The Republican National Convention turned tense hours ahead of the primetime session Monday, with chaos erupting after an attempt to potentially hinder Donald Trump’s nomination failed.
The proposed rule change would allow delegates to "vote their conscience" and has been proposed by several conservative groups organizing to stop Trump and instead install a different candidate as the nominee. It failed on a voice vote, prompting a protracted fight between the group and the majority of delegates who shouted down the proposal.
Cries of "Dump Trump" from the "Never Trump" groups rang out as they insisted on a roll call vote. But while a handful of state delegations supported a roll call, the number fell below the threshold required for a recorded vote.
During the chaos, the chair at the time, Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., left the stage and the speaker who was supposed to come out next, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, did not appear.
"I have never in all my life, certainly in six years in the United States Senate, prior to that as a lifelong Republican, never seen anything like this," U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told reporters. "There is no precedent for this in parliamentary procedure. There is no precedent for this in the rules of the Republican National Convention. We are now in uncharted territory.”
Similar scenes played out minutes later, as members approved the entire rules package. This came despite the efforts of the anti-Trump faction, which tried to block the adoption. When this failed, the group Free The Delegates sent a text message to members encouraging them to walk out, saying the display was an example of a "rigged election."
“You will see more insurgency, because, and I have nothing to do with the fact that people now know that their voices were squelched,” Colorado delegate and Free The Delegates leader Kendall Unruh told C-SPAN. Unruh led the Colorado delegation in walking out of the convention hall after the first vote.
Trump, Wisconsin speakers take stage in primetime
A packed slate of speakers addressed the delegates Monday night, speaking on subjects ranging from law enforcement to the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi.
The star of the night was Trump himself, who emerged from the backstage to Queen’s “We Are the Champions” amid backlighting and fog. He appeared to introduce his wife, Melania, who was speaking.
She spoke on her background as a Slovenian native and touted her husband as a fierce defender of American values.
"He is ready to fight every day to give our children the future they deserve," Melania said.
Wisconsin had a presence as well, with U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke taking the stage.
Clarke used his remarks to defend law enforcement, saying "no one can claim privilege above the law."
He entered to raucous applause before proclaiming "blue lives matter" to further cheers. He praised the acquittal earlier Monday of a police officer in Baltimore who was charged with the death of teenager Freddie Gray and said the death of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge underscored the reason to bolster law enforcement.
"What we witnessed in Ferguson, in Baltimore, and in Baton Rouge was a collapse of social order," Clarke said. "So many of the actions of the Occupy movement and Black Lives Matter transcend peaceful protest, and violates the code of conduct we rely on."
Other speakers also addressed issues of race.
"There is no black America, there is no white America, there is one America," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said, working the crowd into a frenzy. "You know who you are and we are coming to get you."
The Benghazi attacks were a frequent theme, with the mother of a victim of the attack and two military members who responded addressing the delegates.
"For all of this loss, for all of this grief, for all of the cynicism the tragedy in Benghazi has wrought upon America, I blame Hillary Clinton," said Pat Smith, who lost her son Sean in the attack. "I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son."
