This is it: the day Donald J. Trump officially became the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.
Day two of the Republican National Convention is in the books, and while the air surrounding the event is still a little unsettled – not everyone is as willing to unify behind the party’s candidate as expected – the party itself seems ready to unite behind the New York real estate magnate.
It was a big day. Here are five things you’ll need to know about what happened Tuesday.
1. Donald Trump is Officially Official: When the convention was brought to order around 6pm, the Republican delegates undertook the official roll call vote, registering their delegate count with the RNC. With around 1500 delegates, Donald Trump easily took the Republican nomination. With a bang of the gavel, he and Indiana governor Mike Pence became the official Republican ticket for President.
Contrary to expectations, the move went largely without opposition. Although there were rumors of a last-minute effort to derail the nomination process, the roll call went smoothly and Donald Trump’s children were able to deliver the good news to their father.
2. Silent Speakers: Although the night was supposed to be about making Americans “work again,” the focus of the night ended up being Hillary Clinton’s lies and foibles, with one speaker, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, even laying out a case for Clinton’s prosecution. Few speakers actually touched much on the night’s economic theme, though Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and others did lay out a moderate policy agenda.
For the first several speeches, Donald Trump’s name was mentioned only sparingly. If you’d have been playing a drinking game with the candidate’s name, you would have been sober well into the end of prime time.
3. The Kids are Alright: Tiffany Trump, previously best known for her Snapchat account as opposed to her presence on a podium, did surprisingly. She delivered a soft, heartfelt tribute to her dad that will probably go over well with Millennial viewers, if any were tuning in.
Donald Trump, Jr., largely expected to deliver a speech about his family, actually delivered the first true Republican boilerplate speech of the convention. He gave a powerful synopsis of conservative beliefs and made a coherent argument for Republican ideas. It will remain to be seen whether his father makes as cogent a case when he officially accepts the nomination with a speech on Thursday.
4. Lazy Activists: Anti-Trump protesters promised a “huge” protest on Tuesday, with thousands of activists marching through Cleveland, shutting down the city and the convention. Exactly zero activists showed up for the parade.
Stationary protests were more popular, but although protesters were there to confront the RNC, they mostly protested themselves. At one point, the KKK, the Westboro Baptist Church and Black Lives Matter, looking for opposition, threw full bags of urine at each other.
Billy Baldwin was also in Cleveland to protest…something. Even he wasn’t quite sure what.
5. Twilight Sparkle: Melania’s speech dominated the news cycle Tuesday, but largely because the Trump campaign and the RNC had a difficult time getting traction against accusations that the Trump campaign lifted parts of Melania’s speech from Michelle Obama’s.
The low-light might have been when the RNC’s Sean Spicer suggested that Melania might have been quoting Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony rather than the current First Lady. Hopefully, the news from Tuesday night’s speeches are enough to move the news cycle along before more innocent cartoon horses get hurt.
