OPINION:
MILWAUKEE — The party of Hollywood has lost the script.
Democrats always enjoyed the star power of big-screen royalty such as George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Robert De Niro. Democrats were always the best at telling the big story in politics — however true it may not be.
The never-ending series of climate change horror flicks is one of their bestselling productions of all time.
And, famously, they hired a Hollywood movie producer to direct their Jan. 6 committee “investigation” into the U.S. Capitol riot after the 2020 election. Hoping for a blockbuster, Democrats debuted their hearings in prime time.
But it was a flop. Nobody cared. And it has been failure after failure ever since.
The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last Saturday was the latest reminder that the Republican Party under Mr. Trump owns the story in politics today. The riveting pictures of Mr. Trump — his blood-streaked face — down on the mat and then rising up — defiantly — to raise his fist to yell “Fight! Fight! Fight!” will never be matched by anything Hollywood produces.
That’s because, ultimately, only truth endures. So much fakery and lies — while effective in the short term for willing believers — ultimately get outshined by what is real.
Watching the Democratic media come unglued as they frantically search for stray threads of the script is sadly comical.
One of MSNBC’s most ridiculous buffoons on television openly complained that after barely surviving assassination, Mr. Trump “for whatever reason was given nine seconds to take an iconic photo-op during an active shooter situation.”
She then went on to claim that if President Biden survives his recent COVID-19 diagnosis, it will show that Mr. Biden has the same grit, toughness and determination as Mr. Trump’s surviving an assassin’s bullet on live television.
OK.
The other two Democrats on set with the buffoon actually look shocked at the profound stupidity of their buffoonish colleague — yet readily agree with the musings of their lunatic.
Desperate times, desperate measures. Gotta find the script.
Meanwhile, do you know who has found the script? Donald Trump’s Grand Old Party.
From the mothers of children who died of fentanyl overdoses and victims of violent crime to the families of the Kabul 13 to even Mr. Trump’s own granddaughter fending off her grandfather’s texts during class about the progress of her golf game, Republicans under Donald Trump have learned to beat Hollywood at its own game.
Listening to the speech of Mr. Trump’s vice presidential pick Wednesday night was another reminder that Mr. Trump’s Republican Party owns the story.
Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio talked of being raised in poverty by his grandmother Mawmaw — a devout Christian fond of the F-word who kept 19 loaded pistols around her house and threatened to run over a known drug dealer if she ever found him near the grandson she was raising. Mr. Vance’s own mother, meanwhile, was trapped in the clutches of lifelong drug addiction.
Mr. Vance told the convention hall here that one of the proudest things in his life today is that his mother will be 10 years sober next January. The camera then showed Mr. Vance’s mother sitting in the former president’s box, just a few seats away from Mr. Trump.
The audience leapt to their feet, cheering and clapping and rooting for continued fight, fight, fight. She waved back tentatively, smiled and fought back tears.
As the roar continued, she turned to the man beside her and said, “That’s my boy.” As if anyone in the world watching didn’t already know. It was a rare glimpse of pride that a woman 10 years sober would allow herself.
Standing in the convention hall, I looked around me. People I did not know were weeping.
One woman with whom I had exchanged pleasantries nodded and leaned over to me.
“Everybody relates to this,” she said with tears in her eyes.
As the thunder of applause eventually began to quiet, the woman looked at her phone. She had a text. It was from her grown son more than a thousand miles away, who was apparently watching Mr. Vance’s speech at the Republican National Convention on television talking about his mother.
She looked back at me — eyes gleaming — and showed me the text from her son.
“I’m 10 yrs sober next month.”
She pulled the phone back and held it to her chest.
“It’s the exact same thing,” she said. “Except I’m the mama.”
Beat that, Hollywood.
• Charles Hurt is the opinion editor at The Washington Times.
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