The 2016 Republican National Convention nominated a very unpredictable candidate for president. That being said, his nomination process would be somewhat strange and chaotic just like him. Here were the highlights.
1. Melania Trump's speech.
The wife of Donald Trump and possible first lady has not spent much time in the spotlight. Many people did not know much about her to form an opinion. This was her opportunity to show the Republican Party and the world who she was as well as end the first night on a strong note. The speech overall was good but, unfortunately, was found to contain some word for word material from Michelle Obama's speech in 2008 at the DNC. After several denials, justifications and eye rolls, one of her speechwriters pleaded guilty.
Comedians had some fun jabbing her speech.
2. Steve King's "subgroups" comment.
Although this did not happen on stage, Iowa Representative Steve King pondered with the media what non-white people helped contribute to civilization which raised a lot of eyebrows.
King arguing that Western Christians have done more for human civilization than non-white "subgroups"
3. "Lock her up!"
Chris Christie took the stage to argue why Hillary Clinton should not become President. He hosted a mock trial, listing each of Clinton's transgressions such as Benghazi and her emails and asked the audience, "Guilty or not guilty?" to which the audience roared back "Guilty!" The crowd proceeded to chant "lock her up!" which drew some criticism from Republicans and Democrats who claim this does not make the Party look viable to voters, questioning if helping the Republican nominee by chanting his political opponent to be jailed was necessary.
4. Ted Cruz's lack of endorsement.
Ted Cruz took to the stage arguing for conservative values and a devotion to the Constitution. He went on with these points, but noticeably did not include his support for Donald Trump which is unprecedented for a speaker at the convention to not endorse the nominee. The moment when he told voters to "vote your conscience," he was met with boos from the audience. He justified his refusal due to Trump's attacks on Cruz's wife and father.
5. Ben Carson claiming Clinton is a satanist.
Dr. Carson's speech railed against Clinton and made a far out connection about Clinton's devotion to Christianity, or lack thereof. He made the link that Hillary idolized Saul Alinsky, a community organizer who once wrote in a book "the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer." Hillary is, therefore, incapable of running a country that puts "In God We Trust" on our money. It is to be noted that Hillary in the past wrote that while she admired Alinsky, she split on his views about changing the system and condemned his method of instilling change through purposeful agitation and provocation.
