Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom McCarthy (now) and Scott Bixby (earlier) in Cleveland

RNC 2016, day three: Cruz takes last stand against Trump – as it happened

Ted Cruz is booed after he refuses to endorse Donald Trump, instead telling the American public to ‘vote your conscience’

Summary

The third day of the Republican national convention is over and done. Here’s a summary of what happened:

  • Ted Cruz did not endorse Donald Trump in a speech to the convention, and he was lustily booed by a crowd that had cheered much of his speech to that point.
  • “Please, don’t stay home in November,” Cruz said. “Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.” Then he stood and waved to thousands booing.
  • Newt Gingrich came out after Cruz and said the crowd has misunderstood, that what Cruz said was in effect an endorsement of Trump because Trump was the only candidate faithful to the Constitution, see?
  • A sense of deteriorating order in the arena was expanded by the flickering malfunctions of the Q’s jumbotrons as Eric Trump attempted to follow Cruz.
  • Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence won an enthusiastic, if not quite rapturous, reception for a smooth speech that framed the election efficiently thus: “It’s change versus status quo.”
  • After Pence’s speech, the last of the evening and on the late side of things, Donald Trump came onstage to very strong cheering. And mis-kissed his running mate:
  • The big finale begins tomorrow just after 7pm ET, with Donald Trump, preceded by daughter Ivanka.
  • Early in the night, conservative radio host Laura Ingraham threatened to steal the show with attacks on Hillary Clinton and the media and a call on Cruz (not by name) to endorse Trump.
  • Marco Rubio addressed the crowd by video before the Jumbotrons went out and said it was time to unify the party and get behind the nominee. His pixels were cheered.
  • A Trump staffer released a statement inviting blame for the inclusion in Melania Trump’s speech Monday of Michelle Obama’s words. Trump said “we all make mistakes” and declined to accept her resignation.
  • The secret service was investigating a Trump aide who said Hillary Clinton should be shot for treason. The Trump campaign said the aide did not speak for their candidate.
  • Cleveland officials said a flag burning that turned into a melee resulted in the arrest of 18 people, bringing total RNC-related arrests to 23.
  • A woman at the centre of sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump has spoken for the first time in detail about her personal experience with the billionaire tycoon who this week became the Republican nominee for president.

Updated

Google’s data confirms what everyone in the arena felt: Boos for Cruz was the night’s big moment.

Via Google:

  • +1100% spike in searches for Ted Cruz, compared to +450% spike for Mike Pence
  • Top question for Ted Cruz: “Why were people booing Ted Cruz?” and “Why didn’t Cruz endorse Trump?”
  • +560% spike in searches for “booing”
  • +800% spike for “vote your conscience”
  • Top states searching for “Ted Cruz booing” - North Dakota, Montana, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina

Christie slams Cruz as 'selfish'

This from a man who delivered the keynote address at the 2012 convention and basically ignored the nominee:

Trump forgives campaign loan as promised

Donald Trump has made good on his promise to forgive more than $47 million in loans he made to his campaign during the primary season, reports the AP:

New federal campaign finance reports show the GOP presidential nominee no longer is carrying a balance on his loans.

That’s as he raised $21.9 million in contributions, leaving Trump with $20.2 million in the bank.

Trump’s haul came after a disappointing May, when his campaign finished with $1.3 million.

The latest figures show the Republican Party had $21.1 million cash on hand by July 1.

Updated

The motion to adjourn is heard and is adopted. Meet back here at 7.10pm tomorrow.

I think we have our answer on the music. The band digs into its most ambitious cover yet. Like Rush-ambitious:

Here’s that missed kiss, thanks to @imbeccable:

The Teleprompter is running for the Greek priest but he prefers to look down at a printed text.

So they’ve done funk and disco and country. They’ve done the nominations and the vice presidential candidate and Newt’s gone out there. What kind of music will they bring tomorrow?

GE Smith’s saxophonist blows the sax out of “How Sweet it is (to be loved by you).

Chairman Priebus is back. He introduces a Greek orthodox priest for the outro.

The delegates, an unusual number of whom are on the floor unusually late, stay there, for the most part, even as the upper stands empty.

The two men kind of bask in each others’ presence for a few seconds, smiling and chilling.

Then Trump retreats and Pence’s family comes out. Mom Nancy, wife Karen and the three kids.

The soundtrack is Rodney Atkins, It’s America.

Pence: “Together we will make America great again.” Big cheers.

Pence steps back. But he does not leave the stage. Yet.

He stands and waves to cheers.

And there’s Trump. Air kiss from Trump to Pence.

Are we going to see Trump onstage? He’s left his seat.

Pence sees 'rendezvous with destiny'

Indiana Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence promises to pray daily if he becomes veep.
Indiana Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence promises to pray daily if he becomes veep. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

Pence is starting to wind up. He promises to pray daily if he becomes veep.

“I believe we have come to another rendezvous with destiny,” he says.

Updated

“We must ensure that the next president appointing justices to the supreme court is Donald Trump,” Pence says.

Then he mentions Benghazi, and the “lock her up” chant starts again. Pence waits it out with a stern look on his face.

He says that Clinton should be disqualified “from ever serving as commander in chief of the armed forces” because of Benghazi.

History teaches us that weakness arouses evil. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s foreign policy... are a testament to this truth of history. We cannot have four more years of apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends.

Pence:

None of us should think for one second that this should be easy... you know this won’t be America’s first glimpse of the Clinton machine in action, as Bernie Sanders can tell you. And this time around, she’ll have the press doing half of her work for her.

On issue by issue, he and I will take our case to the voters... we will win the hearts and minds of the American people with an agenda for a stronger and more prosperous America.

The establishment... thinks it’s only a narrow range of voters who are giving Donald Trump a first look,” but that’s not true, Pence asserts.

Pence names groups who might give Trump a second look: Union members, coal miners. African Americans. Hispanic Americans.

Pence: 'It’s change versus status quo'

Pence says Americans want change but “the other party has responded with a stale agenda and the most predictable of names.”

Hillary Clinton wants a better title, and I would too if I was already America’s secretary of the status quo.

You know the choice couldn’t be more clear. .. we could choose a leader who will fight every day to make America great again.

It’s change versus status quo.

And my fellow Americans, when Donald Trump is elected president of the United States of America, the change will be YUGE.

Pence: 'you can’t fake good kids'

Pence says that as he got to know Trump, he realized good things about him.

“I’ll grant you that he can be a little rough with politicians on the stage - and I bet we see that again” but he has “respect for people that work for him” and “devotion to his family.”

“As we say back home, ‘you can’t fake good kids.’ How about his children? Aren’t they something. These are the true measures of our nominee.”

Applause.

Pence gets a cheer for saying the other party doesn’t understand why Trump is winning just like the media doesn’t understand it:

They keep thinking they’ve done him in, only to wake up the next morning to find that Donald Trump is still standing and running stronger than ever before. The man does not quit.

Pence all but compares him to a villain in a horror movie.

Pence continues, talking about his record of job creation in Indiana.

“We like Mike!” the crowd chants. “We like Mike! We like Mike!”

As Pence continues to speak, the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland continues to interview delegates. He finds as much passion in the Cruz supporters as in his detractors:

Here’s the moment Donald Trump enters the arena – just as Cruz gets his boo:

Pence says his dad would have loved to be here tonight. An “Would you join me in welcoming the light of my life, my mom, Nancy?”

Nancy stands in yonder stands.

Pence brings hand to lips, his eyes twinkle a bit and he throws her a kiss. That’s a sweet moment.

He introduces his wife Karen next, his wife of 31 years.

“The most important job I’ll ever have is spelled D-A-D,” he says. He says they have the three greatest kids in the world including a second lieutenant in the US marine corps, a writer and a college student. Applause.

“If you know anything about Hoosiers, you know we love to suit up and compete,” he says. That’s why he said yes in a heartbeat.

“On November 8th, I know we will elect Donald Trump to be the 45th president of the United States of AMerica.”

Lots of cheers at that line.

RNC in Cleveland 2016epa05434175 Indiana Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence takes to the stage.
Indiana Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence takes to the stage. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Pence says “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order.”

He says he never thought he’d be standing there. “Yet there I was, a few days ago in New York City, with the man who won 37 states.”

Pence doesn’t mention how Trump flew him to New York then left him in limbo for a day while he decided whether to dump him.

Pence then scores two laughs in a row. He notes that Trump has style and charisma.

“So I guess he was just looking for some balance on the ticket.”

Ha!

Then this: “Well, for those who don’t know me, which is most of you...”

Another laugh.

Updated

Ryan calls for the election of Donald Trump as president. He is behind the movement, aboard the train:

I have no doubt that he will bring real change to Washington. I have every confidence that he will do us all proud.

Then he introduces Pence and there’s a great deal of cheering.

Pence comes out and looks great with an electric blue tie against a background of the same color. And the white-shirt white-hair thing. Really works.

He says he accepts the nomination. The crowd cheers and cheers.

House speaker Paul Ryan comes out to introduce Indiana governor Mike Pence, the vice presidential nominee.

“I could not be more proud of our vice presidential nominee,” Ryan says. “... This is a man of solid character... who sees public service as a calling not a career... the results are impressive.”

The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland was with the delegates as they began to realize – and then grow angry at the fact – that Cruz was not going to endorse Donald Trump:

Breaking:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: “Donald Trump is right.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: “Donald Trump is right. Photograph: Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters

Gingrich flips over to national security.

“Donald Trump is right,” he says. “We are at war with radical Islamists, we are losing the war, and we must change course to win the war.”

Then Gingrich says the media will distort what he says next:

Let me be very clear, because I know the news media will do their best to distort this.

We have nothing to fear from the vast majority of Muslims in the United States, or around the world.

The vast majority are peaceful. They are often the victims of the violence themselves.

They are people we would be happy to have as our friends and neighbors.

That last line gets applause, to the crowd’s credit.

There’s a ‘but’:

The challenge is, when even a small percentage of a billion, six hundred million people support violence against those who disagree with them, that is still a giant recruiting base.

Updated

But don’t let Newt Gingrich tell you what Ted Cruz said. Watch it again:

Gingrich says Cruz non-endorsement was an endorsement

Callista Gingrich introduces her husband.
Callista Gingrich introduces her husband. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Next Callista Gingrich introduces Newt Gingrich. Newt Gingrich gets out there and tells the crowd,

“I think you misunderstood one paragraph that Ted Cruz,” a fantastic orator, said.

Gingrich says that Cruz said, “you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the constitution.”

Which means, says Gingrich:

In this election, there is only one candidate who will uphold the constitution. So, to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if you want to uphold the constitution of the United States, the only candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence ticket.

Updated

Trump in the audience

Donald Trump had sat through Eric Trump’s speech but now he’s left the stands, perhaps to duck backstage.

The Jumbotrons have winked out again.

Eric Trump calls out to people at home. He says if you’re struggling to make a rental payment, “my father is running for you.” Or a laborer forced out of a job by undocumented workers illegal immigrants; energy workers denied a job by the EPA; single mothers; families with special needs children who can’t afford medical benefits for everyday needs. “My father is running for you.”

He continues:

Vote for the candidate who you know is running for the right reasons. Vote for the candidate who has never been a politician. Vote for the candidate who has never received a paycheck for our government.

Eric Trump calls Donald Trump “right, just and true.”

Then he makes the patrician-not-politician argument, the rich man’s burden argument for picking Trump:

Vote for the one candidate who does not need this job.

He continues: “Never have I been more proud to be a Trump.”

There is a lot of family affection on the table for this last part. It gets either sappy or moving, depending on your perspective:

Dad, you always taught by example. You are my hero you are my best friend, you are the next president of the United States. God Bless America.

Despite technical problems, Eric Trump deivers in front of Donald Trump.
Despite technical problems, Eric Trump delivers in front of Donald Trump and the convention Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Eric Trump continues with an anecdote about Oprah Winfrey asking his father whether he’d ever run for president. Trump said, “Only if it got so bad that I had no choice.”

Eric Trump says: “Well ladies and gentlemen, that day has come.”

He describes things he sees in his father’s eyes, specifically frustration at America’s crumbling infrastructure, failing schools and ballooning trade deficit.

But also Eric sees in his father’s eyes the look of someone who wants America to be great again.

The New York delegation chants Trump Trump Trump.

Eric Trump quote MLK Jr: “The most persistent question is what are you doing for others.” He begins to talk about the charity work of his foundation.

Eric Trump points out that Trump himself is in the house. So he is, over there.

Updated

Eric Trump: 'It's time for a president with common sense'

Eric Trump is listing the accomplishments of his father. These include turning the presidential debates into “must-see TV.”

Trump says he saw his father grow frustrated with stuff that was going wrong in the USA. “He could no longer stand to see the words [sic] “Christmas” stripped from public use... so my father made the courageous decision to set aside a company to which he has devoted an entire life... at a time when many people would have held fast to a lifestyle that has truly become the epitome of the American dream,” Trump sought to restore that dream to the people, Eric Trump says.

He says his dad is the best person to implement tax reform and introduce business sense and “negotiate the return of countless American manufacturers” ... “than a many who has single-handedly employed tens and tens of thousands of people around this country.

“It’s time for a president with common sense,” Eric Trump says.

Well it appears Chris Janson’s latest harmonica solo has finally killed all the video screens in the Quicken Loans arena. Every Jumbotron in the place has flickered off.

The Trump family cheer for Eric Trump.
The Trump family cheer for Eric Trump. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

As Eric Trump walks out, the Jumbotons go back on, but the LED crawlers ringing the arena at two levels are blinking on and off. It’s a strobe effect, a malfunction, distracting, the kind of thing that might come with a seizure warning.

Eric Trump dives into his speech anyway.

They finally get those crawlers turned off.

Updated

Boos for Cruz

Here are those boos:

Updated

We’ve just had a video of Trump’s children talking about their father. They said good things without exception. Now noted harmonica-ist Chris Janson is back, to sing an adapted version of a song called “Truck Yeah.”

He makes it “Trump yeah.”

Cruz thunderously booed

The crowd realizes that Ted Cruz is coming to the end of his speech and that he will not endorse Trump, or even mention him again. They are growing restive. Chants and counter-chants, people standing and giving the old double-thumbs-down.

Cruz has come to the end of his prepared remarks, but he’s not rushing it. He seems to be enjoying, somehow, the palpable rancor in the air. He speaks these lines off the cuff:

“The case we have to make to the American people.. is to commit that we will defend freedom and be faithul to the American constitution.

“We will unit the party, unite the country, by standing for” these freedoms.”

“God bless each and every one of you and god bless the United States of America.”

And the place goes wild, 18,000 booing people.

Cruz stands there and smiles and waves. He doesn’t care.

Updated

Cruz: 'vote your conscience'

Cruz:

We deserve leaders who stand for principle. Unite us all behind shared values. Cast aside anger for love. That is the standard we should expect, from everybody.

And to those listening, please, don’t stay home in November. If you love our country, and love your children as much as I know you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.

Cruz here is both cheered and booed. A rallying cry of Trump! Trump! breaks out, and a counter-cry of USA! USA! percolates. Especially right in front of Cruz, where the New Yorkers are.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation,” Cruz says.

Then he returns to his prepared remarks:

It’s love of freedom that has allowed millions to achieve their dreams. Like my Mom, the first in her family to go to college, and my Dad, who fled prison and torture in Cuba, coming to Texas with just $100 sewn into his underwear.

Cruz on the recent glories of the Republican party:

Our party was founded to defeat slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

We passed the Civil Rights Act, and fought to eliminate Jim Crow laws.

That’s our collective legacy, although the media will never show it to you.

Cruz is speaking directly into cameras carrying his words to like 20 million people at least.

As Cruz speaks, there’s a brief electrical outage, everything flickering, the big screens. But it’s just a glitch.

Standing with his family, Donald Trump makes a point while listening to Ted Cruz speech.
Standing with his family, Donald Trump makes a point while listening to Ted Cruz speech. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Updated

Cruz calls for a wall

The biggest applause line of Cruz’s speech so far:

We deserve an immigration system that puts America first. And yes, builds a wall to keep us safe.

Then Cruz, recklessly and counterfactually, brands refugees as “Isis terrorists,” as news reports emerge of dozens of Syrian civilians killed by US ordnance.

Cruz describes a bunch of things that “freedom means,” including freedom to have guns and freedom from other people having abortions.

Also, states’ rights:

And freedom means recognizing that our Constitution allows states to choose policies that reflect local values. Colorado may decide something different than Texas. New York different than Iowa. Diversity. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. If not, what’s the point of having states to begin with?

Cruz says Clinton is anti freedom. His lines about her are booed:

Hillary Clinton believes government should make virtually every choice in your life. Education, healthcare, marriage, speech – all dictated out of Washington.

Cruz then touts the Brexit vote. Big cheers now:

But something powerful is happening. We’ve seen it in both parties. We’ve seen it in the United Kingdom’s unprecedented Brexit vote to leave the European Union.

Voters are overwhelmingly rejecting the political establishment and big government. That’s a profound victory.

Cruz describes 'return to freedom'

Senator Ted Cruz addresses a packed convention.
Senator Ted Cruz addresses a packed convention. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

The room is absolutely packed for Cruz, the fullest it’s been yet. He has progressed gracefully through a few movements: the tragic story of the daughter of an assassinated officer; the American ideal; the sins of the Democrats, and now a “vision for our future”:

Theirs is the party that thinks ISIS is a “JV team,” that responds to the death of Americans at Benghazi by asking, “What difference does it make?” That thinks it’s possible to make a deal with Iran, which celebrates as holidays “Death to America Day” and “Death to Israel Day.”

My friends, this is madness.

President Obama is a man who does everything backwards – he wants to close Guantanamo Bay and open up our borders, he exports jobs and imports terrorists.

Enough is enough.

And I am here to tell you, there is a better vision for our future: A return to freedom.

Updated

Cruz has left Trump behind, apparently for good. He gets a good bit of applause for a line about Americans having no king. Then he almost says that American exceptionalism comes down to Freddie Mercury:

America is more than just a land mass between two oceans. America is an idea, a simple yet powerful idea: freedom matters.

For much of human history, government power has been the unavoidable constant in life – government decrees, and the people obey.

Not here. We have no king or queen. No dictator. We the People constrain government.

Our nation is exceptional because it was built on the five most powerful words in the English language: I want to be free.

Never has that message been more needed than today.

Cruz tells the story of Michael Smith, one of five officers shot dead in Dallas. The story becomes a call to action:

As I thought about what I wanted to say tonight, Michael Smith’s story weighed on my heart. Maybe that’s because his daughter, Caroline, is about the same age as my eldest daughter and happens to share the same name. Maybe it’s because I saw a video of that dear, sweet child choking back sobs as she remembered her daddy’s last question to her. Maybe it’s because we live in a world where so many others have had their lives destroyed by evil, in places like Orlando and Paris and Nice and Baton Rouge. Maybe it is because of the simple question itself:

What if this, right now, is our last time? Our last moment to do something for our families and our country?

Did we live up to our values? Did we do all we could?

Cruz congratulates Trump on winning 'last night'

Ted Cruz was greeted by whistles and boos amongst the applause.
Ted Cruz was greeted by whistles and boos amongst the applause. Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Ted Cruz is announced and appears. People clap forever and whistle. Some boo.

“Thank you and god bless each and every one of you,” he says.

Thank you. Heidi and I are honored to join you here in Cleveland, where Lebron James just led an incredible comeback victory. I’m convinced America is going to come back too.

I want to congratulate Donald Trump on winning the nomination last night. And like each of you, I want to see the principles that our party believes prevail in November.

Conventions are times of excitement. But given the events of the last few weeks, I hope you’ll allow me a moment to talk to you about what’s really at stake.

Updated

Whoa here suddenly is Marco Rubio, addressing crowd via JumboTron.

He attacks Hillary Clinton over Benghazi. “Unlike Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is committed to cut taxes, curb spending... [he] takes seriously the threat from Islamic radicals...”

Rubio’s video image gets applause for saying this:

The time for fighting each other is other. It’s time to come together and fight for a new direction for America. It’s time to (inaudible).

While Lynne Patton tells the crowd about the virtues of her boss Donald Trump, we want to flag this non-politics story:

The band strikes up. Who’s up next? Looks like Lynne Patton of the Eric Trump foundation. The band’s doing one of their hits from last night, a cover of REO Speedwagon’s Roll With the Changes.

A video is rolling now. Is Lynne Patton going to address the crowd only by video? The video is a slide show of people – it’s unclear who – with a voiceover by an unidentified someone who could be Lynne Patton.

“The Trump family has stood by me through lots of difficult times without concern about their reputations by association,” the unidentified narrator says, interestingly. Tell us more?

“For the past six years I have held an executive position as it pertains to the distribution of their charitable funds,” the voice says. Must be Lynne Patton.

She says “this is the right thing to do...for me it was an easy decision, just as voting for my boss, Donald J Trump, should be for you,” she says.

Oh wait there she is in person! Lynne Patton. Hello America! she says. She refers again to “my boss, Donald J Trump.” Feels like a sales conference, reminiscent of the moment last night when the Trump vineyard executive spoke.

Walker mentions 'prison' for Clinton

Next up: governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. “America deserves better” is his refrain. There are special signs in the audience with those words on them.

But is it a great look, for Scott Walker, a sharp critic of Trump once, to stand on the stage at Trump’s convention and lead the crowd chants of “America deserves better”?

Some people jumped the gun with the signs:

Here’s Walker’s first big applause line:

Hillary Clinton is the ultimate liberal Washington insider. If she were any more on the “inside,” she’d be in prison.

America deserves better than Hillary Clinton.

Then Walker explicitly calls for support for Trump:

That is why we need to support Donald Trump and Mike Pence for President and Vice President.

Last August, I said that any of the Republicans running would be better than Hillary Clinton. I meant it then, and I mean it now. So let me be clear: a vote for anyone other than Donald Trump in November is a vote for Hillary Clinton.

Updated

Here’s Ingraham calling on Cruz and others to endorse Trump:

And Trump tweets thanks for her speech:

Updated

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker reminds the convention of the Declaration of Independence.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker reminds the convention of the Declaration of Independence. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Scott is a great orator. His speech was not much as written but he worked it for big waves of cheers:

He believes, as do you and as I do, that we can become great again, and we can become strong again, if we have strong leadership. And I can think of no stronger leader who will place their left hand on a Bible that they believe in, raise their right hand and solemnly swear to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America than Donald J. Trump.

They cheered it like crazy, big standing O. Nothing in the words. All in the delivery.

Updated

Scott is yelling lines from the Declaration of Independence and winning big cheers for it. The Declaration of Independence is awesome.

“Donald Trump has played the big stakes, and he is a master dealer and negotiator... the art of the deal is to bring people together to unify and to get them from no to yes,” Scott says. “He now wants to take that experience to get the best deal for America.”

Kentucky state senator Ralph Alvarado, Jr, delivers lines in Spanish. The crowd cheers him excitedly.

Then they strike up the band a bit, a little instrumental interlude to fill out the 8 o’clock hour, it appears. Next up is Dr. Darrell C. Scott, Senior Pastor and Co-Founder of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries.

He says he gets together with Donald Trump to discuss race relations and other things. “Despite his many accomplishments, he feels a void that he feels can only be filled by service to his country and service to his fellow Americans,” he says.

Updated

Trump 'the ultimate ringmaster'

Michelle Van Etten of Women in Business for Trump addresses the convention.
Michelle Van Etten of Women in Business for Trump addresses the convention. Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

We take back what we said about Van Etten. She closes with a crushing set of lines that get a mere fraction of the applause they deserve, we’d say:

There is only one man capable of this juggling act. Only one man who can take the circus we’ve inherited from the last eight years and serve as the ultimate ringmaster.

There is only one man who can preserve and protect the American Dream for future generations.

That man is Donald Trump. Thank you.

Updated

Van Etten has lost the audience. She slices the air and speaks loudly but can barely raise a whoop-whoop.

And glancing at the speakers list, it looks like a potentially drowsy march until we get to the electrifying Scott Walker. The next three speakers are:

State Senator Ralph Alvarado, Jr. (Kentucky)

Dr. Darrell C. Scott, Senior Pastor and Co-Founder of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries

Harold Hamm, Continental Resources

Updated

Here’s Michelle van Etten, fake employer.

The RNC bio says this:

Michelle Van Etten is a small business owner who was recently featured in The Greatest Networkers in the World, second edition. Michelle employs over 100,000 people, and she supports Donald Trumpbecause she believes that his policies will support businesses across America.

But in fact van Etten employs zero people, the Guardian’s Jon Swaine reports:

Here’s the crux of Van Etten’s speech:

Planning for my 20th high school reunion, I decided to check out the girls I went to school with. What I noticed was that my girlfriends looked like Barbies and drove BMWs. I was 30 pounds overweight, a stay at home mom and drove a minivan.

I decided I needed a change. I began to dream again. I took a leap of faith and started my own network marketing business from home. Like many people who pursue a dream, I had to learn how to fail forward and never quit.

I also had to become the type of person I wanted in my business. Within just two years, my husband was able to retire from 28 years at DOD. Jim Van Etten now homeschools our kids because we choose not to subject them to Common Core.

I opened a fashion studio called MV House of Style in Brandon, Florida. Today I run a thriving multi-faceted business. I am living the American Dream.

Next up is Eileen Collins, the first woman to lead a space shuttle mission.

“The last time the United States launched our own astronauts from our own soil was over five years ago,” she says.

She is calling for a renewed investment in space exploration. This is not a political speech. It’s a Nasa PSA. Except she does say at the end, “we need leadership that will make America great again.”

Here’s hoping Newt Gingrich, futurist and aspiring Mars colonist, gets to talk to Collins backstage.

Here’s more on Phil Ruffin, the Trump-friend-businessman who spoke after Ingraham:

Donald Trump Jr, denying a New York Times report on a conversation he had with the John Kasich camp, asks the world, “what am I, a meathead?”

“Lock her up, I love that,” Bondi says.

The crowd tries to chant it, but Bondi stops them. “Hang on,” she says, so she can say this:

He’ll roll back Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders.

He’ll enforce immigration laws to keep us safe, while allowing legal immigrants to bless this nation with their talents and their dreams. And California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona: Donald Trump will take control of our borders, because we must stop the influx of cocaine and heroin coming into our country and my state, killing our kids.

Ruffin wanders off. Now here’s Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, whom the Guardian’s Ed Pilkington describes like this:

Bondi was a leading opponent of same-sex marriage, but since the [Orlando] massacre has been cozying up to gay leaders. “She came up to me and wanted to hug me,” Sheehan said. “She just doesn’t get it. The woman honestly does not understand why the community is upset with her. What these people do not understand is that by fighting against my rights, they helped create this climate of terrorism and hatred.”

Ruffin is swiftly draining the energy from the room. “He has that Mar-a-Lago. He loves Florida,” Ruffin says. He says he built the Trump hotel with Trump in Las Vegas.

“Beautiful hotel... we had almost 1,300 units, and they were sold out in 90 days. Ninety days.” But with the 2009 recession, they were stuck with 75% of units empty. “You had $500m in debt. What do you do? Donald does not give up. He said, let’s make the damn thing work, and he did.”

None of that was on the Teleprompter. He’s riffing.

“He always pays his bills promptly. No discounts. Nobody lost any money on it. Today we have 80% sold. We have no debt.”

Now Ruffin’s first sort-of-applause line:

“He wants to do the same thing for this country.”

Ingraham wows crowd

The delegates responding warmly to the address by Laura Ingraham.
The delegates responding warmly to the address by Laura Ingraham. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Another huge line - an even bigger one - from Ingraham, who, a syndicated radio host, this time trashes the media.

Yes it’s definitely a bigger line. They’re still cheering. It’s an absolutely electric moment.

Pretending to point at the media row – we’re actually off to the side, she points up – she says, “you all know in your hearts why Donald Trump won.”

“You all know,” she says, pointing.

Because he dared to call out the phonies the frauds and the corruption that has gone unexposed and uncovered for too long. Too long. Do your job!

Huge cheers.

She closes: Let’s elect Donald Trump president of the United States!

Big cheers and applause as she leaves the stage. A USA! chant.

Then she’s followed by a guy in sunglasses who says that Donald Trump, “as a friend, is unbelievable.”

It’s Phil Ruffin, businessman. Here’s the RNC bio:

Ruffin is an American businessman with diverse interests in real estate, lodging, manufacturing, energy, and retail enterprises. Ruffin started his business in 1959 with a single convenience store and expanded it into an operation with 65 stores in four states. He currently holds 12 hotels in Kansas, Maryland,California, Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama.

Updated

Ingraham calls on Cruz to endorse trump

Ingraham addresses former presidential candidates who vowed to support the Republican nominee, Ted Cruz among them, to make good on their promise:

WE love you, we love you. But you must honor your pledge to support Donald Trump now. Tonight. Tonight.

The crowd roars to its feet, again. And there is sustained applause and cheering. It’s a home run line.

“I hope they are listening,” she says. “I hope they are listening.”

Here’s conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. She’s got the crowd on its feet.

“I’m a single mother of three adopted children. I’m here tonight supporting Donald Trump because like most Americans, I refuse to leave them a country that is worse off than the one my parents left me,” she says.

She’s interrupted repeatedly by calls to “Lock her up! Lock her up!” And one guy yells, “We love you!”

“Donald Trump understands that we must turn this around and restore respect across all levels of society. Unlike us, Hillary Clinton believes the status quo is just fine because she helped create it.

“Donald Trump knows that a nation without borders isn’t a nation at all. But Hillary Clinton? Nah, she doesn’t believe in borders.”

We’ve just heard from Florida governor Rick Scott, who was slow to endorse Trump but saw the writing on the wall when Trump smashed home state senator Marco Rubio.

Scott said in part:

I cried with the grieving moms and dads and brothers and sisters of the 49 people slaughtered by an ISIS-inspired terrorist. This war is real. It is here in America. And the next president must destroy this evil. Donald Trump is the man for that job.

“Today, America is in terrible, world-record-high debt. Our economy is not growing. Our jobs are going overseas. We have allowed our military to decay, and we project weakness on the international stage. Washington grows while the rest of America struggles. The Democrats have not led us to a crossroads, they have led us to a cliff.”

The crowd is getting into Chris Janson, who’s doing another harmonica solo, blowing hard as Hannity.

“Are you ready to party baby, RNC here we go!” he says.

When’s Rick Scott going to come out? It’s only 8pm. Janson has another. This song appears to be called “Back in my drinkin’ days.” Yup.

Janson takes another harmonica solo, prefaced by the callout, “Who’s ready to hear 135 pounds of skinny white guy play this harmonica like you ain’t never seen baby?”

Man that guy can play the harmonica.

“I wrote this song for some friends of mine, it was a great big number one this year,” Janson says. If you like America, he advises, “make some noise in this house.”

He sings the song I Love This Life which as nobody needs to be told was a huge huge hit for Locash.

I love my boots broke in, I love my Camo hat
Don’t mind a little paint on my jeans, yeah I roll like that
I love driving my truck across the railroad tracks
If you hit it too quick, it’ll hit ya right back

I love a fresh cut field with a first frost on
How it shines like gold when the sun turned on
I love the sound of them wheels with my baby singing along
When “The Boys Of Summer” comes on

I love my small town world,
I love a country girl
I love a Friday night
Man I love this life
The sound of an ol’ dirt road
Rollin’ through mind
Man I love, man I love,
Man, I Love This Life

I Love that county line bar where they all know my drink
The way she throws her hands up when that cover band plays
I love that taste of her lips when she’s been sipping that wine
I still get drunk on her every time

I love my small town world,
I love a country girl
I love a Friday night
Man I love this life
The sound of an ol’ dirt road
Rolling through mind
Man, I love, man I love,
Man, I Love This Life

Oh-o-o-o-oh
Man I love this life
Oh-o-o-o-oh
Man, I love this life
(I love this life, I love this life, I love this life)

I love that ragged old barn that my grandpa made
It was my whole world back in my innocent days
I love that little white church, out on 109
It’s where I hit my knees and thank the Lord for this life of mine

Now country music star Chris Janson is singing an up-tempo, dare we say country-punk cover of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire.

“Make some noise, RNC!” Janson calls out.

Most excited delegation: California, home to Folsom and San Quentin. Least excited: saying Arizona, who are texting. Texas is waving their hats.

Here’s country music star Chris Janson, singing his smash hit “Buy me a boat”.

Last night was disco and funk night. Tonight’s it’s country.

“Hey RNC how you doin’ tonight baby?!?” Chris Janson says. They cheer, and he goes into a harmonica solo that would give John Popper’s tongue career-ending cramps if he tried it.

Here’s Sweet Caroline. And yes that’s Florida:

There’s the pledge of allegiance. Now Abby Paskvan sings the national anthem. She killed it, in a performance anticipated by her mic check earlier:

The announcer has just interrupted the band’s cover of “Sweet Caroline” to ask people to take their seats and she basically ends up on the receiving end of a basketball-arena-sized Go to Hail. These people aren’t going to sit down in the middle of “Sweet Caroline.”

OK it’s over and here’s Reince Priebus again. He introduces a boy scout troop who are bringing in the flags.

Introducing tonight's speakers

The first speaker tonight, according to the program, is Florida governor Rick Scott. Maybe he can get those wild partiers in his delegation to calm down a bit.

We’re also scheduled to hear from Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, senator Marco Rubio (by video), senator Ted Cruz, former House speaker Newt Gingrich plus Callista Gingrich, Eric Trump, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence and fake employer Michelle van Etten. The speakers’ list is as follows:

Florida Governor Rick Scott

Laura Ingraham, Radio Host

Phil Ruffin, Businessman

Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida

Eileen Collins, Astronaut (retired)

Michelle Van Etten, Small Business Owner

State Senator Ralph Alvarado, Jr. (Kentucky)

Dr. Darrell C. Scott, Senior Pastor and Co-Founder of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries

Harold Hamm, Continental Resources

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Lynne Patton, The Eric Trump Foundation

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Video

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization

Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Callista Gingrich, President of Gingrich Productions

Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Candidate for Vice President

Trump on 'speechwriter': 'we all make mistakes'

Donald Trump has told ABC News that the Trump organization staffer who took the blame for allowing Melania Trump’s speech to proceed with borrowed lines in it had been with him a long time, is a “very good person” and he forgives her because “we all make mistakes.”

Transcript via Sopan Deb of CBS News:

The delegates are all in the hall, and the band has once again begun. My Sharona is the hit cover tune of the moment. There’s some dancing. Especially among the representatives of a certain popular holiday state.

If you haven’t been watching the Infowars livestream, with conspirator-in-chief Alex Jones, you may have missed comedian Tim Heidecker crashing it and doing a pretty good Alex Jones impression (this is via Dave Weigel of the Washington Post):

Updated

Mini-wall materializes around Trump star

A border wall appeared around the Trump star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

The work is credited to the artist Plastic Jesus. Who paid for it? Your guess is as good as ours.

It was gone by Wednesday.

Wall detail.
Wall detail. Photograph: David Livingston/Getty Images
The wall is not high enough to keep anyone out.
The wall is not high enough to keep anyone out. Photograph: David Livingston/Getty Images

Updated

Convention night 3 live stream

We’re pleased tonight to be able to serve up a live video stream of tonight’s proceedings. Here it is, courtesy of Reuters:

Updated

Trump plane trolls Cruz

Cruz cut off by Trump plane: ‘That was pretty well orchestrated’ – video

Cruz cut off by Trump plane: ‘That was pretty well orchestrated’

Trump at record-low with Latino voters

In the aftermath of defeat in the 2012 presidential race, the Republican party’s mandate was clear: make inroads with Latino voters, the fastest-growing bloc of the American electorate, or face the consequences at the ballot box, writes Guardian politics reporter Sabrina Siddiqui:

On Thursday, Donald Trump will instead formally accept the Republican nomination for president at the party’s convention in Cleveland with record-low approval ratings from Latino voters.

And even as Republican officials speak of ramping up outreach to the must-win demographic, the atmosphere is clearly affected by the real estate mogul’s unwavering line on immigration – from the unveiling of a Republican election platform, which emphasized the building of a border wall, to a speaking lineup that has included the parents of children killed by immigrants who entered the US illegally.

Many prominent Republicans fear Trump’s name at the top of the ticket in November poses a threat not simply for their prospects of winning the White House but also for holding on to majorities in Congress.

“I think we’re likely to have the largest turnout ever of Latino voters to stop Donald Trump,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who has argued that the party’s 2016 nominee would need at least 40% of the Latino vote to secure victory.

“He’s going to have to do dramatically better than Mitt Romney did among white voters to counter the antagonism he’s created among Hispanics.” [...]

In a poll released just ahead of the Republican convention, Hillary Clinton held a 62-point advantage over Trump among Latino voters, leading 76% to 14%. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo survey also found that 82% of Latino voters viewed Trump unfavorably, compared with just 11% who viewed him positively.

Read further:

Farage: Obama 'helpful' in Brexit vote

Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence party, has claimed that Barack Obama was unwittingly responsible for pushing Britain out of the European Union, reports Guardian Washington correspondent David Smith:

“I’m a huge fan of Barack Obama,” Farage said on Wednesday during a visit to the Republican national convention in Cleveland. “Without him we wouldn’t have won the referendum. He was very helpful.”

The US president visited London in April and made an impassioned plea to Britons to remain in the EU. The UK would be at the “back of the queue” in any trade deal with the US, he warned, speaking alongside David Cameron. The leave victory in last month’s Brexit referendum caught the White House by surprise.

Farage, speaking at a fringe event after meeting Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, suggested that Obama’s intervention had backfired and that politicians should not meddle in another country’s affairs.

Nigel Farage speaks during the McClatchy Morning Buzz at the RNC on July 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Nigel Farage speaks during the McClatchy Morning Buzz at the RNC on July 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“I shall always be grateful, eternally grateful to Obama because he came to our country, he was rude to us, he told us what we should do and he led to a big Brexit bounce of several points,” the leading Brexit advocate said. “So thank you, Obama, for helping us to win this referendum.

“The moral of the story is I shan’t say at the end of this week who I think you should vote for, although I have to say, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary if you paid me. Her sense of entitlement kind of puts me off.”

Laura Benanti nails impression of Melania Trump speech – video

Laura Benanti nails impression of Melania Trump speech

Triptych terror.

Is audience appetite for Trump waning? Has the nation hit saturation? Trump surrogates had said that 35 million people were watching primetime television coverage of the convention.

In fact, audience for night two of the convention was about 5/6 the size of the audience that watched the Fox debate at the start of the spectacle, the NY Times’ Mike Grynbaum reports:

Secret Service investigating Trump aide who said Clinton should be shot

A Secret Service agent protecting Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
A Secret Service agent protects Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

The Secret Service is investigating a prominent Donald Trump supporter who said Hillary Clinton should be “shot for treason,” the AP reports:

Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback says the agency is aware of comments made by New Hampshire state Rep. Al Baldasaro. Hoback says the Secret Service “will conduct the appropriate investigation.”

Baldasaro said Clinton — a former secretary of state who’s the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee — should be “put in the firing line and shot for treason” over the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks tells NH1 News that Baldasaro doesn’t speak for the campaign.

(h/t @maraithe)

Updated

Politicians: Janus-faced or what. Last night here in Cleveland, New Jersey governor Chris Christie had America’s most fervent Republicans on their feet yelling “Guilty!” and chanting “Lock her up!” as he “prosecuted” Hillary Clinton for “crimes” and misdeeds from Little Rock to Libya.

But it emerges that Christie missed his chance to make a citizen’s arrest in February, when he ran into Clinton on a CNN set in New Hampshire. Instead of arresting her, he gave her one of his trademark hugs, and asked her to “say hi to the president.” Here’s video of a snapchat video circulated today by the Clinton campaign:

Updated

Meanwhile in Possum Trot

(h/t @timothymurphy)

Trump disagrees with aide who wants Clinton executed

Trump’s communications director Hope Hicks.
Donald Trump’s communications director, Hope Hicks.

Donald Trump’s chief adviser on veteran’s issues on Wednesday declared that Hillary Clinton “should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.” (Earlier post here.)

But that’s not how the candidate feels, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks has reassured the Washington Post:

Updated

Gingrich: Melania Trump 'stunningly attractive'

Former house speaker Newt Gingrich, who’s scheduled to speak tonight, has told CNN that Melania Trump’s plagiarism dabbling is not really a problem because, in part, “she is stunningly attractive.”

As Newt well knows, beauty gets you everywhere.

The Cut blog at New York Magazine captures the Gingrich statement:

“Who cares? The fact is Melania gave a good speech, she is stunningly attractive, she’s stunningly articulate, [and] most of the people who are criticizing her can’t speak five languages. She’s a bright person, she introduced herself in a way that’s attractive, [and] she’s obviously very passionate about America.”

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts has been elected president and started work in the Oval Office. Looks like the first 100 days in the Roberts presidency are going to be historic.

Actually, this is Dan on an Oval Office novelty set here at the Quicken Loans arena. No word on whether Trump has stopped by yet.

A photo posted by Dan Roberts (@danroberts73) on

Police have detained protesters in Public Square, and they report that two officers were “assaulted”:

The Guardian’s Paul Owen sends video of the detained protesters:

Trump is batting back at today’s New York Times magazine report that he made a strong play for John Kasich to be his running mate.

The Times’ Robert Draper described an initial approach to the Kasich camp by Donald Trump Jr promising that Kasich could be in charge of foreign and domestic policy while Trump’s task would be to “make America great again.” The report described a phone conversation between Kasich and Trump in which they explored the idea.

Trump does not deny there were overtures but he does deny there was an outright offer made by him specifically to Kasich specifically. Which the Times report did not claim in the first place.

Updated

Protest 'activity' 'heats up'

An activists shouts as she is arrested by police during a protest outside the convention.
An activists shouts as she is arrested by police during a protest outside the convention. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland is on Public Square, where a Bob Marley cover band is facing off with apocalypse Christians, horse turds are fermenting and all signs point to circus:

Updated

Meredith McIver, the Trump staffer who today has described her writer’s role in l’affaire Melania, turns out to have been a presence in a 2007 profile of Trump by Gaby Wood.

Here’s a section of the profile, which warrants reading in full:

Time being money, Trump springs up to hand me some propaganda: glossy brochures featuring Trump Towers, Trump Palaces, Trump Plazas, Trump Hotels and Trump Golf Clubs all over North America - correction, the World.

‘I’ll get you a biography, too.’

Well, I mutter, I’ve read several of your autobiographies and ...

‘This’ll be a little easier for you. MEREDITH!’

Trump has what some of his employees refer to as an open-door policy; its main function seems to be that he can shout at them through it.

‘Would you get me a biography please!’

Meredith McIver, one of the assistants who doubles as his ghost writer, scuttles in with a few sheets of paper, on which a company bio is printed in bold and written in similar fashion: ‘A schoolboy’s dream ... a competitor’s challenge. Donald J Trump is the very definition of the American success story. In August 2006, Mr Trump was voted by the staff and writers of Business Week as one of the Top 10 most competitive business people on the planet.’

‘Today, I’m in all the papers,’ he says, confirming this spirit of competition. ‘You saw the amount of press? It was beyond belief - every major show, every everything. You check me on the internet I guess, do you? What - does your machine explode?’

Read the full piece here:

Trump adviser says Hillary Clinton should be shot

Donald Trump’s chief adviser on veteran’s issues on Wednesday declared that Hillary Clinton “should be put in the firing line and shot for treason,” the most extreme statement yet during a Republican national convention that has made the Democratic nominee the party’s top target.

Donald Trump and Al Baldasaro.
Donald Trump and Al Baldasaro. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP

Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire state representative and a New Hampshire delegate at the convention, made the comments on The Kuhner Report, a Boston-area radio show hosted by Jeffrey T Kuhner, a radio personality who styles himself as “Liberalism’s Worst Nightmare”.

“I’m a veteran that went to Desert Shield, Desert Storm,” Baldasoro said on Tuesday. “I’m also a father who sent a son to war, to Iraq, as a Marine Corps helicopter avionics technician. Hillary Clinton, to me, is the Jane Fonda of the Vietnam.”

Baldasaro went on to call Clinton “a disgrace for the lies that she told those mothers about their children that got killed over there in Benghazi. She dropped the ball on over 400 emails requesting back up security. Something’s wrong there.

“This whole thing disgusts me,” he concluded. “Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”

Reached by the Boston Globe, Baldasaro stood by his comments “without a doubt”.

“When you take classified information on a server that deals with where our State Department, special forces, CIA, whatever in other countries, that’s a death sentence for those people if that information gets in the hands of other countries or the terrorists,” Baldasaro said. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s information for the enemy. In the military, shot, firing squad. So I stand by what I said.”

The comments, coming from a chief advisor for a signature issue of Trump’s campaign, are far from the only incendiary remarks directed at the former secretary of state during the Republican National Convention, where Clinton has loomed large. On Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, men hawking T-shirts reading “Trump This Bitch!” and “Hillary Sucks, But Not Like Monica” have done brisk business.

The anti-Clinton fervor has often dominated the primetime stage of the convention itself. During a highly charged speech on Tuesday night, New Jersey governor Chris Christie presided over arena-wide chants of “Guilty!” and “Lock her up!” as the former federal prosecutor argued in a mock trial “the case now, on the facts, against Hillary Clinton”.

Later that evening, former presidential candidate Ben Carson departed from his prepared remarks to imply that Clinton worshipped Satan.

“One of her heroes, one of her mentors was Saul Alinsky,” Carson said, referring to the father of grassroots organizing whose book, Rules for Radicals, Clinton once cited in a college thesis. In that book, Alinsky calls Lucifer “the very first radical”.

“Are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?” Carson said. “Think about that.”

Updated

The rock band Third Eye Blind antagonized a crowd of Republican National Convention attendees during a charity concert at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Tuesday night.

During the Musicians on Call fundraiser, held to aid in bringing live and recorded music to patients in healthcare facilities, the singer Stephan Jenkins continually blasted the GOP by condemning Republican ideology (according to Billboard, he said he “repudiates” what the party now stands for) – and making remarks such as: “Raise your hand if you believe in science.” Clips uploaded on to social media show Jenkins exclaiming to booing audience members: “You can boo all you want, but I’m the motherfucking artist up here.”

The Musicians on Call event wasn’t officially affiliated with the RNC, but its sponsor, the Recording Industry Association of America, had emphasized in a press release that the gala was explicitly tied to the convention.

The actions of the group, best known for their 1990s alt-rock hit Semi-Charmed Life, don’t come as a huge surprise: four years ago, Jenkins penned a commentary piece for Huffington Post titled Why We Aren’t Playing at the RNC, in which he explained why his band didn’t accept an invitation to perform at a private party during the 2012 Republican convention because “they are, in fact, a party dedicated to exclusion”.

“The Republican party is on the wrong side of Lilly Ledbetter, fiscal responsibility, unions, civil rights, climate change, evolution, the Big Bang theory, stem cells, Medicare, and me, and that’s why we will let them be, in their government-funded event center, to sell their song and dance without me,” he wrote.

Updated

Jill Harth, woman who sued Trump over alleged sexual assault, breaks silence

A woman at the centre of sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump has spoken for the first time in detail about her personal experience with the billionaire tycoon who this week became the Republican nominee for president.

Jill Harth, a makeup artist, has stayed quiet for almost 20 years about the way Trump pursued her, and – according to a lawsuit she instigated – cornered her and groped her in his daughter’s bedroom.

After Trump mounted his campaign for the White House, details emerged of the 1997 complaint, in which Harth accused him of “attempted ‘rape’”.

Woman who sued Trump over alleged sexual assault speaks out

She said she was quickly inundated with interview requests from major US television networks, but resolved not to speak about the events – until Trump publicly said in May that her claims were “meritless” and his daughter Ivanka gave an interview in which she said her father was “not a groper”.

Harth, who feels she has been publicly branded a liar and believes her business has suffered because of her association with the allegations, decided to speak out about her experience with Trump because she wants an apology.

In an hour-long interview at the Guardian’s New York office on Tuesday, Harth said she stands by her charges against Trump, which run from low-grade sexual harassment to an episode her lawyers described in the lawsuit as “attempted ‘rape.’”

She first met Trump in December 1992 at his offices in Trump Tower, where she and her then romantic partner, George Houraney, were making a business presentation. The couple wanted to recruit Trump to back their American Dream festival, in which Harth oversaw a pin-up competition known as American Dream Calendar Girls. Harth described that meeting as “the highlight of our career”.

But in other ways, it was something of a lowlight: Trump took an interest in Harth immediately and began subjecting her to a steady string of unwanted sexual advances, detailed by Harth in her complaint.

There was the initial leering in that first December meeting in Trump Tower, and the inappropriate questions after her relationship status. It continued the next night over dinner at the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room, where at a dinner with beauty pageant contestants she alleges he groped her under the table.

It culminated in January 1993, when Harth and Houraney were visiting his Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago, to finalize and then celebrate the beauty pageant deal with a party.

After business concluded, Harth and Houraney were on tour of Mar-a-Lago along with a group of young pageant contestants – Trump wanted to “see the quality of the girls he was sponsoring”, Harth recalled – when he pulled her aside into one of the children’s bedrooms.

“He pushed me up against the wall, and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again,” Harth recalled, “and I had to physically say: ‘What are you doing? Stop it.’ It was a shocking thing to have him do this because he knew I was with George, he knew they were in the next room. And how could he be doing this when I’m there for business?”

Updated

Donald Trump lands in Cleveland

With the strains of the score to Air Force One playing in the background, as is his tradition, Donald Trump kept it short upon landing in Cleveland to be greeted by vice presidential nominee Mike Pence and his family.

Donald Trump’s helicopter.
Donald Trump’s helicopter. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Trump arrived yet again in Cleveland with a great fanfare, landing in his trip in his Trump helicopter on a grassy field adjacent to the Cleveland Browns stadium. With a swarm of hundreds of journalists from across the world cataloguing the turn of every helicopter blade, Trump emerged from his chopper accompanied by press secretary Hope Hicks and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom sources tell the Guardian has been acting as a de facto campaign manager in recent weeks.

The Republican nominee was greeted by his running mate Mike Pence as well as four of Trump’s five children. His wife Melania, who has been subsumed in a plagiarism scandal over her speech to the convention on Monday, was absent.

“We’re gonna win Ohio, we’re gonna make America great again,” Trump said. “I just want to introduce a man who has become a great friend of mine, a man who is going to make an unbelievable vice president of the United States, Mike Pence.”

Pence, taking the microphone, told Trump that “it is such an honor to join your family to welcome you to Cleveland.”

“I am convinced what begins in Cleveland will end in the White House! Thank you, God bless you, and welcome to Cleveland!”

Afterward, Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who has yet to endorse Trump, was there to watch and observe.

“I’ve never been to one of these rallies before,” said Sanford. “Arriving by helicopter with Air Force One blaring in the background is so at odds with my personal style in politics which is rather low key and anything I’ve ever known and observed about politics in the state that I’m from which is a bit less ostentatious in form. So I’m watching and learning.”

Updated

Ted Cruz: I cried after losing Indiana to Donald Trump

In remarks to his supporters in Cleveland as Donald Trump’s plane touched down across town, Texas senator Ted Cruz confessed to his now-lost delegates that he cried after losing the Indiana primary.

“I wasn’t gonna let those SOBs turn ‘Lyin’ Ted’ into ‘Cryin’ Ted,’” Cruz said, of the nickname bestowed upon him by Trump during the divisive Republican presidential primary.

The anecdote is another nail in the coffin of the idea that Cruz, who has refused to endorse Trump after dropping out of the race on May 3, will throw his support behind the Republican nominee at tonight’s primetime speech at the Republican National Convention.

Stand by...

A thought occurs!

Meet the Republican women backing Donald Trump

According to an ABC News survey, 77% of female voters have an unfavourable view of Donald Trump. Women at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, explained to the Guardian why they support the party’s presidential candidate:

Meet the Republican women backing Donald Trump

Speaking to delegates who were originally loyal to his presidential campaign, Texas senator Ted Cruz thanks supporters in Cleveland for the “amazing journey” of his unsuccessful presidential campaign.

“This afternoon is really for one very simple purpose, and it is to say thank you to each and every one of you - thank you from the very, very bottom of our hearts,” Cruz said, as his wife Heidi stood nearby.

“More than anything else, Heidi and I are filled with extraordinary grattitude and thankfullness,” Cruz continued. “We have been part of an amazing journey and it has been the privilege of our lifetimes to stand with each and everyone of you fighting for our country.”

“The men and women gathered here today, you are patriots, you love this country, you love our constitution, you love our freedom, you love our children and you believe in tomorrow! This campaign, I believe, was about a lot more than one campaign or one candidate - this was a movement, all across this country.”

Cruz did not endorse Donald Trump, his party’s presidential nominee, in the remarks, and is not expected to do so in his remarks to the Republican National Convention tonight.

An interesting, depressing note from the New York Times:

The employee, Meredith McIver, who has worked on some of Mr. Trump’s books, is the first person to publicly apologize for an error at any point during the Trump campaign.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest, when asked about the Melania Trump plagiarism scandal, and parlayed questions about Michelle Obama’s feelings on her remarks being lifted by a first lady aspirant into hopes that Michelle Obama’s remarks will be favorably looked upon by all future first ladies.

Donald and Melania Trump.
Donald and Melania Trump. Photograph: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock

“Obviously, in 2008 Mrs. Obama spoke movingly in her own words about her life story, about her values, and she was warmly received by the crowd,” Earnest said. “She got strong reviews from pundits and I’m confident in the future, aspiring first ladies and potential first husbands would draw on the same kinds of sentiments to advocate for their spouse.”

“Mrs. Obama is obviously quite proud of the speech she gave in 2008, and I’m confident that she’ll deliver another speech that’s equal to the test next week.”

“I have not spoken to the president and first lady since that letter became public, so I’m not sure if they’re aware of it right now.”

The election, and the women’s speeches, provides the American people, “an opportunity to compare the values and the messages in both,” parties, said Earnest.

“The focus we’ve had has been on the substance of the speech and the fact that Mrs. Trump received such warm applause, and such a strong review of her speech, based on reflection of the same kinds of values that were included in Mrs. Obama’s speech. I think that’s a reflection that the country has a lot of common ground.”

The warm reception to both speeches, Earnest said, “buttresses an argument [the president] has been making of late – that the country is not as divided as it might seem.”

Updated

“All news is good news,” after all.

Compare and contrast Melania Trump’s remarks with those of Michelle Obama:

Compare Melania Trump’s speech with Michelle Obama’s 2008 address

As Melania Trump once said...

It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama.

Trump Organization staff writer offers to resign over plagiarism scandal

An in-house staff writer for the Trump Organization has accepted responsibility for the three-day controversy over Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention, in which the would-be first lady delivered remarks that had been lifted from Michelle Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

Melania Trump.
Melania Trump. Photograph: Ida Mae Astute/Getty Images

The story has derailed attempts by the Trump campaign to focus the convention in personalizing Donald Trump, the newly minted Republican presidential nominee, and has left political experts scratching their heads over campaign leadership’s refusal to admit that the remarks were plagiarized.

“Meredith McIver, an in-house staff writer from the Trump Organization, has released a statement regarding Melania Trump’s speech from July 18th, 2016, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio,” a succinct statement from the Trump campaign stated.

In the statement, McIver says that she inadvertantly included the first lady’s remarks in Melania Trump’s speech, and that she feels “terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps.”

Here are McIver’s remarks in full:

My name is Meredith McIver and I’m an in-house staff writer at the Trump Organization. I am also a longtime friend and admirer of the Trump family.

In working with Melania Trump on her recent First Lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.

Yesterday, I offered my resignation to Mr. Trump and the Trump family, but they rejected it. Mr. Trump told me that people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from these experiences.

I asked to put out this statement because I did not like seeing the way this was distracting from Mr. Trump’s historic campaign for president and Melania’s beautiful message and presentation.

I apologize for the confusion and hysteria my mistake has caused. Today, more than ever, I am honored to work for such a great family. I personally admire the way Mr. Trump has handled the situation and I am grateful for his understanding.

Updated

Donald Trump, Jr. and former House speaker Newt Gingrich apparently ran into each other at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cleveland this morning, exchanging pleasantries before heading for their respective breakfasts.

Donald Trump on Melania's plagiarism scandal: 'All press is good press'

“All attention is good attention!” has, after all, been a guiding principle of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Trump’s tweets fly in the face of the best efforts by his campaign leadership to move past the issue of Melania Trump’s convention speech, which contained verbatim repetitions of remarks made by first lady Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

In an interview on CNN’s New Day, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort defended the campaign’s handling of the plagiarism allegations, refusing to acknowledge accusations of plagiarism and putting forth “the final word” on the speech.

“It was a speech that talked about her love of a country, how she immigrated here, the opportunities that America gave to her, how she came here and it talked about meeting a man named Donald Trump, who she fell in love with and raised a family with, and she wanted to talk to the American people about, you know, those – those personal feelings and thoughts,” Manafort said.

“The controversy that you’re talking about is not meaningful at all. She’s not a candidate for office. She was expressing her personal feelings about her country and her husband and why he’s best for the United States. And I agree with you, that’s the final word.”

Of course, when Trump is your candidate, he always gets the last word - because he tweets it.

When pressed, Manafort aggressively asked Cuomo to “move on” from the plagiarism scandal.

“As far as we’re concerned, there are similar words that were used,” Manafort said. “We’ve said that. But the feelings of those words and the commonalty of those words do not create a situation which we feel we have to agree with you. You want to have that opinion, fine. You want to talk about it for the next six months, I’m not going to be here because I’ve got other things I’ve got to talk about.”

Updated

Donald Trump finally brought starpower to Cleveland. It was just a mile away from the convention hall.

Caitlyn Jenner and Margaret Hoover.
Caitlyn Jenner and Margaret Hoover. Photograph: Josh Lederman/AP

In a well-catered breakfast event this morning, both Caitlyn Jenner and former talk show host Montel Williams addressed an event held by the American Unity Fund, an organization of pro-LGBT rights Republicans.

Jenner told the crowd of donors, delegate and a handful of elected officials, “It was easy to come out as trans - it was hard to come out as Republican.” The Olympic gold medalist told attendees, “I think our best hope to get back to conservative government with 18 enumerated powers is in Republican party.” She added, however, “I have to admit very disappointed in it over past 5-10 years. I won’t give up hope on it and that’s why I stand on the Republican side.”

The gathering happened in the aftermath of a somewhat contentious platform fight where those affiliated with the American Unity Fund who sought to remove anti-LGBT language from the platform lost vote after vote. Jenner even admitted to the gathering that “the Democratic Party does a better job when it comes to lgbt community trans community and Obama does very good from that standpoint, letting trans people serve openly in military.”

Report: Donald Trump offered running mate slot to John Kasich

Donald Trump’s campaign reportedly offered the vice presidential slot to Ohio governor John Kasich, promising that he would be “the most powerful vice president in history,” only to have Kasich not only turn down the offer, but refuse to endorse Trump’s presidential bid entirely.

According to a New York Times Magazine report on the hunt for Trump’s running mate, Donald Trump, Jr. made the approach, telling a representative of Kasich’s that, as vice president, he would be in charge of both foreign and domestic policy, an expansion of the office’s powers that borders on the unconstitutional.

When asked what would be left for President Trump to be in charge of, the candidate’s son casually responded, “Making America great again.”

Ben Carson: Abortion and same-sex marriage 'espoused by evil'

“Why so heavy-handed in trying to tie Hillary Clinton to Lucifer?” is a question that could only arise in the aftermath of a speech by Dr. Ben Carson.

Ben Carson.
Ben Carson. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo this morning, retired pediatric neurosurgeon and onetime presidential nominee Ben Carson justified linking Hillary Clinton to the Dark Lord in his convention speech last night, calling Clinton’s stances on same-sex marriage and abortion “espoused by evil.”

“When you look at the principles that are espoused by Christ, by Christianity, and you look at what’s espoused by evil, and then you look at things like killing babies, you look at things like redefining marriage away from what the biblical definition is, I think that there’s pretty good consistency there,” Carson said.

Last night, Carson departed from his prepared remarks by mentioning the fact that Clinton once cited in her college thesis a book written by Saul Alinsky, in which the community organizer acknowledges Lucifer as “the original radical,” in Carson’s words.

“Now think about that,” Carson continued. “This is our nation where our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, talks about certain inalienable rights that come from our creator; a nation where our Pledge of Allegiance says we are one nation under God. This is a nation where every coin in our pockets and every bill in our wallet says ‘In God We Trust.’ So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?”

In the interview with Cuomo, Carson doubled down on his remarks.

“If she believed that at that time - and now you look at her actions - you look at what she advocates, the killing of babies, the dissolution of the traditional family, all these kinds of things - those are pretty consistent, quite frankly,” Carson said.

In the highly important film The Devil Wears Prada, loyal fashion editor Nigel (played by Stanley Tucci) is passed over for a major job at the James Holt atelier due to the machinations of his boss, fierce editrix Miranda Priestly. When Priestly’s bait-and-switch is revealed, Nigel is heard murmuring: “When the time is right, she’ll pay me back,” his voice hollow with defeat.

So, too, did New Jersey governor Chris Christie loyally vow to continue campaigning for Donald Trump, even though the Republican nominee passed him over for a spot on the ticket despite an endorsement that dearly cost Christie back home.

His barn-burning speech last night, formatted as a criminal indictment of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, was the most attention-grabbing speech of the convention so far - well, the most purposefully attention-grabbing, anyway.

And finally, Christie’s ship is coming in.

After Trump held a $25,000-per-plate fundraiser for the New Jersey Republican party, then held a subsequent fundraiser to pay off Christie’s presidential campaign debt, the New Jersey State Republican Committee has officially paid off its legal fees in relation to the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal, better known as “Bridgegate.”

The donations helped the state party pay off more than $425,000 in legal fees, although Christie’s term of service at Runway on the Trump campaign is ongoing.

Updated

Trump campaign chair: 'Republican fears ... have merged into America’s fears'

In a morning press briefing, Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort told reporters that the Republican party is officially making the “pivot to the general election” with the official nomination of Indiana governor Mike Pence as vice president.

Paul Manafort.
Paul Manafort. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

“He will be talking about his record a little bit and why his background fills the criteria that Mr. Trump put out three months ago,” Manafort said of Pence’s planned remarks. “We feel he helps us to accelerate the unification of the party in a real meaningful way. We are confident that at the end of the night, the case will have been presented in such a way that tomorrow night... we will have laid the foundation for that.”

Republican National Convention chair Jeff Larson acknowledged that yesterday’s official nomination of during yesterday’s session, “we nominated Donald J. Trump to be our 45th president of the United States, and I think it went flawlessly - it was an open and transparent process that I thought was something that you’d look back a year ago and think, ‘well, that’s not gonna happen.’”

Manafort, meanwhile, plowed ahead through the agenda of the final two days of the convention, which he described as “more personal” than the “red-meat” offered by speakers during the first half of the convention.

“Tonight’s theme is ‘Make America First Again,’” Manafort said. “The goal tonight is to lay out some of the vision of the Trump-Pence campaign, and to define some of the problems the country faces because of the failed leadership of the Clinton-Obama administration.”

Manafort called Eric Trump’s anticipated speech “more personal” than the speech given by Donald Trump, Jr. last night, “and I think you’ll find an expansion in the understanding of the man as a result of Eric’s speech.”

Asked about the tone of the convention - likely Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton was likened to Lucifer last night by Dr. Ben Carson, shortly after New Jersey governor Chris Christie led an arena-wide chant of “lock her up!” - Manafort dismissed concerns that the RNC has become more anti-Clinton than pro-Trump.

“I think the tone of the convention is multiple tones - there is an anger among the delegates that is out there in America. People are frustrated by the failed leadership, difficult economic times,” Manafort said. “The tone that I saw was the joy in nominating the candidates for president and vice president who the delegation believes will be able to carry forward a new vision for America.”

Of the “lock her up” chant, Manafort said that the arrest and imprisonment of Clinton was likely what Christie was “probably advocating for in his speech.”

“Those aren’t Republican red-meat issues anymore,” Manafort said. “The Republican fears of past conventions have merged into America’s fears... the angst is broader than just Republicans.”

On Texas senator Ted Cruz’s planned address to the RNC tonight, Manafort said that “He’s still working on it.”

“He’ll talk about Hillary Clinton and the failures, how American cannot afford to have Hillary Clinton, [and] I think he’ll give updates on how he feels about Mr. Trump that will be pleasing to the campaign.”

Cruz has not yet endorsed Trump.

Ben Jacobs has a key update on the Pokémon Go front:

People play Pokemon Go on their mobile phones near the Sydney Opera House.
People play Pokemon Go on their mobile phones near the Sydney Opera House. Photograph: David Moir/AAP

As Utah waited to cast its vote during the roll call last night, Senator Mike Lee, a steadfast opponent of Donald Trump who has yet to endorse the nominee, held court while surrounded by a scrum of reporters. Lee weighed in on every topic under the sun, including, most importantly, Pokémon Go. He was not a fan.

“The bottom line is it is not a fun game,” Lee told the Guardian. “There is nothing about Pokémon Go I find enjoyable.”

Lee then took out his phone to try to elaborate this theory but the GPS didn’t work on the packed convention floor.

Updated

Republican national convention: day three

Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s campaign live blog, coming at you live from Cleveland, Ohio, the site of the long-anticipated Republican national convention, now in its third day.

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

After a day of campaign crisis over apparently plagiarized primetime remarks delivered by his wife the night before, Donald Trump celebrated his official accession to the Republican presidential nomination last night. A giant satellite image of the no-longer presumptive nominee was beamed into the arena, Oz-style, after Trump officially clinched the nomination.

“I am so proud to be your nominee for president of the United States,” Trump said. “Together we have received historic results, with the largest vote total in the history of the Republican party. This is a movement and we have to go all the way.”

But with another plagiarism scandal brewing over his son’s speech to the RNC and apparent concerns about the vast swaths of empty seats in the Quicken Loans Arena mezzanine during primetime speeches, the campaign still has a long way to go to realize the much-ballyhooed “convention bump” in polling that comes after what should be a candidate’s crowning achievement.

Trump’s presidential campaign is probably hoping to make a fresh start with the third day’s program. Today’s theme: “Make America First Again”, featuring a roster of speakers who focus on American exceptionalism. Beginning at 7pm EDT tonight, the primetime program speakers include radio host Laura Ingraham, former astronaut Eileen Collins, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz of Florida and Texas, Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, Eric Trump, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence.

We’ll have more on the full roster of speakers as the day progresses, but before events kick off with a presser from Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, here’s the news you need to know from the campaign trail:

  • Mob justice has become an unofficial plank of the Republican party, after a barnburning primetime speech by New Jersey governor and former federal prosecutor Chris Christie prompted the RNC’s attendees to stand and chant “Lock her up! Lock her up!” in reference to Hillary Clinton. “I welcome the opportunity to hold her accountable for her performance and her character,” Christie told the crowd, before “prosecuting” Clinton on, among other things, her use of private email servers during her time as secretary of state.
  • Former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole – the only former Republican nominee to attend the RNC this week – told Katie Couric that Trump needs to make inroads with Latino voters. “I want him to go to New Mexico and meet with the governor and apologize for anything that may have been said … we need Latinos in our party, we need more women in the party, and I’ve raised it with him over the phone that I felt this is something that never should have happened and ought to be taken care of, and I had the feeling that he was working on it.”
  • Fox News chief Roger Ailes is in negotiations with Rupert Murdoch to quit as chairman and chief executive of Fox News following a string of allegations of sexual harassment from some the channel’s highest-profile female news anchors. Ailes could collect as much as $40m in severance pay, according to a leaked copy of “separation agreement” published by the Drudge Report yesterday afternoon.
  • As we predicted, Broadway star Laura Benanti appeared on The Late Show as Melania Trump to explain the cribbed notes that appeared in her speech to the RNC:

Caught up? Good – now on with the show …

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
“Regret the love….”: Gigi Alayah’s cryptic post fuels drama after Kai Cenat finally addresses breakup
Kai Cenat addressed rumors surrounding his December 2025 breakup with Gabrielle “Gigi” Alayah, apologizing for his silence and urging fans to respect both sides. Hours later, Alayah reposted a quote about love and having no regrets, sparking speculation online. While she offered no explanation, fans viewed the message as a…
The Times of India
The Times of India
Frank Sinatra's '50s Living Room Was The Pinnacle of Mid-Century Modern Style in the Palm Springs Desert – Featuring Stone Walls, Curved Furniture, and Natural Wood
We reflect on the gorgeous home of the singer from the '50s for inspiration on integrating the perennially popular mid-century modern style into our homes
Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Winter Olympics briefing: Pinheiro Braathen writes Brazilian fairytale
Brazil’s president hails ‘unprecedented result’ as 25-year-old wins first Winter Olympic medal for country and continent
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
'America's Got Talent' creator Simon Cowell has given up working on Fridays because 'it’s pointless'
“I don’t think anyone should be working five days a week," the multimillionaire founder of "The X Factor" said. "It’s just pointless.”
Fortune
Fortune
‘I cut out one little house at a time’: the trucker who spent decades building a tiny replica of NYC
Queens-born Joe Macken’s hyperrealistic model, made with wood, cardboard and glue, is now on view at the Museum of the City of New York
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Stanley Tucci's Iconic Mid-Century Armchair Comes In Many Cool Colors – But I'm Won Over by the Gray
Stanley's modern chair and coordinating footrest are elegant and contemporary, proving that gray is anything but a boring color
Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play