What to expect from Day 3 at the RNC
Spoiler alert: We are still talking about plagiarism
Hello, and welcome to Day 3 of the RNC. By the end of the night, we’ll be ¾ of the way through the show. Bookmark our live blog for updates and analysis all day long.
Here are the storylines we’ll be following, as well as a preview of who and what to expect on the big stage in Cleveland tonight:
Trump officially got nominated yesterday in a roll call vote of the delegates, with the honor of casting the critical vote going to Trump’s children and the New York delegation. Later in the night, speeches by Chris Christie, Ben Carson and others didn’t hold back in their attacks on Hillary Clinton, and “Lock her up!” emerged as a chant from the delegates on the floor.
But this morning, we were STILL talking about plagiarism. After The Daily Show noted that a line from Donald Trump Jr.’s speech mirrored a line from an article in The American Conservative, Twitter went wild with speculation that oops, they did it again.
However, as Philip Bump noted, it’s a little more complicated than that. The writer Trump was accused of stealing from, F.H. Buckley, actually helped write the speech. Bump explains:
This is what’s sometimes known as “self-plagiarism,” something that falls into a bit of an ethical gray area. There exist some guidelines to the practice, which acknowledge the subjectivity at stake.
We’ve also gotten more reaction from the Trump campaign on Melania’s alleged plagiarism of Michelle Obama as well. This morning, campaign manager Paul Manafort refused to assign blame for the apparent plagiarism. But just a couple hours later, the Trump campaign released a statement from speechwriter Meredith McIver where she basically said it was all her fault. You can read the full statement for yourself here.
Looking ahead to the speeches we’re going to get tonight at the Q:
The theme of the night, per the RNC, is “Make America First Again.” Tonight, the world gets to hear from Mike Pence, the VP nominee.
Pence has also got a pretty deep bench of warm-up acts. We’re going to hear from not one, not two, but three failed 2016 Republican contenders for the presidency. And this could be a big opportunity for them. Amber Phillips writes over at The Fix:
Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker are all giving speeches on the penultimate night of Donald Trump’s coronation. Their few minutes in the spotlight after losing to Trump will be closely watched by political insiders trying to gauge if the three have 2020 ambitions. For at least two of the three, we’re willing to bet they do.
Rubio’s speech will be delivered by pre-recorded video.
Also speaking during prime time: Newt and Callista Gingrich, Laura Ingraham, astronaut Eileen Collins, and yet another member of the Trump family, Eric.
Watch tonight’s action with us at washingtonpost.com, and follow The Post on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram for updates and scenes from Cleveland.
