Reporting from Cleveland — Mixing put-downs with protest, Republicans opened their national convention Monday still working to reconcile themselves to the takeover of their party by business tycoon Donald Trump, who put his unmistakable stamp on the program.
Onstage in a hall bathed in red, white and blue, a parade of speakers sung Trump’s virtues, portraying him as strong and decisive, canny and compassionate, unbeholden to Washington and selfless in a way the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, is not.
Instead of “a woman who somehow feels that she’s entitled to the presidency … we can go for Donald Trump, a man doing this from the goodness of his heart [who] genuinely wants to help,” said actor Scott Baio, one of a grab bag of speakers that included Trump’s wife, Melania, but few of the political stars who normally populate the convention stage.
Breaking with the usual protocol, which calls for him to absent himself until his Thursday night acceptance speech, Trump swooped in from Manhattan to offer a brief introduction of his wife, calling her “an amazing mother, an incredible woman.”
She responded in kind.
“With all of my heart, I know that he will make a great and lasting difference,” the potential first lady said in the accent of her native Slovenia. “Donald has a great and deep and unbounding determination and a never-give-up attitude.
“If you want someone to fight for you and your country, I can assure you, he is the guy,” she went on. “He will never, ever give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever let you down.”
The speech won raves inside the convention hall, but the response quickly turned to criticism when it became evident that several lines were strikingly similar to the speech First Lady Michelle Obama delivered at the Democratic convention in 2008.
And on the streets of downtown Cleveland, in hotel function rooms and, for a time, on the convention floor, the tone was considerably less welcoming toward a figure who has upended not only the GOP but also many of the norms of politics and civil discourse.
Just three hours after the four-day convention was gaveled open, chaos briefly descended when anti-Trump activists sought to force a vote on a rule that would have allowed delegates to vote as they wished instead of being bound to the presumptive nominee.
The presiding chairman briefly fled the stage rather than allow a potentially embarrassing roll call vote, prompting a wave of boos and shouts, which Trump backers sought to drown out with chants of “U-S-A!”
After several minutes of tumult, Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas took the stage wielding the gavel and called for a voice vote instead of polling delegates. With that, a majority shouted its affirmation and turned back the anti-Trump forces, who nevertheless vowed to fight on.
But on the convention stage at least, there was not a discouraging word.
In the session’s most robust appearance, a hollering and arm-waving Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, shouted out a vociferous endorsement of the presumptive nominee.
“I am sick and tired of the defamation of Donald Trump by the media and by the Clinton campaign!” he said as delegates leaped to their feet with a roar. “I am sick and tired of it!”
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Cleveland Police Officers stand guard at the entrance to the Quick Loans Arena for the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from ‘Stand Together Against Trump’ make their voices heard at the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the Revolutionary Communist Party march around the downtown area during the last night of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the Revolutionary Communist Party march around the downtown area during the last night of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Men open-carrying rifles watches Donald Trump give his acceptance speech during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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A bystander films the protesters from ‘Stand Together Against Trump’ at the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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A woman covers her ears as protesters march by during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Police officers sit together as protests have calmed down at the Public Square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters get into a heated argument at the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Tony McConaghy, from left, Basheer Jones, Randy Grass, pray together at the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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A Trump supporter watches protesters standing in the fountain area of the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters stand in the fountain area of the Public Square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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A protesters lays on the ground to rest in front of a line of police officers standing guard at the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Police officers stand guard at the public square during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters get into a shouting match with counter-protesters during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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A protesters, who declined to give his name, sports a flower during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Father Jose S. Landaverde, 45, a priest with the Diocese of Quincy in Chicago, with Stand Together Against Trump March, during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the Stand Together Against Trump March walk within shouting distance of the Quicken Loans arena during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters supporting socialism get into a shouting match with protesters supporting capitalism, during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the Stand Together Against Trump March make their way through an underpass, which is on the permitted parade route during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Police officers move in to arrest protesters from the Revolutionary Community Party attempting to burn an American flag during a demonstration.
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Police officers arrest protesters from the Revolutionary Community Party before they could burn a U.S. flag at the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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Chaos broke out Wednesday near the entrance to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland when a group of protesters tried to burn two U.S. flags. Riot police moved in to arrest at least eight people believed to be anarchists.
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A police officer on Wednesday tells the crowd outside Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena to back up. The officer is holding a flag confiscated from the Revolutionary Community Party before members of the group could burn it during a demonstration at the site of the Republican National Convention.
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Police officers arrest protesters from the Revolutionary Community Party before they could burn a flag during a demonstration at the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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Riot police try to take control of the situation when chaos breaks out near the entrance to Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena after a group of protesters tried to burn two U.S. flags.
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At least eight people were arrested after a group of protesters tried to burn two U.S. flags at the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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A police officer can be seen bleeding after protesters from the Revolutionary Community Party were arrested Wednesday at the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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Police officers arrest members of the Revolutionary Community Party outside the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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A protester smiles for her mug shot while being processed near the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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Police officers from Georgia form a human barrier during a protest by the Revolutionary Community Party outside the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Wednesday.
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Protesters from the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance hold hands to keep photographers from stepping closer to their long “Wall off Trump” banner outside the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance march with a “Wall off Trump” banner.
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Protesters hold an anti-Trump banner outside the convention site in Cleveland.
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A protester gets into an argument with Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams outside the 2016 Republican National Convention on July 19.
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Protesters sprint down a back alley to get ahead of the police as they try heading into the convention area during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 19.
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Police officers use their bicycles to push back protesters and photographers during a confrontation on the second day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 19.
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A Michigan state police officer pushes back photographers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Pro-Trump supporters exchange words with anti-Trump protesters at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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A protester shouts at a Trump supporter in downtown Cleveland.
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Protesters yell, “Black lives matter!” during a demonstration outside the convention hall in Cleveland.
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Police officers separate rival groups of demonstrators.
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A flower is held up as a protesters are escorted away in Cleveland.
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Members of Bikers for Trump scold a protestor for allowing the American flag to touch the ground.
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Demonstrators and law enforcement officers mingle on a public square.
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Tevor Leis, exercising his Ohio open carry rights, stands armed in Public Square in Cleveland, during the second day of the Republican convention.
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West Ohio Minutemen, an armed militia, march through the Public Square during the second day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Police officers stand guard with assault rifles at the Public Square during the second day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Lou Pumphrey, a U.S. Army E4 is attending the convention and brought along his peace flag.
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Stevedore Crawford, Jr. of Delaware, Ohio, shouts at police officers during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the “End Poverty Now, March for Economic Justice,” make their way downtown on the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the “End Poverty Now, March for Economic Justice,” make their way downtown on the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Protesters from the “End Poverty Now, March for Economic Justice,” make their way downtown on the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Anti-Trump protesters cross a barricade as march in downtown Cleveland, a block away from where the Republican National Convention is being held.
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Anti-Trump protesters march in downtown Cleveland near the Quicken Loans Arena where the Republican National Convention is being held.
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Randy Grant from Los Angeles say the pledge of allegiance at the start of the America First Unity Rally at Settlers Landing Park during the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
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Joshua Glaspie, from Chicago is relishing the opportunity to open carry his weapon, a Kimber Ultra Carry 2 9mm handgun, at the America First Unity Rally in Cleveland.
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Elan Stoltzfuz, holds his rifle up for photographers at Settlers Landing Park for the America First Unity Rally in Cleveland.
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Anti-Trump protesters gather in downtown Cleveland prior to a ‘Stop Trump’ march to Quicken Loans Arena for Monday’s opening of the Republican National Convention.
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Anti-Trump protesters gather in downtown Cleveland prior to a ‘Stop Trump’ march to Quicken Loans Arena for Monday’s opening of the Republican National Convention.
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Anti-Trump protesters gather in downtown Cleveland prior to a ‘Stop Trump’ march to Quicken Loans Arena for Monday’s opening of the Republican National Convention.
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Security personnel greet protesters during an anti-Donald Trump march toward downtown Cleveland on the eve of the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2016.
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Anti-Trump protesters.
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Members of the antiwar group Code Pink stand in front of the police guarding the anti-Trump protesters.
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Police officers in protective gear. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times )
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About 200 anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter protesters, including Henry Edward of Detroit, march through downtown Cleveland.
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Protesters and police.
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Protesters in Cleveland.
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Cleveland police wait for a 2nd Amendment rally, but few people showed up for the event at Public Square in downtown.
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Steve Thacker, 57, center, a retired Marine, is interviewed by numerous journalists in downtown Cleveland, where a 2nd Amendment rally was scheduled. Two participants showed up for the rally.
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Brian Lange, a Trump supporter from Lima, Ohio, buys a flag in Cleveland to show his support for the 2nd Amendment.
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Spencer Tunick photographs a group of nude women holding large round mirrors near Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, where the 2016 Republican National Convention will start Monday. The photo shoot, on the eve of the convention, is part of Tunick’s large-scale art installation “Everything She Says Means Everything.”
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) The program had the politically idiosyncratic mark of Trump, though it fell short of his boastful preview; he had promised A-list stars, but several on the podium were no longer household names or never had been.
Although the day’s theme was security at home and abroad, and the lineup of speakers included several with military and other backgrounds to inform their views, there were many more personalities with no obviously relevant credentials, and the scattershot nature of their addresses reflected that.
Melania Trump, who appeared as the featured speaker in TV’s prime time, is a former fashion model who studied architecture and design.
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Willie Robertson, who stars in the reality show “Duck Dynasty,” opened the program with his long hair wrapped in a star-spangled bandanna.
“I can promise you this: No matter who you are, Donald Trump will have your back,” Robertson said, a line he repeated several times referring to America’s service members, business owners, police officers, job hunters and those who feel “the deck is stacked against you and you just can’t win.”
“He may not always tell you what you want to hear. You may not always agree. And it may not always be politically correct,” Robertson said. “But … Donald Trump will always, always, tell you the truth as he sees it.”
Moments of gravity mixed in with the celebrity froth.
Several speakers spoke intimately about the 2012 attack on the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans — an event Republicans blame on Clinton. Several in the convention hall were moved to tears.
The mother of one victim, Sean Smith, spoke of her frustration dealing with the State Department, which Clinton led at the time, and accused Clinton of lying to her about the cause of the attack, which was initially attributed to an inflammatory video.
“How could she do this to me?” Patricia Smith said, her voice choked with emotion. “How could she do this to any American family?”
But in a fitting coda to one of the odder days in recent convention history, the evening petered to a close after Melania Trump finished her speech, walking off arm in arm with her husband.
The overwhelmingly majority of delegates quickly abandoned the hall. By the time one of the night’s featured speakers, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, took the stage, she addressed a cavern of empty seats.
The upheaval at the afternoon session was just one of many signs this would not be a typical convention, robotically scripted and hermetically designed to eliminate the slightest discord.
The sun had barely cleared the high rises overlooking Lake Erie when the chairman of Trump’s campaign, Paul Manafort, took a rhetorical jab at the host governor, Ohio’s John Kasich, an erstwhile Trump rival for the GOP nomination. Kasich has refused to endorse Trump and said he would steer clear of the convention stage, while keeping an active schedule of appearances in and around Cleveland.
“He’s making a big mistake,” Manafort said on MSNBC, drawing groans from an audience sitting in. “He’s hurting his state and embarrassing his state, frankly.”
Kasich defenders immediately fired back on Twitter, one of Trump’s favorite creative outlets, defending the governor and suggesting Manafort, in the words of Ohio Republican Chairman Matt Borges, “still has a lot to learn about Ohio politics.”
Manafort, however, was far from contrite.
At a morning briefing with reporters, he reiterated his criticism of Kasich, then turned his sights on Republicans’ dynastic Bush family. In a break with custom, former President George H.W. Bush and his son, former President George W. Bush, are boycotting the convention along with others in their extended political clan.
“Certainly the Bush family, while we would have liked to have had them, they’re part of the past,” Manafort said. “We’re dealing with the future.”
Setting out the week’s intended themes — getting voters to look anew at Trump, litigating the “failures of the Obama administration,” attacking Clinton — Manafort suggested the lowest priority was unifying the party.
“The unification is happening,” he said despite evidence to the contrary. “We hope that when the Bush family decides to participate again in the political process, they will join us. But healing takes time, and we understand that.”
It was clear many in the party were still coming around to accepting Trump, who defeated a number of long-serving stalwarts, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to seize the GOP nomination.
At a gathering of Iowa delegates, the state’s veteran U.S. senator, Charles E. Grassley, plainly acknowledged many in the party still have doubts about Trump. Tell them “two words,” Grassley advised: “Supreme Court.”
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker hit the same note, telling Iowans that “whether Donald Trump was your first choice, your second choice or your 17th choice,” he is “better than Hillary Clinton.”
Staff writers Cathleen Decker, David Lauter, Lisa Mascaro, Seema Mehta, Melanie Mason and James Queally in Cleveland contributed to this report.
mark.barabak@latimes.com
Twitter: For more political news and analysis follow me @markzbarabak
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UPDATES:
8:40 p.m.: This story has been updated with crowds streaming out as the last speakers of the night took the stage.
7:25 p.m.: This story has been updated with comments from Donald and Melania Trump.
6:15 p.m.: This story has been updated with comments from RNC speakers.
4:55 p.m.: This story has been updated with excerpts of prepared remarks from Sens. Joni Ernst and Tom Cotton.
2:30 p.m.: This story has been updated with details of chaos over a rules vote.
12:55 p.m.: This story has been updated with details of protesters gathering.
This story was originally published at 12:25 p.m.
