John Moore/Getty Images A delegate from Texas wears a cowboy hat during the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Call it a sign that Donald Trump’s campaign is not extending an olive branch to critics or those Republicans still withholding their support of them. “I think everybody’s going to get there. This is surreal”, said Utah Sen.
But the RNC and Trump campaign whipped the vote during a brief delay in proceedings and enough delegates pulled out that the effort failed – sparking a roar of boos and chants of “roll call vote” from angry delegates who stood on their chairs and shouted their displeasure.
But the Trump card may be hatred of the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, according to excerpts of her speech released in advanced.
The Benghazi attacks were a key theme of the convention’s opening night, which focused on national security.
A beaming Trump personally introduced his wife to the cheering delegates gathered in Cleveland, breaking with tradition by appearing before his actual nomination.
The convention comes amid a wrenching period of violence and unrest, both in the United States and around the world.
Trump would gain the nomination at a time of crisis and tumult at home and overseas, punctuated Sunday by the deadly shooting of three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Thus, it made sense that the Republican National Convention was the flawless place for the potential next First Lady of the United States to make a more public debut. “We’re here to be delegates not rubber stamps”, said Regina Thomson a delegate from Colorado. Much of her life has remained private, especially over the course of the year since Trump announced his presidency. One example was when she said her parents taught her “that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect”. He praised the acquittal earlier Monday of a police officer in Baltimore who was charged with the death of teenager Freddie Gray and said the death of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge underscored the reason to bolster law enforcement.
The line-up of speakers and no-shows for the four-night convention was a visual representation of Trump’s struggles to unify Republicans. From the party’s former presidents to the host state governor, many leaders were staying away from the convention stage, or Cleveland altogether, wary of being linked to a man whose proposals and temperament have sparked an identity crisis within the GOP.
Trump’s team insists that by the end of the week, Republicans will plunge into the general election campaign united in their mission to defeat Clinton.
Many Republican party leaders – such as Ohio Governor John Kasich, whose state is hosting the convention – have decided not to attend this year’s festivities, turned off by Mr Trump’s controversial stances on immigration and foreign policy.
Even some of those participating in the convention seemed to be avoiding their party’s nominee. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he “probably” would have fired his own speechwriters under similar circumstances and admitted the matter was a distraction. “Which means it was freewheeling, rollicking and private”, he said, when asked about his conversation with Trump following the decision.
The summer disturbances had tensions running high outside the heavily secured convention site in Cleveland.
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Hundreds of Trump supporters and opponents held rallies a half-mile apart, with a few of the Trump supporters openly carrying guns as allowed under OH law.
