gone today, but I saw his speech with the Battle Hymn

**Correction: Highplains says the music was added to the video I posted below and was not part of Trump's performance.

in the background on YouTube, slowed down to keep cadence with his speech, and thought it was well done. As a production.

Trump's use of the Battle Hymn to get authoritarians righteously marching and fighting fellow Americans for their god and president is appalling and contemptible. They know they're a minority, and because they can't win free and fair elections are eager to overthrow what they pretend to honor.

[highplainsdem]

16. Found that YouTube video, I think, and that's a recording of a different singer, and a

more traditional arrangement of the song, behind Trump's speech. Not tonight's performance.

I agree the video is clearly meant ot get authoritarians marching in the civil war Trump seems to be trying to start.

[Hortensis]

17. This one is labeled 7/3/2020, but could be mislabeled.

It doesn't include the Hymn performed at full crescendo when Trump finished speaking, or whenever, which I assume it was?

As we know too well, Trump's desecrated the Battle Hymn to his subversive message on a number of occasions.

[highplainsdem]

18. The music was added to that YouTube video of the speech. There was no music while he was

actually delivering the speech. Someone decided adding a recording of the song, one that wasn't made tonight, would help that video.

The Battle Hymn performance I'm referring to in the OP, the one with the odd arrangement, was after Trump's speech.

[Hortensis]

22. Thanks, and shame on whoever did that. I'm amending.

I'll watch for the true version. Thanks.

[True Blue American]

27. I watched some of the replay just now.

It is live. I prefer that, no additions, even in reruns.

[highplainsdem]

6. Lincoln Project tweet with video of Trump saying something like totalitarianism:

Link to tweet

[misanthrope]

8. Did you see the little thing with his hands?

Movements for the syllables.

[highplainsdem]

10. No! Hadn't noticed that.

He's so pathetic.

[Captain Zero]

7. That rally will cost us a lot after all the ER and ICU visits for the corona virus

it creates.

[aggiesal]

11. After Coronafest Tulsa & Coronafest Phoenix ...

this is Coronafest Mt. Rushmore

And I don't mean Corona Beer.

[denem]

12. It was ugly.

As ugly as the man himself, and the pile of rubble in front of Mt. Rushmore.

[TheBlackAdder]

14. As his realization of failure starts to sink in, he will being to enter the Rabid Squirrel stage.

[wnylib]

15. Battle Hymn of the Republic?

Surprised it wasn't Dixie.

[True Blue American]

19. I just tuned in. He said they died singing

Battle Hymn Of Republic. He is as insane as those cheering him.

[wnylib]

24. I didn't watch it. Thought posters

here said it was played at the rally.

[highplainsdem]

25. Trump referred to the song in his speech. It was played after his speech.

[True Blue American]

26. It was, but

I just tuned in to CPAN on the rerun. That is what Trump was saying,” They died singing The Battle Hymn of Republic.” Such a bunch of twaddle and the audience was middle aged white people.

The fireworks display was pretty sad, not much.

[LeftInTX]

28. I gotta admit, I liked the fireworks

It is upsetting because of the location, (former Native American site) but I thought it looked cool coming out of the heads of Mt. Rushmore. It thought they were well done. I believe this was an official WH event and not a campaign event (military band present)

What can I say?

[Raine]

20. Don't kid yourself, it went over big

with Trump's peeps and it will probably help bring out his base enthusiastically in November.

[highplainsdem]

21. Almost everything Trump does goes over big with his base. They loved the church photo op too.

[LeftInTX]

23. I confess: I liked the fireworks

Everything else was a shttshow.

[crickets]

29. I am just so grateful the whole place didn't catch fire.

That truly would have been the rancid cherry on top of the shit sundae.

[spanone]

30. The speech was pure stephen miller. trump's the idiot voice