Welcome to Breitbart News’s live updates of the Republican National Convention’s evening session. Tonight’s theme is “Make America Safe Again.” After the “Never Trump” movement ended this afternoon when they lost on a procedural vote, Donald Trump will introduce his wife, Melania, tonight. Other headliners include Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Rudy Giuliani, Jamiel Shaw, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, and Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson.
***LISTEN TO/WATCH BREITBART NEWS’S LIVE COVERAGE OF THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION HERE.*** Call in: 713-955-0782.
All times eastern.
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12:15: Tomorrow’s USA TODAY cover:
12:10: Joni Ernst says on CNN that Trump spoke passionately about education, especially for inner city youth, during their private meeting. She says she was unsure about Trump’s candidacy before her meeting and became a supporter. Ernst wants Trump to talk more about his plans for inner city youth/education on the stump.
11:55: All throughout the day, mainstream media elites and GOP career operatives all continued to whine that Trump does not offer specifics (he has offered plenty of specifics on issues like trade, immigration). What they mean is Trump doesn’t speak the type of gobbledygook that they all love and regular Americans do not care about at all. He speaks like an average person. Well, lo and behold, it took Anderson Cooper out of all people to say that though Trump may be short on specifics, Clinton has a tough time directly communicating to the American people. He even got David Axelrod to admit that Clinton has to avoid getting bogged down in “bureaucratic jargon” when debating Trump.
11:43: Convention adjourns.
11:30: Zinke blasts the weakness of “armchair quarterbacks” like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton re: national security failures. Zinke says they care more about being popular and blasts them for abandoning Iraq and refusing to hold the red line in Syria. He says they watched passively as China and Russia filled the international vacuum that they created. He says Obama reached a dangerous nuclear deal with Iran, a country whose leaders and people still say “Death to America.” He says Clinton, Obama’s “anointed successor” and “architect of Benghazi,” is no better. He says he shudders to think how many times our flag will be at half mast if Clinton is elected president.
11:25: Special Operations Officer Beardsley says in Trump’s America the only time servicemen will get on their knees will be to thank God they are Americans.
11:20: Ernst says Clinton is all about her while Trump is focused on you. She says Trump gave a voice to millions of Americans who are tired of politics as usual and he will work tirelessly to keep our nation safe.
Ernst says Clinton is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief. She points out that Clinton is responsible for ISIS’s rise.
11:09: Ernst, Zinke and Jason Beardsley now up after Flynn’s long speech. Ernst says it’s an honor to be in Cleveland with fellow veterans. Ernst blasting Clinton’s failures to stop terrorism and accuses her of creating more safe havens for terrorism.
11:02: Crowd chanting “lock her up” as Flynn talks about Clinton’s email scandal. He may be going on a bit too long here like Bill Clinton infamously did, because Joni Ernst an Ryan Zinke still need to speak and it is now 11 PM. Flynn says “Crooked Hillary needs to leave this race right now.” He says we need to remember that our country was built on “Judeo-Christan values and principles.”
10:50: Flynn says Obama’s empty rhetoric has caused the world to have no respect for America’s word…”nor does it fear our might.” He says coddling and displays of empathy towards terrorists it “not a strategy for defeating these murderers like Obama and Clinton would like us to believe.” He says releasing terrorists will not end the war and simply “emboldens the terrorists and prolongs the war.” He says under Obama, “we have no coherent to protect our citizens and under Hillary Clinton it will be more of the same.” He says we have become the “best enemies and the worst friends, and that has to change.”
10:40: Lt. Gen Michael Flynn (Ret.) says, “wake up America. There is no substitute for exceptionalism. America should not fear our enemies. We should define them head-on.” Flynn says that from this day forward, we must stand tougher together and to “never be satisfied with reckless rhetoric” from an “Obama clone like Hillary Clinton.” He says our new American Century does not risk its future on political correctness and senseless hyperbole.”
10:35: Melania Trump says the primary campaign is behind us so “let’s all come together” for the national campaign. She also says the election would not be a “Trump contest without the excitement and drama.” She says her husband will only remain focused on one thing–“this beautiful country that he loves so much.” She says if she is honored to serve as First Lady, she will use the privilege to help people who need it the most, including helping children and women. She says you judge a society by how it treats its citizens and we must make sure that every child can live in comfort and security with the best possible education. She speaks of ind
10:30: “If you want someone to fight for you and your country, I can assure you he’s the guy,” Melania Trump says of her husband. “He will never ever give up… and he will never let you down.” She says Trump has always been an amazing leader and “now he will go to work for you.” She says she fell in love with Trump because of his kindness that is often not evident. She says Trump is intensely loyal to his friend and family. She says Trump’s children are a testament to who Trump is as a man and father. She also says “Donald thinks big,” which is important for a president. “No room for small thinking. No room for small results. Donald gets things done.” She says America is “underperforming and needs new leadership.” She says Trump represents inclusion rather than division. She says Trump has worked with people of many faiths and backgrounds throughout his career and will represent all Americans and help make all Americans prosper. She says it’s time for him to use those gifts now for purposes far greater.
10:28: Melania Trump: Being U.S. Citizen was “greatest privilege on planet earth.” She speaks of the sacrifices of our veterans have made for our freedoms. She recognizes Bob Dole, a great veteran who is sitting in Trump’s VIP box.
10:24: Melania thanks everyone for being so kind to “Donald and me and our young son Baron.” She says they are excited to be with them at this historic convention. She says “I’m so proud of your choice for president of the United States–my husband, Donald J. Trump.” She says Trump is moved by this honor. She says she has been with Trump for 18 years and has been aware of his love of his country since then. She says she was born in Slovenia and her father instilled in her a love for business while her mother instilled in her a love of fashion and beauty. She says her parents taught and showed her morals in their daily life, which is something she passes along daily to her son. She says we need to pass those lessons along to many generations that follow. She says she became a U.S. citizen in 2006 and it was the “greatest privilege on planet earth.”
10:23: Trump appears on stage to “We Are the Champions” and introduces the next First Lady, Melania.
10:19: Rudy says Clinton is in favor of “open borders” and accepting more Syrian refugees even though ISIS has said they will have their operatives pose as Syrian refugees. He says Washington needs a turnaround and “Donald Trump is the agent of change” we need to turn things around.
10:11: Rudy says there have been five Islamic terrorist attacks on us and our allies in the last seven months and we can’t be afraid to defined our enemy. It is “Islamic extremist terrorism.” Rudy says “you know who you are… and we’re coming to get you.” He blasts Obama for being the only person who couldn’t understand that Nadal Hassan committed terrorism at Fort Hood and not an “act of workplace violence.” Rudy says Clinton and Obama lied bout the Benghazi attacks, including right to the faces of the parents of those killed. He says anyone who says “what difference does it make” re: how Americans are killed abroad should never be Commander-in-Chief.
“Who would trust Hillary Clinton to protect them?” he asks. “I wouldn’t. Would you?”
10:22: Trump appears on stage to “We Are The Champions.”
10:07: Giuliani says it’s time to make American “one again. One America.” He says what happened to there is no white America or black America but just one America. “What happened to it?” he passionately asks. He says Trump is a man with a “big heart” because every time New York faced a tragedy, Trump was there to help and he did it anonymously. He says Trump is a man who loves all people–from the top to the bottom from the middle to the side. He says he is “sick and tired of the defamation of Donald Trump by the media and by the Clinton campaign. I am sick and tired of it. This is a good man. And America should be sick and tired of their vicious, nasty campaign.”
10:05: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says the vast majority of Americans today do not feel safe. He says they fear for their children, themselves, and for our police officers who are being targeted with a target on their back. He says we pray for the police officers in Baton Rouge and Dallas and their families and “we say thank you to the Cleveland Police Department for protecting us. Thank you!”He says when police officers come to save your life, they “don’t ask if you are black or white. They just come and save you.”
10:03: Sessions says Trump will kill Obamatrade and is the person to bring about change. He says Trump will build the wall and Donald Trump will make America great again.
9:58: Sessions says Clinton has been the champion of “globalist trade agreements” but the facts are in and they have not worked. He slams the Obamatrade deal and says this must not happen. Sessions says elites have treated the concerns of Americans on immigration and trade with nothing but scorn. But he says there is no question that if we bring in more people, wages of Americans are impacted. He asks if it is too much to slow down and protect our national security and jobs. Sessions says Obama and Clinton just want to give amnesty for all Americans and it won’t work. He says Americans want help and “this election will make it happen. And that is why we need Donald Trump.”
[It’s great that Sessions gets a primetime speaking spot and gets to address the nation on issues of trade and immigration. He is speaking over the heads of the elite.]
9:56: SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL) gets a rousing ovation. He says speaking at the podium is a long ways from the rafters that he and his wife had as college students. He says GOP voters spoke clearly on trade and immigration and affirmed “Donald Trump and his positions” and “they opposed Obamatrade” while demanding a “lawful system of immigration that protects their safety and financial well-being.” He says average Americans are the first to know that something is wrong with our economy. He mentions that the Washington establishment, the media, and big corporations have been in denial even as African-American and Hispanic families are hardest hit. He says we are on the wrong track and the American people know it. Yet, he says, Clinton’s plan is “more of the same.” He says Clinton wants more taxes, more regulation, more immigration, more debt.
9:46: Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AK) says “help is on the way” for everyone who agrees that America should lead the way in the world. Cotton tells the story about how his father, a farm boy, gave up his comfortable job that was exempt from service and volunteered for the Army and became an infantryman who went to Vietnam in 1969. Cotton says 35 years later because of 9/11, he did the same. Agains the wishes of his family, he gave up his legal career and volunteered for the Army, became and infantryman, and went to Iraq and Afghanistan. He says his dad joked that God was punishing him for what he did to his dad (his father joined the military despite the wishes of his dad, who had also served). Cotton says God had called them to serve and he says his family isn’t extraordinary but rather very ordinary because so many families can tell the same story across the country. Cotton says Americans want a Commander-in-Chief who calls the enemy by its name and draws red lines conscientiously but “enforces them ruthlessly.” He says it would be nice to have one who can also handled classified information.
9:45: GOP Colorado Senate candidate Darryl Green says it’s time for a tanned person to say “All Lives Matter.” He also blasts Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He also says we know Clinton loves her pantsuits but we should send her an email to tell her that “she deserves a bright orange jumpsuit.”
9:40: Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) urges GOP to unite around Trump while speaking with his wife:
9:28: Clarke says Martin Luther King wrote about the “basic morality of the rule law provided that it is applied equally to the wealthy and impoverished, both men and women, and… the majority and the minority.” He says what we witnessed in Ferguson and Baton Rouge was a collapse of the social order. He slams the Occupy Movement and Black Lives Matter for “violating the code of conduct we rely on” and “transcending peaceful protest.” He says, “I call it anarchy.” Clarke says Trump is the “steadfast leader” that our nation needs. He says Trump has “consistently and constantly” raised his voice to defend the character of the American police officer and to note that everyone deserves to be treated fairly by law enforcement. He says Trump understand what can make our nation safe again is a “recommitment to a system of justice” where no elected official, even Hillary Clinton, or private citizen can claim privilege above the law. “It cannot happen in the United States,” he says.
9:25: Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke gets a rousing ovation. He says he would like to make something very clear: “BLUE LIVES MATTER IN AMERICA.” He says many Americans don’t feel safe in their communities now. He says safety starts by a willingness by people to play by society’s rules.
9:18: House Homeland Security Chair Rep. Michael McCaul says our enemies noticed when Clinton blamed the Benghazi attacks on a video and says we are now in the crosshairs because our own city streets have become the battleground. He also spoke about the need for strong borders and says we need to cut through the “suffocating political correctness” and call “the threat what it really is. The enemy is radical Islam.” McCaul says he is proud to serve as a member of Trump’s national security team and promises that Trump will “never apologize for America’s greatness. He will promote it.”
9:10: Jamiel Shaw now speaking. He thanks his friend Trump, whom he calls the “undisputed GOP nominee” and the next president. He talks about how an illegal immigrant who just got out of jail killed his son soon after he called him to say he was coming home. He says it happened so fast that his son Jazz was still holding his phone. His mother, at the time, was serving overseas in the military. He says for two weeks, local politicians supported them. But two weeks after that, “everything changed” when “we learned the killer was an illegal immigrant” from Mexico. He was released from jail even though he had an assault and battery charge on a police officer.
“You think Obama cared and Black Lives Mattered,” he says. “No. And we know Hillary is Obama’s third term.”
He says only Trump called him to see how he was doing and only Trump will end illegal immigrant and fight terrorists. He says Trump is a “gift from God” and asks attendees to support Trump/Pence.
9:06: Sabine Durden now speaking about how an illegal alien killed her only son. Her son was also in law enforcement as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. She says she has been talking about illegal immigration since 2012 and nobody listened until Donald Trump. She says Crooked Hillary always talks about what she will do for illegals and refugees while Donald Trump talks about what he will do for America.
9:04: Mary Ann Mendoza, the mother of someone killed by an illegal immigrants, says her son was an integral part of her community. She says “this was a good cop story” that was “cut short” by an illegal immigrant who was high on meth and should never have even been in the country.
She says her son’s life was stolen by an illegal immigrant and it’s time we have an administration that cares more about Americans than illegals.
9:01: Antonio Sabato, Jr. says his faith in Jesus Christ and country have compelled him to speak now. He says he is concerned about the country’s and his children’s future and “we need Donald Trump.” He says Trump will get our country back on track. He says our rights have been trampled and security threatened by the failed policies of the last eight years. He says it’s clear from someone who was not even born here (he came from Italy in 1985 and followed all the rules and became a naturalized citizen in 1996). He says others who want to come and live and work in the United States should follow the same rules that he did. “We are a nation of laws for a reason,” he says. “There should be no shortcuts…” He says Trump is for “unity” while Obama and Clinton “fuel divisions.” He says having a secure border is not hateful–it’s the responsibility of the government.
8:59: In a video, the mother and sister of Brian Terry, the slain Border Patrol Officer, say the best way to honor Terry is to honor America’s Border Patrol Officers. They blast the Obama administration for not holding anyone accountable for Terry’s death. Kent Terry says there is only one candidate who cares about border security and that is Donald Trump.
8:55: Chris Matthews coming under fire for angrily saying he doesn’t care what Patricia Smith thinks and claims she may not be telling the truth about Benghazi. “I don’t care what the woman up there… felt.”
8:35: John Tiegen, the co-author of “13 Hours,” is recounting his horrific experience in Benghazi:
8:30: Smith on Hillary after someone in the audience shouts “Hillary for prison”: “She deserves to be in stripes.”
8:27: Smith: “I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son.” Smith says Clinton “lied to me and then called me a liar.” Crowd boos Hillary. Smith says Clinton looked her “square in the eye and told me a video was responsible.” She says she has demanded from Hillary the real reason why her son was killed and asks, “how can she do this to me? How can she do this to any American family?”
Smith says “Donald Trump is everything Hillary Clinton is not. He is blunt, direct, and strong. He speaks his mind and heart.” She says Trump will not hesitate to “kill the terrorists who threaten American lives.”
8:25: Patricia Smith, the other of Sean Smith, who was killed in Benghazi, now takes the stage. She tells the convention that her son was one of four brave Americans killed in Benghazi. Audience in tears as she tells about how her son predicated he was going to die because the Obama administration was not protecting them. She blames Hillary Clinton for the Benghazi tragedy. “I blame Hillary Clinton,” she says.
8:22: Luttrell says America is the light in a dark world and it was his greatest honor to fight for her.
8:18: Luttrell says because he was willing to open up about his life and speak of his worst week, he was able to see all that America has to offer. He says the hell that veterans return from is not the hell they come home to. He says the only way “we’re going to keep America safe is to have an elite military… made up of the warriors and prepared by the toughest training we have to offer and supported by the best equipment and backed up by the nation.”
8:15: Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry talks about how he got to know Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient who he says is like a second son.
8:12: Baio says everything we hold sacred is under attack and we need Trump to fix it even though he is not the Messiah. Baio says he’s just a man who wants to give back to his country. He says Clinton thinks she is owed the presidency while Trump is running from the “goodness of his heart” and “genuinely wants to help.” He says it’s time to make “America America again.”
“Hillary Clinton wants to be president for Hillary Clinton,” he says. “Donald Trump wants to be president for all of us.”
8:09: Scott Baio now speaking. He thanks all of the country’s veterans. Baio says being an American doesn’t mean “getting free stuff.” He says “it means sacrificing. Winning. Losing. Failing. Succeeding. And sometimes doing the things you don’t want to do–including the hard work–to get where you want to be.”
8:05: Robertson: Media missed Trump Train because they don’t hang out with regular Americans. He says America is in a tough spot and Trump will have your back. He’ll have the backs of workers and cops. Robertson says Trump will have the back of average Americans who feel like the deck has been stacked against them and they just can’t win.
8:00: Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson now speaking. He says every episode of Duck Dynasty ends with a prayer at the family’s dinner table. He says a prayer for the people of Louisiana.
He says he and Trump have three things in common. Both are successful businessmen. Both have hit television shows. And both have intelligent wives who are much better looking than they are. He mentions that he flew commercial, though. He says it has been a “rough year” for the media experts and it must be humbling to have been so wrong about so much for so long.
7:50: Evening session of the convention comes to order.
7:20: Jan Brewer and Bob Dole in Trump’s VIP box:
7:15: Trump lands in Cleveland:
7:10: Bob Dole arrives at the convention:
https://twitter.com/JamesPindell/status/755173296681816064
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