Two days into the Republican National Convention and we have a candidate. But not much sign of unity. On Tuesday night, Donald Trump’s son Donald Jr was given the honour of putting his father over the top by announcing New York’s slate of delegates, turning the presumptive nominee into the actual Republican candidate. Cue wild cheering and celebrations among anyone with the surname Trump. And some – but not all – of the delegates.
The final tally showed that some 721 delegates had cast their votes for another candidate making this the most divided nomination since 1976, when Republicans had a contested convention. A day earlier, things were even more awkward. The last remaining Never Trump holdouts, who have spent months plotting how to find an alternative candidate, made their final move, trying to force a state by state roll call on a change to the rules that would have unbound delegates, freeing them to vote for whichever candidate they wanted (rather than tying them to their state’s caucus or primary results).
They failed, but not before outlining the massive challenge facing Trump if he is to unite the party. The entire Colorado delegation walked out. One delegate threw his credentials on the floor. Accusations of betrayal flew through the air as months of careful planning for the Republicans’ prime time show disintegrated, offering TV viewers an insight into the party’s bitter divisions.
The revolt all came to naught a day later as Trump was finally crowned the nominee. But so far the week will be best remembered for the convention floor chaos of Monday, rapidly followed by Melania Trump’s apparently plagiarised address. Trump has made little progress in his key task of uniting the party. So far the only area of agreement seems to be how much everyone hates Hillary Clinton. Wednesday offers another crucial test of how far Trump’s hostile takeover of the Republican Party has come. Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who represented the conservative wing of the party until he dropped out of the nomination race, is due to speak. He was labelled ‘Lyin’ Ted’ by Trump, who then turned his fire on Cruz’s wife Heidi – making snide comments about her appearance – as the campaign turned increasingly hostile.
Cruz’s endorsement of Trump would be a sign that the pair have made their peace and more importantly that the conservative wing of the party has nothing to fear from a candidate that many believe is weak on traditional Republican values. Just don’t hold your breath. Trump’s people are already talking down expectations, hinting that Cruz will not actually say he is endorsing Trump. Paul Manafort, Trump’s most senior adviser, told CNN that the Texas senator would offer a message ‘consistent with what Mr Trump is talking about’ and that Cruz would at least suggest he was backing the Republican nominee. Trump may have won the nomination but he is finding that bringing Republican Party together around him will be significantly tougher.
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