It didn't get much more entertaining from there, although Texans and Dallasites in particular had plenty of reason to keep watching. For the night’s theme of “Make America Safe Again” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz were welcomed to the main stage during the primetime keynote speeches for the biggest Lone Star flourish of the convention so far.
Closing out the 7 p.m. hour, Johnson followed up a speech by reality TV star and daughter of two convicted felons, Savannah Chrisley, with just over four minutes of what turned out to be the same old, same old.
Johnson opened with his oft-told story of how liberal activists, he said, tried to intimidate him into defunding the police in 2020, in front of his kids at home. But, dear fellow GOP convention attendee, he said “no.” He continued on along the line he’s toed since he made the party switch to Republican last year by claiming that his efforts have led Dallas to become the safest big city in America.
Does his appearance at the convention mean that he’s even more Republican than he’s let on? A little perhaps. He got close to answering a question we asked of him nearly a year ago by proudly imploring viewers to elect Trump. We think that means there’s a good chance he owns a red MAGA hat. But other than that, he didn't signal where he stands on abortion, gun safety or even how he thinks the border should be secured, even though he claimed Democrats do not care about securing the border.
Interesting note: when we called the mayor’s office this week to find out which date he would be speaking, we were told by a staffer that since the mayor’s office is a nonpartisan office, they couldn't answer that question for us and that Johnson was attending the convention “on his own.”
But before likely the largest audience he's ever spoken in front of, Johnson wasn't concerned with any semblance of bipartisanship, even as he was introduced as the mayor of Dallas. During his speech Johnson enthusiastically said he “is the proud Republican mayor of Dallas, Texas.” He also repeated a line he gave to a Texas Monthly reporter recently when he said that “the heart of the Democrats is with criminals.”
"Today I'm the proud Republican Mayor of Dallas" @Johnson4Dallas #Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says he was a lifelong "conservative" Democrat but was turned off when protestors called for him to "defund" police. @FOX4 #txlege pic.twitter.com/rrrD3lRGTd
— Steven Dial (@StevenDialFox4) July 17, 2024
So much for nonpartisanship.
A bit later, following the introduction of vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance of Ohio, and then Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz made his way to the grand podium for his turn at the mic.
“God bless Donald J. Trump,” Cruz began before getting oddly specific with his spiritual gratitude. “And let me start by giving thanks to God almighty for protecting President Trump, and for turning his head on Saturday when the shot was fired.”
After more than a minute of thanking his God for keeping Trump alive, Cruz got back to the business he has made his calling card in recent years.
“We are facing an invasion on our southern border. Not figuratively, a literal invasion.”
Cruz offered up some dramatic examples of illegal immigrants who committed murders. He punctuated every vignette by theatrically ending it with “every damn day.” He repeated “every damn day” a few moments later, then a few moments later, and then again, a few moments later, so we knew he was serious.
At #RNC2024, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said, "Democrats cynically decided they wanted votes from illegals more than they wanted to protect our children."
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) July 17, 2024
We've found no effort by Democrats to register people in the country illegally to vote. (1/2) https://t.co/aJHtTn2abK
Cruz didn't mention The New York Times report from earlier on Tuesday stating that migrant crossings into the U.S. in June were the lowest they’ve been since January 2021.
Good thing he didn't mention that report. He might not have gotten the standing ovation that he did from the man who he once called “a sniveling coward.”
