In the wake of the attempt on Donald Trump’s life at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, members of his family and team shared that the former president had ripped up the remarks he intended to deliver at the Republican National Convention in favor of striking a more unified tone.
That messaging was on display in his 93-minute acceptance speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, and it also appears in a new ad the Trump-Vance campaign is running on X.
On Friday’s show, Megyn was joined by Kmele Foster and Matt Welch, co-hosts of The Fifth Column, to discuss the effectiveness of the advertisement and what it says about a larger shift in the Republican Party.
The Ad
A successful businessman and real estate developer, Trump was largely an aspirational and, in some ways, inspirational figure in American culture before he became a divisive one. A new 40-second ad from the Trump campaign that, according to journalist Yashar Ali, is running exclusively on X seeks to harken back to those roots.
Take a look:
From the content to the imagery, the ad is a departure from what people have grown accustomed to seeing from Trump since he entered the political arena. But Megyn said it was high time for it. “I’ve been waiting for this piece of his messaging and finally they’re doing it,” she said. “This ad is amazing… [and] should get a wider berth.”
âEveryoneâs Welcomeâ
In Megynâs view, it is âvery effectiveâ because it shows off a side of the GOP nominee that is seldom talked about. “The thing that is so effective about it is that it’s Trump being inspirational, uplifting,” she noted. “He’s not just uplifting, but, like, this is how you get over life’s challenges.”
Welch said it was a âgreat adâ that âwas very much in keeping with the messages that we saw at the RNC this week.â He believes it illustrates the larger realignment of the two major parties in the U.S. âYou have seen a shift in a working class allegiances from the left parties to the right parties because the left parties have become more elite in their tastes, in their sort of sense of condescension, and their treatment of culture,” he explained. “And the right has just been more kind of like, ‘Hey, everyone’s welcome.'”
Whether it was rapper Amber Rose, Teamsters president Sean OâBrien, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, or any of the âeverydayâ Americans who spoke at the RNC, Welch said it was clear that people were welcome to speak their mind. “The cultural side of the left has been telling people what they can and cannot say,” he noted. “And human beings hate that.”
Megyn agreed. “Americans hate that. It’s not in our cultural DNA,” she concluded. “That is one of the reasons we live here… it’s baked into who we are. We don’t want to be told what to think, what to say, how to say it. If you want to live like that, go live someplace else. That’s not the United States of America.”
You can check out Megynâs full interview with The Fifth Column by tuning in to episode 842 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And donât forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXMâs Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.