Critic’s Notebook: By Turns Predictable and Unhinged, Inauguration Tells a Tale of Two Trumps

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On the day following her hosting of the Golden Globes, comedian Nikki Glaser visited Howard Stern’s radio program to talk about her opening speech and the jokes she had to leave out – jokes that were edited due to time constraints, the cautious nature of the Beverly Hilton audience, or the prevailing standards of decency in mainstream entertainment.

She wasn’t the original one to perform this act, a ritual conducted after death that gives more daring MCs the opportunity to straddle the boundary between the public and personal, balance between restriction and freedom, making them both confined and unrestricted simultaneously.

Or, in a slightly different way:

This wasn’t something new she was doing; it was an age-old ritual carried out post mortem, which allows bolder rappers to navigate the borderline between what’s public and private, find a harmony between holding back and letting go, making them both restricted and uninhibited at once.

Following his inaugural speech on Monday, January 20, President Donald Trump hesitated to uphold tradition by staying for a while to see Joe Biden leave, due to concern that some of his supporters might have the same understanding of weather conditions as overly intoxicated fans at cold NFL games. Later, he addressed a crowd that included Texas Governor Greg Abbott, former Phoenix television anchor Kari Lake, and Jake Paul (a man in his 30s who has been accused of domestic violence), in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol after returning from Biden’s departure.

Stepping into a room devoid of contrasting political viewpoints, without the slightest hint of my past adversary smirking or chuckling from afar, I delivered a speech that surprisingly surpassed the length of my inaugural address originally given. This address, in its own unique way, subtly mocked any critic who had lauded the formal inaugural speech as polished and, dare I say, presidential. (I can hardly believe we’re revisiting this evaluation standard once more.)

As a gamer, let me tell you, it’s not uncommon for Trump to switch between different characters, making America feel like a role-playing game with multiple storylines. His recent Republican convention speech was a perfect example of this. He followed the script faithfully at first, but then veered off into an endless maze of tangents, detours, and twists that felt straight out of a sci-fi series. It’s no secret that I’m a TV critic, so I can’t help but see the world in these terms. Several newspapers based their coverage on just the prepared part of his speech, while ignoring what he said later, as if those words spoken in Emancipation Hall weren’t an extension of the first speech.

In a manner reminiscent of Nikki Glaser, Trump started off by mentioning the advice given to him in his initial speech by individuals such as Melania Trump and the author behind Ron Howard’s Netflix series, “Hillbilly Elegy”. He stated that Melania had encouraged him to be more unifying, which is why he chose not to discuss the possibility of pardoning those involved in the January 6 insurrection – whom he referred to as “hostages” – and the last-minute pardons issued by President Biden.

The unusual continuation of the inauguration would have been strange for any other politician throughout American history. However, it’s important to acknowledge with a touch of appreciation that this part was indeed characteristic of Trump, as he navigated through topics such as Steve Scalise’s blood transfusions; expressing a preference for having J.D. Vance’s wife as his running mate; blaming Nancy Pelosi for the January 6 insurrection; accusing the 2020 election of being rigged (and claiming he would win California in 2024 without more manipulation); and mentioning Melania’s foot discomfort.

In this spontaneous, seemingly unscripted address, there was a prolonged outburst of admiration towards Greg Abbott, even though he wasn’t initially aware of his presence; an impassioned critique of Biden for granting clemency to murderers and rapists by commuting the sentences of over three dozen individuals on federal death row; and a boast about achieving a significant victory in Wyoming.

He admitted multiple times that this second speech would undoubtedly grab the attention of reporters, and indeed it has caught my attention as well. Kudos to you, sir, for a clever move.

Or:

He confessed several times that the media will surely focus on his second speech, and I must admit, they’ve got me hooked too. Nice job, sir!

Or:

He repeatedly acknowledged that reporters would zero in on this second speech, and I have to hand it to him – he played a smart game by doing so. Well done, sir.

In the second address, instead of calling it the “secondary” speech, it could be described as one that offered an “A+ level” appreciation to his dedicated followers, rather than merely acknowledging them with a brief “Thank you for attending the overflow.

What were the items he distributed to those seated in the Rotunda previously, and what were they expected to receive from him instead?

As a gamer, I found myself tuning in to the inauguration, where Amy Klobuchar kicked things off with the theme “Our Enduring Democracy.” She praised the choice to hold it inside “The People’s House,” which, while visually pleasing, always seemed compact, no matter how diligently the cameras tried to showcase the crowd and the venue’s beauty. It lacked the grandeur of having the Capitol as a backdrop, or the vastness of seeing people spilling out onto the D.C. skyline. Not even Sean Spicer from “Dancing With the Stars” could exaggerate the size of this audience.

The fact that the speech took place in a location previously disrespected by a substantial, though not overwhelming, group of Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, has not escaped anyone’s notice.

In a similar fashion, it’s clear that delivering this speech indoors to a select audience gave it an intimate feel, more like a State of the Union address than an inauguration. The speech was extended due to numerous prolonged standing ovations, and the visuals were somewhat confusing with ex-presidents, first ladies, vice presidents in attendance – some in prominent positions where they were easily noticed, while others were off-camera but still visible. We could tell when Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton disagreed with Trump’s statements, and we always knew who supported Trump’s applause lines by standing and those who remained seated and appeared displeased.

An outdoor inauguration, such as Biden’s in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, lacks the close, intimate feel and cannot sustain prolonged duration compared to an indoor event, since a standing audience doesn’t require additional time to stand for an ovation.

Indeed, the outline of specific executive measures – such as fortifying border security, showing insensitivity towards transgender individuals, and ambiguously reclaiming the Panama Canal – appears to mimic the style of bullet-pointed agendas that some presidents often present during their State of the Union speeches.

In my opinion, it seemed less like a formal address and more like a presentation at a Comic-Con event, but on a smaller scale than Hall H. Instead of introducing “The Golden Age of America,” Trump referred to an unspecific time period, similar to when Kevin Feige labels different phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Trump went through several announcements that had already been leaked in the media, earning applause for confirming them rather than making new announcements.

“Is he going to announce a sequel to The Wall?” He announced a sequel to The Wall!

Did he just mention plans for restarting oil drilling? His words were ‘Drill, baby drill.’

Will he bring out his most familiar sayings?” At a certain moment, he mentioned “never before winning” not once but twice within just a short span of two and a half minutes. Long live Wakanda, Mr. President Trump.

If the scene had been any more reminiscent of a Comic-Con performance, he might as well have shared a montage with the audience depicting a divine intervention where he narrowly escaped an assassin’s bullet, repeatedly asked the crowd if they wanted to watch this montage again, and then played it multiple times.

At Comic-Con, there would typically be more appearances by famous actors. However, the Rotunda event was graced by several billionaires instead, so perhaps the absence of Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t missed too much. The plan to have Carrie Underwood sing “America the Beautiful” ran into some issues with musical accompaniment, leading to a few minutes of uneasy silence before she sang one verse of the song acapella. While her performance was not poor, it left us wondering what the original performance might have looked like.

Regardless, we’ll be aware of everything Trump omitted during his initial speech, as well as the explicit humor that Nikki Glaser chose not to share at the Golden Globes, and I do offer my sincere regrets for mentioning Nikki Glaser in this context.

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2025-01-21 01:55