Biden and Trump find themselves in opposite places from where they began

Back in 2016, during the Republican National Convention, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas — the man Donald Trump had dubbed “Lyin’ Ted” and whose wife he called ugly — decided to stick the knife into Trump. There, he told attendees to “vote with your conscience” rather than endorse Trump.

But on Tuesday evening, Cruz opened his address at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee by saying, “God Bless Donald J Trump,” a nod to Trump’s survival by the hands of a would-be assassin.

Trump, for his part, pledged that he will speak in a more unifying way when he takes the stage for the final night of the RNC.

Indeed, despite the heightened security on campus, surrounding the convention and hotels, the vibes — to borrow from Gen Z — of the RNC have been high. Don Jr, before going into a scorched-earth speech, invited his daughter Kai to talk about her grandfather, which led to one person in the crowd shouting, “Kai 2040!” The chipper attitude from most Republicans masks some fairly grim talk about mass deportations for undocumented migrants, banned abortions, and an unsafe country for trans people.

Indeed, Cruz’s speech went into gruesome detail about immigrants raping and murdering people. Nine years ago, when Trump talked about migrants bringing drugs and crime or raping women, it triggered swift denunciations. Now Republicans parrot his language. Former critics like JD Vance, who once infamously said Trump could be like Hitler, now gladly accept the offer to be his right-hand men.

Meanwhile, the walls continue to close in on Joe Biden. As Democrats continued to call for him to step aside, the president tested positive for Covid-19 just before he was due to speak at a Latino voter event in Nevada. This would have been a chance to reset