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Republican convention live: Mike Pence accepts vice-presidential nomination
(35 minutes later)
3.14am BST
3.49am BST
03:14
03:49
Eric Trump continues with an anecdote about Oprah Winfrey asking his father whether he’d ever run for president. Trump said, “Only if it got so bad that I had no choice.”
Here’s the moment Donald Trump enters the arena – just as Cruz gets his boo:
Eric Trump says: “Well ladies and gentlemen, that day has come.”
3.48am BST
He describes things he sees in his father’s eyes, specifically frustration at America’s crumbling infrastructure, failing schools and ballooning trade deficit.
03:48
But also Eric sees in his father’s eyes the look of someone who wants America to be great again.
Pence says his dad would have loved to be here tonight. An “Would you join me in welcoming the light of my life, my mom, Nancy?”
The New York delegation chants Trump Trump Trump.
Nancy stands in yonder stands.
Eric Trump quote MLK Jr: “The most persistent question is what are you doing for others.” He begins to talk about the charity work of his foundation.
Pence brings hand to lips, his eyes twinkle a bit and he throws her a kiss. That’s a sweet moment.
Eric Trump points out that Trump himself is in the house. So he is, over there.
He introduces his wife Karen next, his wife of 31 years.
3.09am BST
“The most important job I’ll ever have is spelled D-A-D,” he says. He says they have the three greatest kids in the world including a second lieutenant in the US marine corps, a writer and a college student. Applause.
03:09
“If you know anything about Hoosiers, you know we love to suit up and compete,” he says. That’s why he said yes in a heartbeat.
Eric Trump: 'It's time for a president with common sense'
“On November 8th, I know we will elect Donald Trump to be the 45th president of the United States of AMerica.”
Eric Trump is listing the accomplishments of his father. These include turning the presidential debates into “must-see TV.”
Lots of cheers at that line.
Trump says he saw his father grow frustrated with stuff that was going wrong in the USA. “He could no longer stand to see the words [sic] “Christmas” stripped from public use... so my father made the courageous decision to set aside a company to which he has devoted an entire life... at a time when many people would have held fast to a lifestyle that has truly become the epitome of the American dream,” Trump sought to restore that dream to the people, Eric Trump says.
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He says his dad is the best person to implement tax reform and introduce business sense and “negotiate the return of countless American manufacturers” ... “than a many who has single-handedly employed tens and tens of thousands of people around this country.
03:44
“It’s time for a president with common sense,” Eric Trump says.
Pence says “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order.”
3.05am BST
He says he never thought he’d be standing there. “Yet there I was, a few days ago in New York City, with the man who won 37 states.”
03:05
Pence doesn’t mention how Trump flew him to New York then left him in limbo for a day while he decided whether to dump him.
Well it appears Chris Janson’s latest harmonica solo has finally killed all the video screens in the Quicken Loans arena. Every Jumbotron in the place has flickered off.
Pence then scores two laughs in a row. He notes that Trump has style and charisma.
As Eric Trump walks out, the Jumbotons go back on, but the LED crawlers ringing the arena at two levels are blinking on and off. It’s a strobe effect, a malfunction, distracting, the kind of thing that might come with a seizure warning.
“So I guess he was just looking for some balance on the ticket.”
Eric Trump dives into his speech anyway.
Ha!
They finally get those crawlers turned off.
Then this: “Well, for those who don’t know me, which is most of you...”
3.01am BST
Another laugh.
03:01
3.42am BST
Boos for Cruz
03:42
Here are those boos:
Ryan calls for the election of Donald Trump as president. He is behind the movement, aboard the train:
Boos about as loud as cheers as Cruz finishes speech at #rnc2016 #rncincle https://t.co/nHNfzpXPlD
I have no doubt that he will bring real change to Washington. I have every confidence that he will do us all proud.
Then he introduces Pence and there’s a great deal of cheering.
Pence comes out and looks great with an electric blue tie against a background of the same color. And the white-shirt white-hair thing. Really works.
He says he accepts the nomination. The crowd cheers and cheers.
3.38am BST
03:38
House speaker Paul Ryan comes out to introduce Indiana governor Mike Pence, the vice presidential nominee.
“I could not be more proud of our vice presidential nominee,” Ryan says. “... This is a man of solid character... who sees public service as a calling not a career... the results are impressive.”
3.37am BST
03:37
The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland was with the delegates as they began to realize – and then grow angry at the fact – that Cruz was not going to endorse Donald Trump:
"Endorse Trump" and "Stand by your pledge" chant delegates near me
Chant of "Endorse Trump!" Anger at Cruz for not saying the words pic.twitter.com/tCyJOdslBE
One CT delegate tells me Cruz is "done". Furious at his failure to endorse. "Politically he's a has-been. Texas should be embarrassed"
Re PT. Those words from CT delegate Joe Santopietro. Described Cruz non-endorsement as "terrible, disappointing". CT delegation livid.
Eric Trump speech wholly overshadowed by what just happened here: a profound snub to the nominee from his closest rival #RNCinCLE
3.32am BST
03:32
Breaking:
Wow more plagiarism from Melania pic.twitter.com/oYee2VzYKt
3.29am BST
03:29
Gingrich flips over to national security.
“Donald Trump is right,” he says. “We are at war with radical Islamists, we are losing the war, and we must change course to win the war.”
Then Gingrich says the media will distort what he says next:
Let me be very clear, because I know the news media will do their best to distort this.
We have nothing to fear from the vast majority of Muslims in the United States, or around the world.
The vast majority are peaceful. They are often the victims of the violence themselves.
They are people we would be happy to have as our friends and neighbors.
That last line gets applause, to the crowd’s credit.
There’s a ‘but’:
The challenge is, when even a small percentage of a billion, six hundred million people support violence against those who disagree with them, that is still a giant recruiting base.
3.26am BST
03:26
But don’t let Newt Gingrich tell you what Ted Cruz said. Watch it again:
HEIDI CRUZ escorted out by security as crowd gets angry at Cruz for his speech. One Trump supporter shouting "Goldman Sachs!" at her
3.24am BST
03:24
Gingrich says Cruz non-endorsement was an endorsement
Next Callista Gingrich introduces Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich gets out there and tells the crowd,
“I think you misunderstood one paragraph that Ted Cruz,” a fantastic orator, said.
Gingrich says that Cruz said, “you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the constitution.”
Which means, says Gingrich:
In this election, there is only one candidate who will uphold the constitution. So, to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if you want to uphold the constitution of the United States, the only candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence ticket.
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03:01
03:21
We’ve just had a video of Trump’s children talking about their father. They said good things without exception. Now noted harmonica-ist Chris Janson is back, to sing an adapted version of a song called “Truck Yeah.”
Trump in the audience
He makes it “Trump yeah.”
Donald Trump had sat through Eric Trump’s speech but now he’s left the stands, perhaps to duck backstage.
2.59am BST
02:59
Cruz thunderously booed
The crowd realizes that Ted Cruz is coming to the end of his speech and that he will not endorse Trump, or even mention him again. They are growing restive. Chants and counter-chants, people standing and giving the old double-thumbs-down.
Cruz has come to the end of his prepared remarks, but he’s not rushing it. He seems to be enjoying, somehow, the palpable rancor in the air. He speaks these lines off the cuff:
“The case we have to make to the American people.. is to commit that we will defend freedom and be faithul to the American constitution.
“We will unit the party, unite the country, by standing for” these freedoms.”
“God bless each and every one of you and god bless the United States of America.”
And the place goes wild, 18,000 booing people.
Cruz stands there and smiles and waves. He doesn’t care.
Boos about as loud as cheers as Cruz finishes speech at #rnc2016 #rncincle https://t.co/nHNfzpXPlD
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2.55am BST
02:55
Cruz: 'vote your conscience'
Cruz:
We deserve leaders who stand for principle. Unite us all behind shared values. Cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect, from everybody.
And to those listening, please, don’t stay home in November. If you love our country, and love your children as much as I know you do, 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.
Cruz here is both cheered and booed. A rallying cry of Trump! Trump! breaks out, and a counter-cry of USA! USA! percolates. Especially right in front of Cruz, where the New Yorkers are.
“I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation,” Cruz says.
Then he returns to his prepared remarks:
It’s love of freedom that has allowed millions to achieve their dreams. Like my Mom, the first in her family to go to college, and my Dad, who fled prison and torture in Cuba, coming to Texas with just $100 sewn into his underwear.
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02:52
Cruz on the recent glories of the Republican party:
Our party was founded to defeat slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
We passed the Civil Rights Act, and fought to eliminate Jim Crow laws.
That’s our collective legacy, although the media will never show it to you.
Cruz is speaking directly into cameras carrying his words to like 20 million people at least.
As Cruz speaks, there’s a brief electrical outage, everything flickering, the big screens. But it’s just a glitch.
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2.50am BST
02:50
Cruz calls for a wall
The biggest applause line of Cruz’s speech so far:
We deserve an immigration system that puts America first. And yes, builds a wall to keep us safe.
Then Cruz, recklessly and counterfactually, brands refugees as “Isis terrorists,” as news reports emerge of dozens of Syrian civilians killed by US ordnance.
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02:48
Cruz describes a bunch of things that “freedom means,” including freedom to have guns and freedom from other people having abortions.
Also, states’ rights:
And freedom means recognizing that our Constitution allows states to choose policies that reflect local values. Colorado may decide something different than Texas. New York different than Iowa. Diversity. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. If not, what’s the point of having states to begin with?
Cruz says Clinton is anti freedom. His lines about her are booed:
Hillary Clinton believes government should make virtually every choice in your life. Education, healthcare, marriage, speech – all dictated out of Washington.
Cruz then touts the Brexit vote. Big cheers now:
But something powerful is happening. We’ve seen it in both parties. We’ve seen it in the United Kingdom’s unprecedented Brexit vote to leave the European Union.
Voters are overwhelmingly rejecting the political establishment and big government. That’s a profound victory.
2.45am BST
02:45
Cruz describes 'return to freedom'
The room is absolutely packed for Cruz, the fullest it’s been yet. He has progressed gracefully through a few movements: the tragic story of the daughter of an assassinated officer; the American ideal; the sins of the Democrats, and now a “vision for our future”:
Theirs is the party that thinks ISIS is a “JV team,” that responds to the death of Americans at Benghazi by asking, “What difference does it make?” That thinks it’s possible to make a deal with Iran, which celebrates as holidays “Death to America Day” and “Death to Israel Day.”
My friends, this is madness.
President Obama is a man who does everything backwards – he wants to close Guantanamo Bay and open up our borders, he exports jobs and imports terrorists.
Enough is enough.
And I am here to tell you, there is a better vision for our future: A return to freedom.
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02:41
Cruz has left Trump behind, apparently for good. He gets a good bit of applause for a line about Americans having no king. Then he almost says that American exceptionalism comes down to Freddie Mercury:
America is more than just a land mass between two oceans. America is an idea, a simple yet powerful idea: freedom matters.
For much of human history, government power has been the unavoidable constant in life – government decrees, and the people obey.
Not here. We have no king or queen. No dictator. We the People constrain government.
Our nation is exceptional because it was built on the five most powerful words in the English language: I want to be free.
Never has that message been more needed than today.
2.38am BST
02:38
Cruz tells the story of Michael Smith, one of five officers shot dead in Dallas. The story becomes a call to action:
As I thought about what I wanted to say tonight, Michael Smith’s story weighed on my heart. Maybe that’s because his daughter, Caroline, is about the same age as my eldest daughter and happens to share the same name. Maybe it’s because I saw a video of that dear, sweet child choking back sobs as she remembered her daddy’s last question to her. Maybe it’s because we live in a world where so many others have had their lives destroyed by evil, in places like Orlando and Paris and Nice and Baton Rouge. Maybe it is because of the simple question itself:
What if this, right now, is our last time? Our last moment to do something for our families and our country?
Did we live up to our values? Did we do all we could?
2.35am BST
02:35
Cruz congratulates Trump on winning 'last night'
Ted Cruz is announced and appears. People clap forever and whistle. Some boo.
“Thank you and god bless each and every one of you,” he says.
Thank you. Heidi and I are honored to join you here in Cleveland, where Lebron James just led an incredible comeback victory. I’m convinced America is going to come back too.
I want to congratulate Donald Trump on winning the nomination last night. And like each of you, I want to see the principles that our party believes prevail in November.
Conventions are times of excitement. But given the events of the last few weeks, I hope you’ll allow me a moment to talk to you about what’s really at stake.
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2.33am BST
02:33
Whoa here suddenly is Marco Rubio, addressing crowd via JumboTron.
He attacks Hillary Clinton over Benghazi. “Unlike Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is committed to cut taxes, curb spending... [he] takes seriously the threat from Islamic radicals...”
Rubio’s video image gets applause for saying this:
The time for fighting each other is other. It’s time to come together and fight for a new direction for America. It’s time to (inaudible).
2.30am BST
02:30
While Lynne Patton tells the crowd about the virtues of her boss Donald Trump, we want to flag this non-politics story:
Understand it's election season.. But 0 coverage on US TV of #US airstrike in #Syria reported to have killed 85 civilians mistaken for ISIS?
Here's @attackerman @guardian story in case it has failed to penetrate your Trump bubble too https://t.co/KXYA7mW5k6 https://t.co/Qlw8zdfOyK
2.27am BST
02:27
The band strikes up. Who’s up next? Looks like Lynne Patton of the Eric Trump foundation. The band’s doing one of their hits from last night, a cover of REO Speedwagon’s Roll With the Changes.
A video is rolling now. Is Lynne Patton going to address the crowd only by video? The video is a slide show of people – it’s unclear who – with a voiceover by an unidentified someone who could be Lynne Patton.
“The Trump family has stood by me through lots of difficult times without concern about their reputations by association,” the unidentified narrator says, interestingly. Tell us more?
“For the past six years I have held an executive position as it pertains to the distribution of their charitable funds,” the voice says. Must be Lynne Patton.
She says “this is the right thing to do...for me it was an easy decision, just as voting for my boss, Donald J Trump, should be for you,” she says.
Oh wait there she is in person! Lynne Patton. Hello America! she says. She refers again to “my boss, Donald J Trump.” Feels like a sales conference, reminiscent of the moment last night when the Trump vineyard executive spoke.
2.16am BST
02:16
Walker mentions 'prison' for Clinton
Next up: governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. “America deserves better” is his refrain. There are special signs in the audience with those words on them.
But is it a great look, for Scott Walker, a sharp critic of Trump once, to stand on the stage at Trump’s convention and lead the crowd chants of “America deserves better”?
Some people jumped the gun with the signs:
Crowd hoisting "America deserves better" signs. That's supposed to be crowd response when Wisconsin Gov Walker talks pic.twitter.com/mRuVTUJSqR
Here’s Walker’s first big applause line:
Hillary Clinton is the ultimate liberal Washington insider. If she were any more on the “inside,” she’d be in prison.
America deserves better than Hillary Clinton.
Then Walker explicitly calls for support for Trump:
That is why we need to support Donald Trump and Mike Pence for President and Vice President.
Last August, I said that any of the Republicans running would be better than Hillary Clinton. I meant it then, and I mean it now. So let me be clear: a vote for anyone other than Donald Trump in November is a vote for Hillary Clinton.
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2.09am BST
02:09
Here’s Ingraham calling on Cruz and others to endorse Trump:
.@IngrahamAngle to boys w/ "wounded feelings & bruised egos…you must honor your pledge to support Donald Trump now."https://t.co/MDbB8lgKhd
And Trump tweets thanks for her speech:
Thank you @IngrahamAngle! #AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/cv3I3xRSOK
