Speaker Paul Ryan calling on voters to hit the polls like never before and “see this thing through.”
“Our
candidates will be giving their all, they’ll be giving their utmost, and every
one of us has got to go and do the same,” Ryan said from the convention podium
in Cleveland.
Night Two of
the Republican convention contained plenty of rhetorical body slams against
presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Chants from the crowd of
"lock her up" were frequent. But the night was also an opportunity
for the so-called GOP ‘establishment’ to make a very public show of unity and
close the book on the raucous primary season.
Perhaps more
than any other GOP leader on Capitol Hill, Ryan has had his share of scrapes
with Trump over the nominee’s controversial remarks and tactics – but he closed
his address Tuesday night with a call to action, saying, “Only with Donald
Trump and Mike Pence do we have a chance at a better way.”
“Fellow
Republicans, what we have begun here, let’s see this thing through, let’s win
this thing, let’s show America our best and nothing less,” Ryan said.
Retired
neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a former primary rival turned supporter, later warned
that the country “may never recover” from another Clinton presidency -- saying,
“I’m proud to support Donald Trump.”
Now is the
time for us to rise up and take America back,” Carson said.
The speeches
came on the heels of Republicans formally nominating Trump for president, with
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence named to the ticket as his running mate.
Trump
afterward addressed the convention hall via video message, saying: “This is a
movement … but we have to go all the way.’
While party
leaders called for unity, many of the convention speakers focused heavily once
again on Clinton.
“Hillary
Clinton has changed her position so many times, it’s impossible to tell where
the conviction ends and the ambition begins,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky., said.
New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie, who was considered for running mate before Trump
ultimately chose Pence, delivered one of the toughest speeches of the night on
Clinton. His address was frequently interrupted by chants from the crowd of
“lock her up.”
“We cannot
promote someone to commander-in-chief who has made the world a more violent and
dangerous place with every bad judgment she has made,” Christie said. “The
facts of her life and career disqualify her.”
Clinton fired
back on Twitter:
If you think Chris Christie can lecture anyone on ethics,
we have a bridge to sell you.https://t.co/c1nkZojJFL #RNCinCLE
— Hillary
Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July
20, 2016
But Christie
got a positive response inside the hall.
"The way he delivered the speech, I think, spoke to the undecided. He presented the case against Hillary Clinton in a way the average person would understand," said Phil Phillips, of the Alabama delegation.
Even as some
of the addresses were more Clinton than Trump, the day’s proceedings as a whole
served to restore a sense of party unity at a convention that faced some
disruptions a day earlier, when anti-Trump delegates tried to force a roll-call
vote on rules that bound many of them to back Trump. The bid failed, but the
anti-Trump forces caused a commotion on the floor.
For the most
part, protests were few and far between, and largely kept under control, during
the roll call for the nomination Tuesday evening. Trump’s home state of New
York put him over the top in the delegate count, with Donald Trump Jr.
delivering the news on behalf of the delegation.
“Congratulations,
Dad, we love you,” he shouted, as the giant TV screen on the floor declared him
“Over the Top.”
He and Trump
daughter Tiffany later addressed the convention, continuing to give Republicans
a better picture of Trump as a man and father.
Donald Trump
Jr. touted his father’s drive to tackle challenges and described the look in
his eyes “when someone says it can’t be done.”
He said he saw that look when
his father was told he couldn’t “possibly succeed in politics.”
He paused and
said with a chuckle, “Yes, he did.”
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