Jeers and yells filled the convention floor in Cleveland, Ohio, yesterday as simmering divisions among thousands of Republican delegates spilled out into the open.
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A Trump campaign official suggested the similarity to Michelle Obama’s speech may have been the result of an error by her team of speech writers.
In a surprise, Trump announced he would come to Cleveland and go onstage on opening night to introduce her.
Delegates erupted in competing chants in a televised dispute Republican leaders had hoped to avoid.
During the roll call of the states, the head of each delegation will declare his or her states’ vote breakdown.
Side-by-side comparisons of the transcripts show the text in Trump’s address following, almost to the word, the first lady’s own from the first night of the Democratic convention in Denver almost eight years ago.
Above all, Trump made clear his campaign is about making the nation afraid of Hillary Clinton. Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee, is spending time with 36 members of his family at an annual summer gathering in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, his spokesperson said. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, according to excerpts of her speech released in advance.
The convention comes amid a wrenching period of violence and unrest, both in the United States and around the world.
Sunday’s shooting of three policemen in Baton Rouge – a targeted attack that may have been in retaliation for a series of police killings of black Americans – hung over the gathering. “You have to actually directly challenge at the microphone to the chairman and say a specific phrase or they are going to call it out of order”. “We have had some of the anti-Trump people trying to shout from the floor”, Trump delegate Tom Fife said.
“The question I hear again and again is ‘where is American leadership?”
First night of the GOP convention is in the books.
After a harsh primary, Republicans kicked off Donald Trump’s general election campaign with a warm and personal validation from his wife.
“If Hillary Clinton can’t give us the truth, why should we give her the presidency”, asked Pat Smith. Mr. King, a Cleveland native, will not take the stage.
While several big name Republicans opted not to show up for the convention, including George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, the first night’s speakers included an odd variety of TV celebrities such as Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson and Charles in Charge (remember that show?) lead Scott Baio.
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Shortly before his wife was to take the stage in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention, presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump did a live phone interview on Fox News – effectively preempting the convention’s ongoing speeches. “He’d have to change everything that he says”, the governor said.
