America is in crisis, Trump said, with attacks on police and domestic terrorists threatening “our very way of life”.
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“The irresponsible rhetoric of our president, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more risky environment for everyone”, Trump said. In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. Trump soon dubbed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” and started talking about Cruz’s family; Cruz painted Trump as a con man and a charlatan.
Trump said policies pursued by Clinton in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria had made a bad situation worse. Arguing that her tenure as secretary of state under Obama fomented instability overseas, including the expansion of Islamic State, he said, “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”.
The Trump family in the VIP box was stony-faced. “Before introducing her father, Ivanka Trump walked out on stage to The Beatles” “Here Comes The Sun”, written by George Harrison.
Father and daughter took the stage together in the afternoon for an extensive walkthrough, taking turns standing at the podium and staring out into an arena that will be filled with jubilant delegates by evening.
“The problem is, he’s so unlikable”, Donald Trump Jr. said about Cruz in a CNN interview, emulating his father’s penchant for personal put-downs. If Mrs. Clinton wins in November, Mr. Cruz will have a hard time rebuilding his base and ever attracting Trump supporters, who would rightly feel rejected and betrayed.
“He probably thinks he’s on top of the world, like he’s the messiah”, King said. “There are still a lot of people at the convention and within the party who are not sure where he’s going to stand”. “My message is that things have to change – and they have to change right now”, Trump said.
Update: Politco reports that RNC speakers” drafts were leaked to a Hillary Clinton-friendly group: “The super PAC, Correct the Record, obtained a document containing the drafts from “a Republican source who had access to it and they sent it to us, ‘ said Correct the Record founder David Brock, a close Clinton ally”.
Wife Melania’s headlining speech at the Republican convention this week was initially well received.
“Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place”.
The prevailing narrative at the Cleveland convention has not been about Trump’s positions, but dominated instead by the failure of he party’s various factions to unite behind Trump. Phil Robertson, the star of TV’s “Duck Dynasty”, who stumped around the country for Cruz’s presidential campaign, told Cruz to “swallow your pride”.
A big part of the speech’s message was that Donald Trump supports women.
Ted Cruz faced a volatile crowd as chants of “Endorse Trump” rang out during his remarks at the Republican National Convention. However, a Cruz aide said Thursday that one of Trump’s advisers had reached out to the senator’s team shortly before the speech in hopes of getting a last-minute commitment. It included rowdy protests outside the convention halls and a rebellion inside the arena by delegates who tried to support a different candidate from the one they were pledged to nominate. The New York delegation just below where Senator Cruz was speaking were incensed.
During the campaign, Trump retweeted an unflattering image of Cruz’s wife, Heidi, and suggested Cruz’s Cuban-born father had been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Steve Lonegan, who ran Cruz’s New Jersey presidential campaign, defended the Texan’s refusal to back the nominee. “To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and all of our towns, I make this promise: We will make America strong again”.
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While Mr. Trump is far from a flawless candidate, conservatives like Mr. Cruz will have a seat at the table in his administration.
