Likely Republican gets overwhelming ovation for silly speech (8)
I believe the answer is:
claptrap
'silly speech' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'likely republican gets overwhelming ovation' is the wordplay.
'likely' becomes 'apt' (similar in meaning).
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation in US politics).
'gets' is an insertion indicator.
'overwhelming ovation' becomes 'clap' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'apt'+'r'='aptr'
'aptr' placed inside 'clap' is 'CLAPTRAP'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for claptrap that I've seen before include "Tripe" , "Contrived but foolish talk" , "Stuff and nonsense" , "moonshine" , "Bull" .)