It’s the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, a huge event where members of the Grand Old Party gather to ultimately decide on the party’s nominees for president and vice-president for the upcoming U.S. election.
So grab your popcorn and follow along as we cover the four-day event, scheduled to start at 12:50 p.m. ET.
The CBC’s Matt Kwong is reporting from Cleveland, and he has a helpful rundown of what to expect.
The convention’s theme today is “Make America Safe Again,” and features a list of speakers, from the expected to the unconventional.
The daytime sessions will be mostly procedural as the delegates are expected to vote on the convention’s rules package.
The evening’s lineup is designed for prime-time — it’s filled with Republican heavyweights like Melania Trump, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and sprinkled throughout with some celebrities, such as the actor Scott Baio, UFC president Dana White, and Duck Dynasty personality Willie Robertson.
Trump expected to speak Thursday
Presumptive nominee Donald Trump is making an early visit to Cleveland on Monday to catch his wife’s speech at the convention.
Trump said Monday in a phone interview with U.S. program Fox & Friends that he’d “love to be there when my wife speaks.”
The Republican Party nominee-to-be adds that Melania Trump’s evening speech will be about “love of the country” as an immigrant.
Trump also said he’s eager to take an early look at the convention hall’s stage design as the party’s gathering kicks off.
Trump is expected to deliver a more traditional, “prepared speech” on the closing night of the convention, according to top Trump adviser Paul Manafort.
A U.S. Secret Service agent stands on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland ahead of the first day of the event. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
Manafort said Trump and his team have been studying previous convention speeches, including Richard Nixon’s 1968 acceptance speech. He said that speech from nearly 50 years ago is largely in line with many of the issues facing the country today.
The 1968 campaign was marred by violence and protests, drawing some comparisons to the current election climate.
Manafort said Trump is on the “third or fourth draft” of the address he’ll deliver from Cleveland on Thursday night.
Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, is expected to address the convention on Wednesday.
Big names skipping the convention
A number of prominent Republicans won’t be attending the convention, including former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and the party’s two most recent presidential nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney. And an unusually high number of GOP senators and House members are skipping it. As well, Ohio Gov. John Kasich won’t be there.
Trump’s campaign chairman says Kasich is making a “big mistake.”
Manafort said in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Kasich is “hurting his state, he’s embarrassing his state, frankly” by skipping the event convened to nominate Trump for president.
But Manafort insisted the number of holdouts has been overstated. He said “most of the Republicans who aren’t coming are people who have been part of the past.”
Barbara Hauser of Texas has her party shades on as she waits to enter a gathering on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention on Sunday. (Aaron Josefczyk/Reuters)
Ryan lays out ‘better way’ agenda
Paul Ryan is ignoring Donald Trump and focusing on the party’s agenda as he opens his visit to the convention.
The House Speaker used an appearance at his home-state Wisconsin delegation breakfast Monday to talk about a six-plank “better way” agenda he has rolled out in Congress.
It deals with poverty, national security, health care and other issues. Ryan said the agenda is about “giving people a choice” in the election.
But the Speaker made no mention of Trump as he spoke for more than 10 minutes. Ryan hesitated for weeks before endorsing the businessman.
Ryan will deliver a speech in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Last attempt to ditch Trump
A petition is circulating seeking a roll call, or state-by-state, vote on the rules package at the convention, signalling perhaps a last call by those wishing to derail Donald Trump from accepting the party’s nomination later this week.
The petition obtained Monday morning by The Associated Press asks delegates to sign if they support holding a roll call vote among delegates to give approval of rules proposals.
The convention will vote on the rules Monday, an event seen as a last chance for dissenters to derail Trump, or at least disrupt the process of his acceptance of the nomination.
Minnesota delegate Matt Pagano said that a majority of his state’s 38 delegates supported a roll call vote. A majority of delegates from seven states must back the effort to force the vote.
South Carolina delegate Bill Pickle also says some are calling for an emergency vote to pull the leadership from party Chairman Reince Priebus and elect a new chair.