Then one of the event’s highlights, a speech by Trump’s wife on Monday night (Tuesday NZT) caused controversy over plagiarism because she used some lines that were similar to passages in an address by first lady Michelle Obama in 2008.
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Appearing before delegates, the most unorthodox and controversial presidential contender in modern times will accept the nomination of a party that has guided more candidates to the Oval Office than any other.
The most unifying aspect of the convention has been savage assaults on Clinton, portraying her as a criminal and a liar who should be jailed, with cries of “lock her up, lock her up”.
“Throughout my entire life, I have witnessed his empathy and generosity towards others, especially those who are suffering; it’s just his way of being in your corner when you’re down”, she said.
In it, he attacked Ms Clinton and her foreign policy background and also focused on violence in the US.
Trump said policies pursued by Clinton in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria had made a bad situation worse. He blamed her for the rise of Islamic State militants and blasted her willingness to accept thousands of Syrian refugees. “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”, Mr Trump said. Ted Cruz’s dramatic refusal to endorse the GOP nominee from the convention stage.
“I will present the facts plainly and honestly”.
Mr Cruz was recounting to an audience how he had outlasted most of his 16 rivals for the Republican presidential nomination when a plane carrying the man who had won it, Mr Trump, flew overhead, interrupting him mid-speech. “It’s also a prelude to reaching the goal that unites us all when this party, and better still this country, will know what it’s like to win again”, she said.
Speaking to a passionate but divided Texas delegation, Cruz said the unconditional support for the GOP nominee that he had promised earlier this year disappeared “the day this became personal”. He suggested Trump has “a freaky and occasionally obsequious fascination with Russia’s strongman”.
Trump had repeatedly mocked Cruz throughout the campaign as “Lyin’ Ted”, disparaged the appearance of Cruz’s wife, Heidi, and insinuated that Cruz’s father had indirect links to John F. Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.
“I’m not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father”, he said. “And that pledge was not a blanket commit that if you go and slander and attack Heidi that I’m going to come like a servile puppy dog and say, ‘ Thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father'”.
Cruz (who I should note is an old friend) had said that voters should pick the candidate they can trust to protect the Constitution.
“We will stop it”, Trump said.
Another side to this story is that the Trump camp seemed to have known that Cruz wasn’t going to endorse the billionaire real estate magnate.
“I have seen him fight for his family, I have seen him fight for his employees, I have seen him fight for his company, and I am seeing him fight for our country”. “If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes”, he said.
Barron Trump, center, son of Donald and Melania Trump, talks to Tiffany Trump as Melania Trump sits at right during the final day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Thursday, July 21, 2016. “They will never forget that and they will never forgive him for that”, Burlison said.
The White House responded to Mr Trump’s comments by saying there should be no mistaking the commitment of the U.S. to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance with its European allies.
After Wednesday night, the best hope for the Republican Party to come together might rest on Mrs Clinton, who has been frequently vilified at the Cleveland convention.
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The New York businessman, who has never held elective office, needs a strong performance on Thursday night to improve his chances of getting a boost in opinion polls as Democrats prepare for their own more scripted convention next week in Philadelphia. Not Marco Rubio, not Chris Christie, not Newt Gingrich.
