Completing his historic drive to the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump told a divided Republican Party Thursday that he will be a voice for frustrated Americans who have been let down by government and the elites who have run it for decades.
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“I wasn’t going to come like a servile puppy dog and say “Thank you very much” for maligning my wife and father”, Cruz told angry pro-Trump delegates from the Lone Star State.
Hillary Clinton will be nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate at her party’s convention beginning Monday July 25 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Throughout the Cleveland convention Republicans have rallied around chants of “lock her up”. “The problems we face now – poverty and violence at home, war and destruction overseas – will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them”.
Cruz never denied the man was his father, but Trump said he blamed him.
He offered himself as a powerful ally of those who feel Washington has left them behind. “See, to me, that’s dishonorable”.
Donald Trump accused Democratic rival Hillary Clinton of a legacy of “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness” as USA secretary of state and declared himself a friend of the working class.
When asked why he reneged on his pledge to support the Republican nominee, Cruz said Trump invalidated the promise when the billionaire made personal attacks on his wife and hinted his father played a part in the assassination of President Kennedy.
He stuck to the controversial proposals of his primary campaign, including building a wall along the entire U.S. -Mexico border and suspending immigration from nations “compromised by terrorism”.
Aside from Clinton, much of the focus has also been on other supposed enemies of the real America, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, which attracted most attention from former NY mayor Rudy Giuliani and seems to have, at least momentarily, seen African Americans regain their role from Mexicans of favoured bogeyman of the largely white USA conservative population.
On the eve of his address, Trump suggested a new course for US foreign policy, saying he would set different conditions before coming to the defense of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
My, how times have changed. Though he vanquished 16 primary rivals, he’s viewed with unprecedented negativity by the broader electorate, and is struggling in particular with younger voters and minorities, groups GOP leaders know they need for the party to grow.
Trump’s claim that Cruz changed his speech appears to contradict a statement he made on Twitter Thursday, the morning after Cruz’s speech, which made no mention of Cruz adding provocative statements to his prepared address. Ted Cruz’s dramatic refusal to endorse him from the convention stage.
Then, Trump sparked more questions about his Oval Office readiness by suggesting in the midst of the convention that the USA might not defend America’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partners with him as president.
Trump supporters were furious at Cruz, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who called the senator “totally selfish”. He also disavowed America’s foreign policy posture under both Democrat and Republican presidents, criticizing “fifteen years of wars in the Middle East” and declaring that “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo”.
“We will win the hearts and minds of the American people with an agenda for a stronger and more prosperous America”, said Pence.
The real estate businessman promised to create jobs for all Americans by cutting taxes and reducing regulations on businesses. Her greatest accomplishment, Trump said, was avoiding punishment from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for her use of a private email and personal server while as secretary of state.
As Trump wrapped up his convention, Clinton was closing in on her selection of a running mate.
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Ivanka is expected to be a key surrogate for her father in the general election campaign, particularly as he tries to make up ground against Clinton among women.
