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Republican convention day 2: Kids, Christie, and more

Our daily rundown covers the Tuesday that was at the 2016 Republican National Convention
Aaron Hutchins
GOP 2016 Convention
California delegates react during the second day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Tuesday, July 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Maybe he’s bad with names

One day after House Speaker Paul Ryan said Donald Trump “is not my kind of conservative,” the Republican vice-presidential nominee from four years ago only mentioned Trump by name twice in his 10-minute speech Tuesday evening—neither time specifically endorsing a Trump presidency.

Bringing Bill into it

Sharon Day, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, opened up the speeches Tuesday night calling Bill Clinton a sexual abuser and blaming Hillary for her response: “As first lady, you viciously attacked the character of women who were sexually abused at the hands of your husband.”

Christie indulges in a ‘guilty’ pleasure

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former prosecutor, made his “case” against a Hillary Clinton presidency by saying she is guilty of “creating a nest for terrorist activity by ISIS” in Libya, of being an apologist for Boko Haram kidnapping school girls in Nigeria (somehow), of making a poor nuclear trade deal in Iran, of being a poor judge of character in Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, and of her email scandal. The crowd responded each time he asked for a verdict with “guilty!” and shouts of “lock her up!”

MORE: Read a transcript of Christie’s speech

The kids are all right

Virtually anonymous to this point on the campaign trail, Tiffany Trump—the only child to come out of Donald Trump’s brief marriage to Marla Maples—gave a short, well-received speech about the character of her father, including an anecdote about his kind comments on her school report cards. Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr., who earlier in the evening cast the roll call vote from New York and officially put Trump over the top for the delegate count, gave a 15-minute speech that told stories about his dad’s work ethic, from “changing the skyline of New York” to teaching his granddaughter to swing a golf club.

MORE: Meet the Trump kids

My Little Plagiarism defence

Republicans came to the defence of accusations of Melania Trump plagiarizing part of her speech Monday night with the rebuttals that only seven per cent of the speech was copied (Gov. Chris Christie); that if she did copy Michelle Obama, Melania delivered the lines better (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich); and that the text in her speech featured sayings so common, they could be from a My Little Pony episode (Trump strategist Sean Spicer).

MORE: The Melania controversy? Straight out of Trump’s playbook

Queen tells Trump to bite the dust

The legendary band Queen expressed its displeasure in Trump using the song “We are the Champions” to introduce his wife Monday night. “We are frustrated by the repeated unauthorized use of the song after a previous request to desist, which has obviously been ignored by Mr. Trump and his campaign,” the band said in a statement.

Narrowing down Clinton’s veep

Away from the convention, Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential pick may be down to a two-horse race between Virginia Sen. Timothy Kaine and Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and a native of the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Clinton is expected to announce her vice-presidential nominee by the end of the week.

To serve and protect—and maybe go for a bike ride

Cleveland riot police are in full gear to keep the order during the Republican National Convention, with peaceful protests found throughout the city. But while the officers might appear fully armoured to the naked eye, their protection appears to be mountain bike equipment easily available in stores, according to Outside, such as the Super Bell 2 bike helmet and Fox Racing Titan sports jacket.