Politico: “For one week, the Republican Party sent out a parade of people to make the case that President Donald Trump, insulter-in-chief, has a heart. Within days, Twitter Trump had returned.”

“At the Republican National Convention, everyone from little-known Americans to first lady Melania Trump insisted the Trump seen lashing out on social media and in news conferences is not the compassionate man they see ‘when the cameras are off,’ as Vice President Mike Pence put it. But over the weekend, Trump went right back to his bare-knuckle approach. He insulted his niece and boosted a video from a white nationalist user that falsely blamed ‘Black Lives Matter/Antifa’ for a violent 2019 incident. He mocked and retweeted profane jokes about the Portland mayor and retweeted a video of Trump supporters in Portland shooting paintball guns and pepper spray at racial justice protesters in the city, saying it ‘cannot be unexpected.’ And at a Monday night briefing, Trump dished out numerous incendiary claims over nearly 30 minutes that was mostly a monologue about violence in ‘Democrat-run cities.’ He alleged the violence is caused by ‘left-wing indoctrination,’ insisted ‘the violent rioters share Biden talking points’ and proclaimed ‘paint is not bullets’ when asked about the protesting Trump backers in Portland, where one Trump supporter was shot and killed over the weekend. The dichotomy highlights the challenge facing the GOP with nine weeks left in the campaign: How to make Trump seem more palatable to voters who may largely agree with his policies but are turned off by his tactics, while still letting Trump rile up his base. After the RNC, Republican strategists and pollsters started pushing to see a little more of Melania’s softer tone, and a little less of Donald’s hard-edged style in the campaign’s final push.”