The second day of the convention got underway amidst rumors of plagiarism during the future first lady’s speech. Under the hot Cleveland sun, the FFL girls got the pleasure of sleeping in (until 10 am for some of us!) before corralling together for a motivation team meeting and then jumping on the shuttle to head to the convention.
As the week progresses, the evening sessions start later and later, and Tuesday’s speeches didn’t begin until 5:30, which gave the FFL girls several hours to work the marketplace and visit with delegates, other media, guests, and more, including Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Kelli Ward of Arizona. We loved getting to meet people who had never heard of FFL and sharing our message with them.
All eyes were on Cleveland as we anxiously awaited the nominating roll call vote, when the delegates would voice their support for the nominee and officially select him to represent the party in the presidential election. It was rumored the the roll call vote would be conducted in a manner that the vote that sent Trump over the 1237 number needed for the nomination would be his own son, a delegate from New York, Donald Trump Jr.
The night started, like the previous day, with the Republican Chairman Reince Priebus calling the convention to order. A Sikh Woman, Harmeet Dillion, said the benediction, and then Speaker of the House Paul Ryan took the stage.
After months of being the presumptive nominee, Donald J Trump, the businessman from New York, became the official Republican nominee from president, with a little help from his family. The nominating process kicked off on the second day of the Republican National Convention and by 7:15 PM, we had our nominee. The months of assumptions and debates over whether there would be a contested convention were over. We have our nominee, and that man is Donald J Trump. You can read our article detailing his official nomination here. Afterwards, there was talk of contestation from Alaska as one of their delegates asked for a recount of the delegate’s votes and a musical interlude occurred while the organizers tried to avoid chaos. Priebus took the stage to explain the rules and things seemed to calm down as Alaska’s results were locked in for 28 Trump.
The theme of the night was “Make America Work Again” but it seemed to me like the speakers spent just as much time talking about Hillary as they did employment and the economy.
Other speakers of the evening included Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the current House Majority Leader, and officially announced that there was only one nominee for the presidential nomination. Lt. Gov Eric Holcomb of Indiana then spoke to nominate Trump as well. Sharon Day, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, also spoke. One of the interesting speeches of the night was from Dana White, who did not fit the politician status as he is the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Though, on second thought, maybe the that was very appropriate for the occasion.
Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas spent a large portion of his speech talking about why Hillary is not right for America and highlighted the need for America to stand tall on a world stage, especially when it comes to building our economy and fighting terrorism. The Attorney General of Arkansas, a female (Looking at you, “War on Women”) spoke about being the first female to hold her position and reflected on the way the Clinton’s had lied about their personal wealth after leaving the White House. One of my favorite lines was when she boldly said, “Hillary needs to go to her own house, not the White House.” Andy Wist, a businessman, spoke as a Trump supporter and then we heard from Chris Cox, the chair of NRA Political Victory Fund who spoke about the need for the right to bear arms and how Hillary Clinton would take that away.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan gave a moving speech about the need to rally together and bring 2016 to an end by electing a conservative majority. “Our candidates will be giving their all, giving their utmost, and we have to do the same,” he announced to a crowd that gave him a standing ovation. His speech was followed by one from Kevin McCarthy who asked, “Do we settle for the path we are on, or do we take a better way?” I think we all know the answer to that. He rallied the crowd around a future centered on our interests not special interests. He promised that “the people’s voice would be heard” and that the government would “allow everyone to rise.”
The man once suspected to be the vice presidential nominee, Chris Christie, took the stage after Kevin McCarthy and spoke about the way the Obama administration has failed to hold Hillary accountable for her dismal record as Secretary of State. He stood on the stage and declared, as a federal prosecutor, that he was going to hold her accountable and presented the facts to the delegates and the viewers around the nation. To no one’s surprise, the audience found her very guilty. This was definitely Chris Christie’s audition to be the next Attorney General.
Tiffany Trump took the stage in a beautiful blue dress to talk about her father and came off very humble as she talked about how honored she was to be able to speak about the man she knows so well and his role in her own life. “My dad takes such pride in what I’ve done so far,” she told the audience in her largest speech to date. The recent college graduate told the audience, “Donald Trump has never done anything halfway, let alone be a father,” and that “My dad is a natural-born encourager, the last person that would ever tell you to lower your sights.” I loved hearing from Donald’s youngest daughter, who was so poised and gracious and humble to be in the position she is in. She spoke so warmly of her father, who she described as “strong, protective, kind, and endearing.” You can truly judge a man by his children, and his children are a great reflection of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump’s oldest son, Donald Jr, was also a major hit at the convention, though plagiarism rumors flared up once again until his speechwriter came out and nipped them in the bud. As someone involved in the running of the Trump brand, Donald Jr was able to give insight into not only Donald Trump’s skills as a father but as a businessman as well. He said of his father’s drive to be successful, “Impossible is only the beginning,” which I think all of us that didn’t take Trump’s candidacy seriously a year ago are understanding very well tonight.
After the excitement of the roll call vote, the Trumps once again owned the stage. On Monday night, it was Melania, and Tuesday night was dominated, at least on social media, by talk of Tiffany and Donald Jr. Ivanka, Eric, and Donald himself will speak by the end of the week.
Originally published at Future Female Leaders
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