This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/jul/21/republican-national-convention-day-four-trump

The article has changed 30 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 11 Version 12
Republican convention live: Cruz speech sets up test for Trump on day four Republican convention live: Cruz speech sets up test for Trump on day four
(35 minutes later)
8.45pm BST
20:45
Law enforcement in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention has resembled a mini-convention of its own:
Political convention or police convention? What a ten minute stroll through a park in Cleveland looks like right now pic.twitter.com/inEg6ogibD
8.44pm BST
20:44
Illinois delegate stripped of credentials for 'whitepride' media handle
An elected delegate from Illinois was stripped of her Republican National Convention delegate credentials yesterday for using the handle “whitepride” on social media and posting racial slurs online.
Lori Gayne, of Chicago, was stripped of her RNC credentials once posts about “white pride” being comparable to black pride became known, state GOP Chairman Tim Schneider told the Chicago Tribune.
“The Illinois Republican Party has zero tolerance for racism of any kind and threats of violence against anyone,” Schneider said in a statement.
“Let me be unequivocally clear, racism and threats of violence have absolutely no place in the Illinois Republican Party or in a civil and inclusive society,” he said.
7.55pm BST7.55pm BST
19:5519:55
Seen on the floor of the convention:Seen on the floor of the convention:
Not entirely sure what this sign in the front row of the New York delegation means pic.twitter.com/ic4naa7SRjNot entirely sure what this sign in the front row of the New York delegation means pic.twitter.com/ic4naa7SRj
7.51pm BST7.51pm BST
19:5119:51
Donald Trump threatens The Art of the Deal ghostwriterDonald Trump threatens The Art of the Deal ghostwriter
By some counts, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been involved in roughly 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades. As of this morning, however, that number may need to be updated.By some counts, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been involved in roughly 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades. As of this morning, however, that number may need to be updated.
After Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump’s defining memoir-slash-business book The Art of the Deal, gave an in-depth interview to the New Yorker in which he said that he felt “a deep sense of remorse” for contributing to Trump’s rise and declared that “if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization,” he received a cease-and-desist letter threatening “liability for damages and other tortious harm” as a result of his “defamatory statements.”After Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump’s defining memoir-slash-business book The Art of the Deal, gave an in-depth interview to the New Yorker in which he said that he felt “a deep sense of remorse” for contributing to Trump’s rise and declared that “if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization,” he received a cease-and-desist letter threatening “liability for damages and other tortious harm” as a result of his “defamatory statements.”
The letter, penned by Trump Organization general counsel Jason D Greenblatt, demanded that Schwartz mail “a certified check made payable to Mr Trump” for the seven-figure fortune he has earned from the book’s royalties, as well as his share of the book’s half-million dollar advance.The letter, penned by Trump Organization general counsel Jason D Greenblatt, demanded that Schwartz mail “a certified check made payable to Mr Trump” for the seven-figure fortune he has earned from the book’s royalties, as well as his share of the book’s half-million dollar advance.
Greenblatt, citing “the totally baseless and shocking nature” of Schwart’z statements, also ordered the ghostwriter to issue a written retraction of his comments, which Greenblatt posited were fabricated out of professional resentment.Greenblatt, citing “the totally baseless and shocking nature” of Schwart’z statements, also ordered the ghostwriter to issue a written retraction of his comments, which Greenblatt posited were fabricated out of professional resentment.
“Your defamatory statements are the sour grapes of a man who always wanted to do more with Mr Trump but was replaced with other writers,” Greenblatt wrote. “Your disloyalty to Mr Trump ... is disappointing and unacceptable.”“Your defamatory statements are the sour grapes of a man who always wanted to do more with Mr Trump but was replaced with other writers,” Greenblatt wrote. “Your disloyalty to Mr Trump ... is disappointing and unacceptable.”
Schwartz told the New Yorker that, given Trump’s predilection for courtroom showdowns, he had anticipated legal threats from the Trump Organization, but said he planned to continue speaking out against the presidential candidate.Schwartz told the New Yorker that, given Trump’s predilection for courtroom showdowns, he had anticipated legal threats from the Trump Organization, but said he planned to continue speaking out against the presidential candidate.
“I fully expected him to attack me, because that is what he does, so I can’t say I am surprised,” Schwartz said. “But I’m much more worried about his becoming president than I am about anything he might try to do to me.”“I fully expected him to attack me, because that is what he does, so I can’t say I am surprised,” Schwartz said. “But I’m much more worried about his becoming president than I am about anything he might try to do to me.”
UpdatedUpdated
at 7.54pm BSTat 7.54pm BST
7.28pm BST7.28pm BST
19:2819:28
DC Republicans complain after delegates allocated to Donald TrumpDC Republicans complain after delegates allocated to Donald Trump
Delegates from the oft-neglected District of Columbia have filed an official objection with the decision by the secretary of the Republican National Convention to register all 19 of its delegates in support of Donald Trump, despite Trump not earning any delegates during the district’s March 12 primary.Delegates from the oft-neglected District of Columbia have filed an official objection with the decision by the secretary of the Republican National Convention to register all 19 of its delegates in support of Donald Trump, despite Trump not earning any delegates during the district’s March 12 primary.
“We strongly object to the Convention Secretary’s decision Tuesday evening to transfer all 19 of DC’s delegate votes to Presidential nominee Donald Trump,” the statement, signed by 11 of those delegates, declared.“We strongly object to the Convention Secretary’s decision Tuesday evening to transfer all 19 of DC’s delegate votes to Presidential nominee Donald Trump,” the statement, signed by 11 of those delegates, declared.
The letter complained that after 3,000 Washington, DC Republicans voted in the party’s primary election, 10 delegates were bound to Florida senator Marco Rubio and 9 delegates were bound to Ohio governor John Kasich. Despite assurances that those delegate allocations would be respected at the RNC, the letter protested that “the Republican National Committee Convention Secretary decided to take advantage of conflicting language in the DC Republican Presidential Convention and Delegate Selection Plan to ... unfairly determine that all 19 of DC’s votes would be registered in support of Donald Trump.”The letter complained that after 3,000 Washington, DC Republicans voted in the party’s primary election, 10 delegates were bound to Florida senator Marco Rubio and 9 delegates were bound to Ohio governor John Kasich. Despite assurances that those delegate allocations would be respected at the RNC, the letter protested that “the Republican National Committee Convention Secretary decided to take advantage of conflicting language in the DC Republican Presidential Convention and Delegate Selection Plan to ... unfairly determine that all 19 of DC’s votes would be registered in support of Donald Trump.”
7.15pm BST7.15pm BST
19:1519:15
Less than 24 hours before the Republican national convention comes to a close on Thursday evening, all seems quiet before Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage - but there’s still time to take a look at where the magic happens: the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui gives a tour.Less than 24 hours before the Republican national convention comes to a close on Thursday evening, all seems quiet before Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage - but there’s still time to take a look at where the magic happens: the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui gives a tour.
6.48pm BST6.48pm BST
18:4818:48
How will Trump enter the convention tonight?How will Trump enter the convention tonight?
6.41pm BST6.41pm BST
18:4118:41
David SmithDavid Smith
Tom Cotton, senator for Arkansas, was FaceTiming his wife during Ted Cruz’s convention speech. “We both had it on the background but I didn’t appreciate how exciting it was at the time,” he said at an event organised by the Politico website in Cleveland.Tom Cotton, senator for Arkansas, was FaceTiming his wife during Ted Cruz’s convention speech. “We both had it on the background but I didn’t appreciate how exciting it was at the time,” he said at an event organised by the Politico website in Cleveland.
Asked if Cruz was right to take the podium at Trump’s convention, Cotton replied: “That was a decision that Donald and Ted made. Ted has said that Donald is ‘terrific’ and he speaks the truth so hopefully they can get over their differences soon.”Asked if Cruz was right to take the podium at Trump’s convention, Cotton replied: “That was a decision that Donald and Ted made. Ted has said that Donald is ‘terrific’ and he speaks the truth so hopefully they can get over their differences soon.”
Cotton admitted that he does not know Cruz well but described him as “a smart guy” who “adds a lot to the caucus in various ways”.Earlier in the discussion, Cotton appealed for party unity after a rocky week. “My fellow Republicans should spend more time talking about the failures of the Obama administration,” he said.Cotton admitted that he does not know Cruz well but described him as “a smart guy” who “adds a lot to the caucus in various ways”.Earlier in the discussion, Cotton appealed for party unity after a rocky week. “My fellow Republicans should spend more time talking about the failures of the Obama administration,” he said.
6.38pm BST6.38pm BST
18:3818:38
The scene on the floor...The scene on the floor...
Donald Trump is perusing the stage at the #RNCinCLE, nine hours before his acceptance speech. pic.twitter.com/DPDnmHQ7KTDonald Trump is perusing the stage at the #RNCinCLE, nine hours before his acceptance speech. pic.twitter.com/DPDnmHQ7KT
5.56pm BST5.56pm BST
17:5617:56
On Monday, The Atlantic’s David Graham ran into North Carolina delegate Robert Orr on the floor of Quicken Loans Arena, and was told by the former state supreme court justice that he planned to break his family’s century-long tradition of voting for a Republican presidential candidate.On Monday, The Atlantic’s David Graham ran into North Carolina delegate Robert Orr on the floor of Quicken Loans Arena, and was told by the former state supreme court justice that he planned to break his family’s century-long tradition of voting for a Republican presidential candidate.
“I think Trump is dangerous for the country. He’s singularly unqualified to be commander-in-chief,” Orr said. “I don’t think Donald Trump cares about the Republican Party.”“I think Trump is dangerous for the country. He’s singularly unqualified to be commander-in-chief,” Orr said. “I don’t think Donald Trump cares about the Republican Party.”
Within a day, Orr’s credentials were suspended by the RNC.Within a day, Orr’s credentials were suspended by the RNC.
“They didn’t say, ‘We’re not going to give them to you,’ but it was one of those situations where I said, ‘Look, just keep the credentials. I’m going to head back,’” Orr said.“They didn’t say, ‘We’re not going to give them to you,’ but it was one of those situations where I said, ‘Look, just keep the credentials. I’m going to head back,’” Orr said.
Party unity in action.Party unity in action.
5.23pm BST5.23pm BST
17:2317:23
Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer implied that he thinks Ted Cruz is an “asshole,” echoing statements made by Representative Peter King:Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer implied that he thinks Ted Cruz is an “asshole,” echoing statements made by Representative Peter King:
.@RepPeteKing called Ted Cruz an "a--hole" -- "I'd probably use the same verbiage" says RNC's @seanspicer https://t.co/X6YfIktVyN.@RepPeteKing called Ted Cruz an "a--hole" -- "I'd probably use the same verbiage" says RNC's @seanspicer https://t.co/X6YfIktVyN
UpdatedUpdated
at 6.26pm BSTat 6.26pm BST
5.05pm BST
17:05
At a breakfast for the Texas delegation, tempers flared hot between supporters of Texas senator Ted Cruz’s refusal to endorse Donald Trump and those who think the senator took his pride too far:
The first part of that argument between Texas delegates pic.twitter.com/Wgbf4zUEKV
Texas delegates argue pic.twitter.com/DqbTZeWy1h
4.42pm BST
16:42
Hillary Clinton’s digital team has come up with a new tool to use during the campaign: #TrumpYourself.
By logging in through your Facebook account, the tool superimposes images and text of offensive statements Donald Trump has said in the past about certain groups, ranging from women and Muslims to “people who drink Diet Coke.”
A sample image from my own Facebook page:
4.23pm BST
16:23
Ben Jacobs
Ted Cruz pointedly and repeatedly refused to endorse Donald Trump this morning, saying that he was not “a servile puppy dog”.
Just hours after the Texas senator was loudly booed from the floor of the Republican convention when he did not embrace his party’s nominee, Cruz faced an impassioned audience as he took questions from his state’s delegation during a breakfast.
The runner-up in the Republican presidential primary expressed his wonderment that “rabid” Trump supporters would object to his statement that Americans should “vote their conscience”. The Texas senator insisted “in that speech last night I did not say a single negative word about Donald Trump and I’ll tell you this morning and going forward I don’t intend to say negative things about Donald Trump.”
Some Texas delegates disagreed. While Cruz received repeated standing ovations, he also was subject to constant heckles and one Texas delegate stood through the first few minutes of his speech by holding a hand-drawn sign saying “Clinton Cruz 2020”.
Cruz pushed back against audience members who brought the pledge that he and other Republican candidates had made to support the eventual GOP nominee, saying that that promise “was abrogated” when Trump attacked his family. “I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and my father,” he said.
“That pledge is not a blanket commitment [that] if you go slander and attack Heidi I am nonetheless going to come like a servile puppy dog and say ‘thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father.’” The Texas senator added: “This is not politics … Right and wrong matters.”
During the primary, Trump had suggested that Cruz’s father Rafael was involved in the assassination of John F Kennedy and tweeted unflattering pictures of Cruz’s wife Heidi in the course of the campaign while also threatening to “spill the beans” on her.
While many in the room on Thursday supported Cruz’s stand, others were deeply disappointed. Bonnie Lugo of Houston thought that the Texas senator was “speaking in hurt, bitterness and disappointment.” She noted that although “things were said about his father and wife, he was in a campaign and that’s what campaign’s are about”.
Craig Harvey of Houston was even more angry. He felt Cruz gave “a wasted speech” in the convention hall Wednesday night and again Thursday morning. “The same ego trip, no clear answers,” Harvey said.
Cruz noted that he had specifically told Trump over the phone earlier this week that he would not endorse him and had submitted his speech for approval by the nominee’s campaign.
Cruz only criticized Trump directly once in the midst of his ongoing Q&A. “Let me point out by the way: can anyone imagine our nominee standing in front of voters and taking questions like this?”
Afterward, Cruz left quickly and the room erupted into chaos as those who agreed with Cruz’s stance argued fiercely with those who disagreed. Shouts and recriminations went back and forth as Texas Republicans called each other traitors and cowards.
As Cruz left the stage, top Trump adviser Paul Manafort took shots at the Texas senator in a press conference held in a hotel just across the street. “The party is definitely more unified – there are a number of Cruz delegates who were on the floor today … who disagree with what Mr Cruz said,” Manafort said.
“We think it became very clear to everybody that Donald Trump has been very magnanimous in his outreach program – he invited all the presidential candidates who ran” to speak, and “everyone did attend and, in his own way, endorse the ticket.”
“He was the only speech in the convention that was poorly received by the body in the hall,” Manafort said of Cruz. “That was Senator Cruz’s decision. As far as the contract [of party unity] was concerned, he was the one in violation, not anybody else.”
4.11pm BST
16:11
Cruz campaign manager: Chris Christie 'turned over his political testicles'
Ted Cruz’s campaign manager dismissed criticism from New Jersey govenor Chris Christie over Cruz’s repudiation of Donald Trump on the main stage of the Republican National Convention, telling a Philadelphia radio station that the governor had “turned over his political testicles long ago.”
“That guy turned over his political testicles long ago,” Jeff Roe told the Chris Stigall Show. “So I don’t take what he has to say with any meaning. You know, he embarrassed himself pretty quickly in this.”
Christie told CNN in the wake of Cruz’s speech that the senator’s actions were “selfish” and demonstrative of his poor reputation in the US Senate.
In the interview, Roe also said that Cruz’s speech - contrary to many predictions - was not a bid to set the stage for another presidential run four years from now.
“Ted Cruz is running for reelection in 2018,” Roe said. “If this was a 2020 power move by Ted Cruz, this would be the easiest speech to give, is to endorse. So this is, it shouldn’t be lost on any of your listeners that this is not in defiance. We’re not gonna speak ill of the nominee. That’s not what this is about. We’re not gonna rub anybody’s noses in it.”
3.56pm BST
15:56
Donald Trump, for one, is celebrating the party unity fomented at the Republican National Convention this week.
Other than a small group of people who have suffered massive and embarrassing losses, the party is VERY united. Great love in the arena!
3.23pm BST
15:23
If you missed Laura Ingraham’s speech at the Republican National Convention last night:
#RNCinCLE in one GIF: pic.twitter.com/OlrqbnKUVd
2.52pm BST
14:52
Trump campaign chair: Ted Cruz's speech 'poorly received'
A doleful Paul Manafort told reporters this morning that last night’s speeches at the Republican National Convention were a success, despite a blistering rebuke from Texas senator Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse Donald Trump as the party’s presidential nominee and instead urged conservatives to “vote your conscience.”
“The party is definitely more unified - there are a number of Cruz delegates who were on the floor today... who disagree with what Mr. Cruz said,” Manafort said. “We think it became very clear to everybody that Donald Trump has been a very magnanimous in his outreach program - he invited all the presidential candidates who ran” to speak, and “everyone did attend and, in his own way, endorse the ticket.”
“He was the only speech in the convention that was poorly received by the body in the hall. That was Senator Cruz’s decision,” Manafort continued. “As far as the contract [of party unity] was concerned, he was the one in violation, not anybody else.”
On the subject of Nato, certain treaties of which Trump suggested in an interview with the New York Times yesterday could be ignored by the US, Manafort declared that while he was not interested in getting into “a foreign policy speech,” he clarified Trump’s remarks to say that the presidential nominee thinks the treaty organization “needs to be modernized.”
When asked about the Melania Trump plagiarism scandal, Manafort defended his campaign’s statements following the Monday night address, insisting that statements that there was no plagiarism were truthful.
“None of us knew that Miss [Meredith McIver] was even involved with the process,” Manafort said of the Trump Organization staff writer who penned an open letter admitting to including sections of Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech in front of the Democratic National Convention in Melania Trump’s speech. “The speechwriters who have been involved with the speech that I was aware of, said that they didn’t do it,” and the campaign “immediately” released McIver’s statement once it became clear that the plagiarism accusations were true.
McIver wrote in her letter than she informed the Trump campaign on Tuesday of the speech’s problems; the campaign did not release her statement until Wednesday afternoon.
2.06pm BST
14:06
More on tonight’s theme...
Tonight’s theme acknowledges America’s serious challenges at home and the threats we face abroad. In order to turn our challenges into opportunities and keep America secure, we need leadership that will focus on what unites us, not what divides us. Donald Trump and Mike Pence will move our country beyond the divisive identity politics that have been holding us back by restoring leadership, building trust, and focusing on our shared love of country and our common goal of making America great again.
Thursday’s program will highlight the Republican Party’s vision for bringing Americans together and creating the conditions that will allow everyone – young people, working families, and entrepreneurs from all walks of life – to pursue their aspirations. Featured speakers include Reince Priebus, Peter Thiel, Tom Barrack, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump.
2.01pm BST
14:01
At least one Republican is delighted with Ted Cruz’s remarks at the Republican National Convention last night: Former Cruz campaign operative Chris Wilson.
I have never been more proud to work for Ted Cruz that I was tonight. This speech will survive the test of time-historically courageous.
12.39pm BST
12:39
Republican national convention: day four
Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s campaign live blog, coming at you live from Cleveland, Ohio, the site of the long-anticipated Republican National Convention, now in its fourth and final day.
The Trump campaign probably thought its biggest speech controversy was behind it after an in-house staff writer for the Trump Organization accepted responsibility for the “plagiarism” controversy over Melania Trump’s speech at the RNC.
Then Texas senator Ted Cruz stepped on to the dais.
In stunning remarks during the primetime TV hour apparently designed to lay the groundwork for a future bid for the presidency, Cruz refused to formally endorse Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.
“Please, don’t stay home in November,” Cruz said. “Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution.”
The apparent slap in the face to the Republican presidential nominee, probably the result of a bitter primary fight between the two – which included Trump attacking the physical appearance of Cruz’s wife Heidi, and implicating Cruz’s father in the assassination of John F Kennedy – ignited a cacophony of booing during Cruz’s remarks, echoed by the nominee himself:
Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn't honor the pledge! I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!
With the shadow of Cruz’s snub hanging over the final day of the convention, Trump’s primetime remarks tonight gain a new import. Not only will Trump have to unify a clearly fractured Republican party whose wounds from the primary have yet to heal – he will also have to deliver a speech unparalleled by any remarks he has made in his 13 months as a candidate to retake the news cycle. With nearly three days lost to the epic mismanagement of the Melania Trump speech scandal, and another to Cruz’s remarks, Trump has only one chance to wrest the narrative back under his control before the Democratic National Convention next week drowns him in negative coverage.
That fresh start will probably dominate today’s RNC program. Today’s theme: “Make America One Again”, featuring a roster of speakers who will focus on the herculean task of unifying a divided nation. Beginning at 7:30pm EDT, tonight’s primetime roster of speakers includes billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel, real estate investor Tom Barrack, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump himself.
We’ll have more on the full roster of speakers as the day progresses, but first off: a presser from Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
On with the show!
Updated
at 1.40pm BST