Melania’s speech at the RNC brought attention to Trump’s campaign though not for reasons they expected A group of Republicans threatened to get enough delegates to vote to change the party’s nominating rules Doing so would have allowed delegates who had voted for Trump in the primaries to vote for another candidate in the roll call This is called a contested convention and is rare in modern politics These efforts failed however Delegates from each state announced their vote totals to the packed arena Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr was a delegate for the 10 ESSENTIAL LIVES
family’s home state of New York He announced New York’s votes which put Trump over the top and made him the official Republican nominee for president The third night of the convention also made waves when Ted Cruz took the stage Cruz had been the runner-up to Trump in the primaries Over the course of his speech it became clear Cruz would not endorse Trump Instead Cruz asked people who were unhappy with Trump as the nominee to vote your conscience in November 5 In effect he was asking citizens not to vote for Trump The crowd which had rallied behind Trump nearly booed Cruz off the stage WHO CAN BE A DELEGATE Nearly 2,500 people served as delegates to the Republican National Convention in 2016 6 They represented all 50 states Washington DC and US territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico Each state can choose how its delegates are selected Some are officials in their state’s Republican Party Other delegates are elected during their state’s primary or caucuses In some states state party committee members select delegates In other states delegates are selected at statewide party meetings No matter how they are selected delegates all meet at the national convention There they nominate the Republican Party’s presidential candidate The convention chair leads the vote for the nomination called a roll call Each state and territory has the chance to take the floor and announce its votes Often delegates also share interesting facts about their home states and territories during this time
Trump Accepts On the final night of the RNC Trump accepted his party’s nomination and spoke to the American people Trump reinforced the themes of his campaign He promised to lead the United States from crisis to safety prosperity and peace 7 He said that once he took office law and order would be restored US borders would be secured and America would be great again In his acceptance speech Trump stressed the fact that he was a businessman not a politician He admitted that as a businessman he had learned how what he perceived as the corrupt US government operated Nobody knows the system better than me which is why I alone can fix it said Trump 8 Would the American people agree I’M THE LAW AND ORDER CANDIDATE Donald Trump made many bold statements in his acceptance speech Many were in support of maintaining order in towns cities and states across the country Trump pledged that he would work to restore safety and peace to America which he perceived as a country in crisis When I take the oath of office next year I will restore law and order to our country In this race to the White House I am the Law and Order candidate 9 12 ESSENTIAL LIVES
At the RNC Trump spoke about how he could improve the country which he believed was headed in the wrong direction 13
