Dems bring the mock to Trump in Chicago
The Democratic National Committee projected signs on Trump International Hotel in Chicago Sunday before the convention. Credit: Getty Images for DNC/Jeff Schear
Stand in front of the Sheraton Grand Chicago River Walk Hotel where New York’s Democratic National Convention delegates are staying this week and you can see, across the river, in huge letters, on a luxury high-rise tower, the name TRUMP.
The Democratic National Committee is having fun with this facade of self-aggrandizement. Ahead of the convention, lighting equipment was used at night to project words onto the facade of the grandly-named Trump International Hotel & Tower. Below the TRUMP letters, the Dems’ graffiti-in-light read PROJECT 2025 HQ. That’s a reference to the radical conservative reform plan written for former President Donald Trump’s prospective next administration from which the candidate tries to distance himself.
Other taunting messages said "Harris, Walz, joy and hope," and "Trump-Vance weird as hell."
These displays are a fair representation of the party’s verbal messaging as Kamala Harris and Tim Walz strive to defeat the Republican 45th president — whose current running mate is JD Vance — for a second straight time.
Inside the hotel, the delegation from Trump’s native state has issued a constant verbal taunting of the GOP boss and national standard-bearer, blended into positive vibes for Harris.
On Wednesday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie of the Bronx all but gave President Joe Biden’s predecessor the borough's traditional type of cheer.
Heastie said the choice for Americans "should be easy, but it’s not easy. Unfortunately, almost half this country is OK with a pathological liar, a serial sex abuser, and a convict."
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester had a different analysis to share — but also portrayed Trump as a menace.
She said once Trump was elected in 2016 to the chagrin of many New Yorkers, the challenge for the party was "to see what could be done to stop whatever craziness they were trying to do."
The result was a midterm reclaiming of the House of Representatives in 2018. In the same election, Democrats gained eight seats and won control of the State Senate, she noted.
What the majority leader didn’t have to say: That was all before Trump’s hapless pandemic response, his attempt to nullify his 2020 loss by legal tricks, his supporters’ Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, and his conviction on fraud charges related to private business records in the Stormy Daniels cover-up.
So the impetus for his opponents to keep him from returning to power now seems stronger. Under the circumstances, which include Harris’ still-ambiguous specifics on how she’d govern, it may be to the Democrats’ advantage to have Trump’s unprecedented baggage and angry ravings eclipse the issues.
At the 2016 GOP convention, Trump fans chanted "Lock her up!" essentially charging Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton with pie-in-the-sky "crimes" that were never specified or proved.
As she spoke Monday at the convention and mocked Trump’s sleepy demeanor in court in May, some delegates and guests chanted "Lock him up!" As it grew louder, she waited for a bit, smirking and nodding, for the chant to die down before resuming.
Like his namesake building he once wanted to be the world's tallest, Trump looms in spirit above Chicago — though perhaps not in the intimidating way he would like. For the third time in a row, a national election is more or less about him. But this time the mood among many active Democrats is jubilant and loose. How long the feeling lasts is anyone's guess.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
