It’s begun! TrumpFest 2016, otherwise known as the Republican National Convention. Here’s everything you need to know about what happened on night one:
Donald Trump steps on his own convention
As speakers took to the stage talking about personal impacts from the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, including the mother of Sean Smith, a U.S. information management officer who died in the attack, Donald Trump called in to Fox News to do an interview.
So instead of the convention, the network aired the interview, during which Trump explained that he planned a simple introduction for his wife Monday.
"She understands me better than anybody else," he said, adding that it's tough to go on national television but "she's got tremendous confidence."
Meanwhile, Smith was talking about how she holds Hillary Clinton personally responsible for her son's death.
"How could she do this to any American family?" she said in one of the most compelling moments of the night. "She deserves to be in stripes."
After the Trump interview, Fox went to commercial, rather than carrying the remarks by security contractors who survived Benghazi.
Melania's moment...or Michelle's?
The prospective first lady spoke for roughly 15 minutes extolling her husband's values, his love for America and his fighting spirit, which she said he would use to serve the country.
The former model recounted her own up-from-the-bootstraps story of being born in a small town in Slovenia, entering the “incredible arena of fashion” and becoming an American citizen.
She also invited viewers to join in "a national campaign like no other" and said she understood there would be ups and downs.
"It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama," she said, smiling.
But her remarks quickly drew charges of plagiarism, as portions of them mirrored word-for-word Michelle Obama's speech from 2008, including a section about working hard for what you want in life. Cooper Allen has the full breakdown of the speeches here.
Of course, the Internet responded as expected:
Maybe they should have saved her for later
After Melania Trump spoke, the excitement in the arena noticeably slipped away. As did the actual delegates, when the next speakers delivered remarks.
Rudy on full blast
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani gave one of the more exuberant speeches of the night, hitting the Obama administration — including presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton — for failed policies and chaos.
"Her dereliction of duty and failure to keep her people safe played a major role in the horrific Islamic terrorist murders on September 11-12, 2012 in Benghazi, which claimed the lives of four brave Americans," he said.
Giuliani said Trump can keep America safe in the wake of repeated terrorist attacks and mass shootings that have made Americans "fear for their children and fear for themselves."
"It’s time to make America safe again," he said. "It's time to make America one again."
So much for the 'showbiz'
The Donald promised to put some "showbiz" into the convention (so people don't fall asleep), and true to his word, there are some atypical speakers on night one, but they weren't exactly showbizzy.
Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson kicked off the night's speeches with a serious oration that sought, among other things, to explain how the media all got Trump wrong — "They don’t hang out with regular folks like us who like to hunt and fish and pray and actually work for a living."
He continued with a sequence of pledges that Trump will have our backs, "no matter who you are," "if you're looking for a job," "if you're trying to grow a business," "a serviceman fighting overseas," or " a cop who is risking their lives to help keep us safe at home."
So maybe Scott Baio has some showbiz? Nope. The famed Chachi from Happy Days had tough words for Democrats in his explanation of what it means to be an American. "It doesn't mean getting free stuff."
Then there was Antonio Sabato Jr, a soap opera actor who noted, "I am not your typical convention speaker," but then delivered a serious stemwinder reminiscent of a typical convention.
Maybe there'll be more showbizzy stuff Tuesday, when another Bold and Beautiful actor, Kimberlin Brown, speaks.
Or maybe, with wall-to-wall Trumps speaking all week (Melania, Tiffany, Eric, Donald Jr., Ivanka and the presumptive nominee) that's all the showbiziness one needs, right there.
Colorado? Hello?
The state was one of several that had hoped to thwart Trump's nomination, and former top Obama adviser David Axelrod notes there weren't a lot of Colorado delegates in their seats ...
Oh look, it's Bob Dole
The 1996 Republican presidential nominee was in the house, seated next to Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and just in front of Tiffany Trump.
#NeverTrump never die?
Colorado delegates were part of a contingent of Anyone But Trump folks who keep on trying. They launched into chants of “roll call vote! roll call vote!” on the convention floor earlier Monday after their attempt to derail Trump’s nomination was defeated in a voice vote.
But instead of a roll call vote, where each vote is officially recorded, another vote voice was taken with each side yelling for their preference — aye to block the effort or nay to keep it alive.
“In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., who was presiding over the contentious proceedings.
There had been a move to gather support for a petition asking that the convention not adopt rules that would have thwarted their attempts to unbind delegates — meaning allow them to vote for someone other than Trump despite how their state voted.
There may or may not have been some strong-arming by Trump troops asking states to drop their support of the petition.
As it turns out, three states did revoke their support, deep-sixing the petition strategy. Will #NeverTrump die now? Stay tuned …
Trump bashes 'dumb' CNN panel
The Donald was not happy with the network's decision not to carry live some of the opening speakers Monday.
Hmmm. We are pretty sure there was only one network that may have carried every single speaker live in the opening hours. Here's lookin' at you, C-SPAN.
Protests peaceful … so far …
All manner of groups are marching and protesting in Cleveland, from the Coalition to Stop Trump to "Cop Block" activists who wrote anti-police slogans on the road near the Quicken Loans Arena where the convention is being held.
But our USA TODAY team on the streets reported all has been mostly peaceful so far …
Some of the most fanciful attractions on the streets may just be the characters, and the spectacle of it all:
Omarosa outreach: ‘This is real’
It may not be the talent that comes to mind when one thinks of Omarosa Manigault, the villainous contestant from The Apprentice, but the Trump campaign has officially tasked her with building bridges to the African-American community.
No, really.
“I am proud to serve in that role … It is a very difficult time for our country, but the good thing I know is that I know Donald Trump at his heart … and I know what he can do in that role (as president).”
The revelation left some, well, still reconciling with reality.
Trump crushing Clinton on Facebook
As the convention opened, the folks over at Facebook tallied up all the mentions and interactions of the presidential candidates for the past month and discovered Trump leading presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by millions:
Trump:
• People: 27,346,000
• Interactions: 221,906,000 (tags, comments, posts, shares)
Clinton:
• People: 24,615,000
• Interactions: 215,429,000
Of course, that lead is merely in buzz. Facebook doesn't differentiate between negative and positive mentions. Unsurprisingly, the top political subjects on US. Facebook are:
- Crime & Criminal Justice
- Government Ethics
- Homeland Security & Terrorism
- Guns
- Religion
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