Trump addresses packed house at RNC
During the first three nights at the convention, the hallways and the concourse at the Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland were constantly buzzing with delegates, dignitaries, and members of the media.
That was not the case late Thursday evening.
Nearly everyone was in a seat to hear Donald Trump address the convention for the first time as the Republican party’s nominee.
He was introduced by Ivanka Trump, who shared stories about growing up as Donald Trump daughter, recalling how she built skyscrapers with blocks and erector sets while her dad built the real things out of steel and concrete.
Trump spoke for about 75 minutes, covering topics he has spoken about dozens of times over the last 400+ days since he announced his candidacy.
He spoke about building a wall to reduce illegal immigration, tax reform to improve the economy, and the safety of the nation.
“My plan will begin with safety at home, which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order,” he said.
Most of all though, he talked about Hillary Clinton.
“The world is far less stable than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy,” he said, blaming her for Benghazi and claiming she broke the law in her careless handling of classified emails through the use of her private email server.
With the exception of a Code Pink demonstrator who stood up with a banner and began heckling Trump, there were no major hiccups.
Despite failing to endorse him Wednesday night, Trump never mentioned Senator Ted Cruz, who ran against him and the primary.
Trump also didn’t make any obvious attempt to mend ties with Cruz supporters or delegates from states like Colorado that supported Cruz in the primary.
Several Colorado delegates told KRDO Newschannel 13 prior to the speech that they would like to hear him act presidential and show some humility, but it’s unclear if they saw that Thursday.
Following the speech, two delegates said they didn’t feel the speech was enough to convince Cruz supporters to switch camps just yet.
“I think it was enough to sway some of the Cruz supporters over to his side, but there are differences there in terms of principles, so I think there are going to be some people that are not easily moved,” said District 48 State Representative Steve Humphrey.
District 22 State Representative Justin Everett added, “He has a chance to prove himself over the next couple of months and see if that’s the type of president he wants to be, a Constitutional conservative or not, and I’m sure that we’ll be hearing plenty from Mr. Trump on Twitter and in the media.”
