Politics
RNC Live Blog, Day 2: Tuesday Night Speaker Schedule, Durbin Slams VP Pick Vance, Nearby Shooting
WTTW News reporters are spread out across Milwaukee covering the 2024 Republican National Convention and the Illinois delegation. Check back throughout the day for continuous updates and be sure to tune in to “Chicago Tonight” live at 5:30 and 10 p.m. For a recap of the first day of the convention, check out our RNC Day 1 live blog.
Illinois Delegate Intervenes in Confrontation on RNC Floor: ‘He Was Being a Bully’
11:45 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
Video: The WTTW News Spotlight Politics team and Northwestern University professor Erik Nisbet discuss the confrontation between Illinois Republican National Committeeman Richard Porter and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, plus more of the day’s top news. (Produced by Eunice Alpasan and Blair Paddock)
Illinois Republican National Committeeman Richard Porter was at the heart of a confrontation on the floor of the Republican National Convention Tuesday night that belied the party’s attempt to portray a unified front.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida —who engineered last October’s ousting of former Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — instigated the kerfuffle.
While McCarthy was doing a television interview, Gaetz broke in with taunts, telling McCarthy, “If you took that stage, you would get booed. You would get booed off the stage.”
Porter, who told WTTW News that he and McCarthy have a “long history” as “good friends,” was nearby and intervened.
“Shut up, Gaetz,” Porter said. “Hey, don’t be an a--hole.”
Gaetz retorted, “Dude, I don’t even know who you are.”
“Doesn’t f---ing matter who I am, don’t be an a--hole,” Porter replied. “You’re an a--hole.”
Gaetz appeared to walk away after Porter’s comments to him.
The incident was captured by several media outlets and got some traction on social media.
“I think a little bit of courtesy goes a long way, and I don’t think it’s right to bully people,” Porter said of the situation. “He was being a bully. You know? Just being a schoolyard bully.”
WTTW News happened to catch McCarthy in the convention center Tuesday night; he said the 2024 RNC is “more uniting” than previous conventions he’s attended.
“If you go back to 2016, you had Mike Lee and Ted Cruz not even supporting, trying to stop Donald Trump,” McCarthy said. “Now you’ve got everybody uniting, you’ve got Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley on the speeches tonight. … You’ve got Democrats not even wanting their nominee.”
McCarthy rejected the suggestion that Republicans were left with the option of getting on board with Trumpism or be pushed out of the party.
- Amanda Vinicky, WTTW News
Immigration Was a Key Theme on Day 2
11:15 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
Video: Erik Nisbet, a policy analysis and communications professor at Northwestern University, discusses GOP messaging on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention. (Produced by Abena Bediako and Emily Soto)
Several speakers Tuesday night spotlighted immigration, a key element of former President Donald Trump’s political brand that helped endear him to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015.
Trump has criticized the unprecedented number of migrants entering the country illegally through the U.S. border with Mexico. The numbers of unauthorized crossings have fallen abruptly after Biden issued a rule suspending many asylum claims at the border.
At rallies and other campaign events, Trump has pointed to examples of migrants who committed heinous crimes and has blamed migration for the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl, even though federal data suggests many people smuggling fentanyl across the border are U.S. citizens. He has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has also strayed into talking points not backed by evidence, including unfounded claims that migrants are entering the country to vote in the 2024 election.
The convention’s programming has featured people the campaign has referred to as “everyday Americans.” On Tuesday, they included people who had lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses or in violent crimes linked by authorities to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
Peer-reviewed academic studies have generally found no link between immigration and violent crime, though conclusions vary based on the data examined.
- Associated Press
Illinois Delegate Talks Party Unity, Says ‘We Need Every Republican on Board’
11 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
Palatine Township Republican Chairman Aaron Del Mar appears on “Chicago Tonight” with Amanda Vinicky to discuss Chicago, crime, and speeches from one-time rivals of former President Donald Trump.
“It shows that President Trump and J.D. Vance are going to bring people along that were detractors as long as they’ve come along now because they know that we need every Republican on board. … We need every person, every voter that’s out there to get on board.”
- Amanda Vinicky, WTTW News
RNC Attendees Embrace the ‘Make America Safe Once Again’ Theme on Day 2
8:35 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
(Blair Paddock / WTTW News)
Attendees listen to speeches on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Scheduled presenters include U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Ohio Police Officers Fatally Shoot Milwaukee Man a Mile From RNC Site
8:25 p.m., Milwaukee
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman addressed the media hours after officers from Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot a man about a mile from the Republican National Convention site on July 16, 2024. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)
Ohio police officers fatally shot a man about a mile from the Republican National Convention site in Milwaukee Tuesday afternoon, officials confirmed.
According to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, the shooting, which left one man dead, occurred on the city’s Near West Side around 1:10 p.m. near King Park.
Norman said 13 Columbus, Ohio, police officers assigned to a bike unit were near King Park undergoing a briefing with supervisors in their assigned zone. Officers from numerous cities outside Milwaukee, including Chicago and Columbus, are in the city assisting with RNC security this week.
But community members were upset that police from outside their city had the authority to use deadly force on a Milwaukee resident outside the security footprint of the RNC. Read the Full Story.
- Matt Masterson, WTTW News
Priebus, Fired by Trump via Twitter, Stumps for His Old Boss
7 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
Reince Priebus was the Republican National Committee chairman whose campaign ground game helped elect Trump in 2016.
Then, while serving as White House chief of staff, Trump fired him via Twitter.
On Tuesday, Priebus was the Wisconsinite welcoming the party to his home state and lauding Trump.
“When Donald Trump tells you what he will do on the campaign trail, look out, because he will deliver,” Priebus said. “Let’s stand united … and let’s reelect Donald Trump president.”
-Associated Press
Chicago GOP Chair Says City Needs Federal Assistance to Curb Violence
5:30 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
Chicago GOP Chair Chuck Hernandez, a former Chicago Police Department detective, appears on “Chicago Tonight” with Amanda Vinicky to discuss public safety, gun violence and immigration.
“I would like to see our partners with the ATF, FBI, the Department of Justice come into Chicago and help us curb this violence epidemic that’s happening in Chicago. Over the Fourth of July weekend, we had over 100 shot.”
- Amanda Vinicky, WTTW News
Police Shooting Reported About 1 Mile From Convention Site
5:15 p.m., King Park, Milwaukee
Police officers block access to Vilet Street at King Park in Milwaukee near the scene of a police shooting July 16, 2024. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)
An out-of-state police officer reportedly shot and killed a man about a mile from the Republican National Convention site Tuesday afternoon, according to multiple media outlets.
The Milwaukee Police Department has only confirmed there has been a “critical incident.” But Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9 President Brian Steel said in a statement on social media that members of the Columbus Division of Police had been involved in a shooting. No officers were injured, Steel said.
The Columbus Division of Police said in a statement the shooting took place in an “outer perimeter” where its officers were assigned and did not appear related to the RNC.
Officers from numerous cities outside Milwaukee, including Chicago and Columbus, are in the city assisting with RNC security this week.
Milwaukee police on Tuesday afternoon had shut down streets surrounding King Park, where the shooting occurred. The area is located about a mile from the RNC’s downtown convention hall, the Fiserv Forum.
Community members on the scene said the shooting occurred near a tent encampment and questioned why an out-of-state police officer would even be in that area.
Incidents involving police prior to the shooting had been limited this week. Police announced few arrests around the convention Sunday and Monday, most of which involved disorderly conduct.
-Matt Masterson, WTTW News
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin Hosts Black Republicans, Downplays Past Trump Criticism
5 p.m., The Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) listen to one of the speakers at an event Irvin hosted for Black Republicans attending the RNC on Tuesday, July 16. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
“The Republican party isn’t a scary place for Black folks.”
That was Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s message as he hosted a gathering under the auspices of the Black Republican Mayor’s Association, an organization he founded and chairs.
Irvin, who ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for Illinois governor in 2022, says the idea for the organization came “about a year or two ago where I said, ‘let’s go around the country and identify other mayors like myself that are African American, and Black and Brown, or even not African American, that have conservative principles that they implement, that get the job done.”
During his run for the gubernatorial nomination, Irvin was criticized for lacking conservative credentials — including for supporting policies more in line with Democrats during his time as mayor, supporting Black Lives Matter, and calling Trump an “idiot” and “bigoted racist” in text messages obtained by WTTW News.
Asked about his past criticism of Trump on Tuesday, Irvin said the more important focus should be on a presidential election that’s a choice between an “elderly man” and a candidate who conveys strength and power when he speaks.
“It’s clear what the choice needs to be, and although I have been critical of many of our elected officials, and I think rightfully so — we should criticize those officials, folks criticize me all the time — that don’t mean I don’t believe that we have what it takes to go forward and vote,” Irvin said. Read the Full Story.
-Nick Blumberg, WTTW News
Sen. Dick Durbin Reacts to Trump’s VP Pick, Says Vance Sought to Grind DOJ to a Halt
4:35 p.m., Chicago
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said he doesn’t have confidence in what U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance’s politics mean for “people who are looking for law and order all across the United States to protect their families and neighbors.”
Former President Donald Trump on Monday named Vance, a Republican from Ohio, as his running mate.
Vance is the primary reason the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois — which has as a reputation for packing a serious punch, whether leading prosecutions against politicians or going after criminal gangs — has been without a permanent leader since March 2023.
April Perry was on path to be the first woman to serve as the U.S. attorney for the district; she was nominated by President Joe Biden and won the approval of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Her nomination stalled, however, as a protest by Vance against the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigations into alleged criminal activity by Trump.
At an unrelated event Tuesday morning, Durbin said he previously asked Vance, “‘How can you be for law and order and talk about stopping the scourge of fentanyl and other terrible things, human trafficking, and deny to this president the leaders that they’re asking for in these offices?’ He (Vance) repeated himself over and over: His goal was to grind the Department of Justice to a halt.”
“Why would he want to stop career prosecutors from moving forward to protect us?” Durbin asked, answering his own question. “He was very clear about it. It was retribution for the weaponization of the Department of Justice toward Donald Trump. It was strictly a political move.”
Matt Masterson contributed to this report.
- Amanda Vinicky, WTTW News
Chicago ‘Rooftop Pastor’ Corey Brooks Set to Deliver Closing Prayer
3:50 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
The Rev. Corey Brooks, best known for camping out on a Chicago rooftop for almost a year in 2012 to raise funds to build a new community center in Woodlawn, will deliver the closing prayer during Tuesday’s session of the Republican National Convention.
Brooks, a Republican, posted on social media that he is “grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to giving a shoutout to Chicago and Opportunity Block,” a reference to Brooks’ efforts to remake one of Chicago’s most violent blocks – known as O Block – into a place of transformation for South Side residents.
In an opinion piece published by Fox News on Tuesday to coincide with his appearance at the RNC, Brooks said he has been a Republican for more than 10 years in a city that is overwhelmingly Democratic.
Democrats subscribe to a “victimhood mindset,” Brooks wrote. Brooks once transformed a former skating rink at King Drive and 66th Street into New Beginnings Church along King Drive at 66th Street and is now working to build a $40 million community center next door. Read the Full Story.
-Heather Cherone, WTTW News
Downtown Streets Quiet as Planned Milwaukee RNC Protests Conclude
3:30 p.m., Red Arrow Park, Milwaukee
A band plays in Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park on the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 16, 2024. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)
The streets around downtown Milwaukee were largely quiet on Day 2 of the Republican National Convention, including in Red Arrow Park, where the thousands who protested Monday were replaced Tuesday by a three-man band going back-and-forth with pro-abortion protesters.
Band members, who donned shirts with both the slogans “F--k Trump” and “F--k Biden,” sang songs to few others gathered in the park about ending “all violence.” They handed out packages of the Plan B morning-after pill and said they were in Milwaukee, in part, to support women’s and trans rights.
As the band sang, a handful of pro-abortion counter-protesters told anyone within earshot to repent or face God’s wrath.
The Coalition to March on the RNC, which organized Monday’s rally and march, announced it had no further plans to organize actions this week and is not aware of any other actions happening in Milwaukee this week.
- Matt Masterson, WTTW News
Democrats Restart Campaign Against Trump at RNC With Focus on Project 2025
2:45 p.m., Milwaukee
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker campaigns for President Joe Biden in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
Democrats restarted their campaign against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump outside the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday, ending a self-imposed pause that followed an attempt to assassinate the former president.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), campaigning on behalf of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, sought to focus the campaign on the contents on Project 2025, a 900-page manifesto titled “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.”
“We’re at a crossroads here,” Booker said. “The contrast couldn’t be more stark.”
The senator called Project 2025 frightening, noting that it calls for the Affordable Care Act to be repealed. In addition, Project 2025 calls for a national abortion ban and calls for the FDA to reverse its approval of abortion pills and criminalize their distribution. Read the Full Story.
- Heather Cherone, WTTW News
Tuesday Night Speaker Schedule Released
2 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
An exterior general view at the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo / Paul Sancya)
The lineup and order of Tuesday night’s speakers has been released. Among those taking to the stage is former President Donald Trump’s primary foe Amb. Nikki Haley and Sen. Marco Rubio, who was reported to be under consideration for the ticket before Sen. J.B. Vance was tapped.
Here’s the full list:
5-5:30 p.m.: Chairwoman Anne Hathaway, Committee on Arrangements, Gov. Bill Lee (TN)
5:30-6 p.m.: Julie Harris, President of National Federation of Republican Women; Hayden Padget, Young Republicans Chairman; Matt Brooks, CEO of Republican Jewish Coalition; Reince Priebus, Chairman of Host Committee; James Crawford, Chair of the Potawatomi Nation
6-6:30 p.m. : Perry Johnson, Kari Lake, Eric Hovde, Bernie Moreno, former Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.), Dave McCormick
6:30-7 p.m.: Jim Banks, Gov. Jim Justice (W.Va.), Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.)
7-7:30 p.m.: Rep. Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), House Republican Conference Chair; Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), House Majority Whip; Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), House Majority Whip; Rep. Mike Johnson (La.), House Majority Leader
7:30-8 p.m.: Vivek Ramaswamy, Savannah Chrisley, Mayor Eric Johnson
8-8:30 p.m.: Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Randy Sutton, everyday American; Attorney General Brenna Bird (Iowa), Former Amb. Nikki Haley, Gov. Ron DeSantis (Fla)
8:30-9 p.m.: Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Michael Coyle, everyday American; Erin Koper, everyday American
9-9:30 p.m.: Anne Fundner, everyday American; the Morin Family, everyday Americans; Madeline Brame, everyday American; Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Ark.); Dr. Ben Carson, former Housing & Urban Development Secretary
9:30-10 p.m.: Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Co-Chair Lara Trump, Republican National Committee
-WTTW News staff
Milwaukee Pastor Hopes Speakers Acknowledge Black Community
1:50 p.m., Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
The economic impact of having the convention in Milwaukee is obvious and important to the majority Black city, according to Richard Brown, pastor of The Captive Project Church and Ministries in Milwaukee.
Brown, 57, sat outside the Fiserv Forum Tuesday morning as delegates arrived and volunteers and workers prepared the venue for the day’s events.
“When money comes in like this, it’s always interesting because I serve the disenfranchised in the urban, high crime areas of the city,” said Brown, who is Black.
Brown says he hopes to hear respect for what the Black community represents from speakers during the convention.
“There’s a huge economic base. There’s a huge political base,” he said. “When Trump went into to Brooklyn that was huge. That was absolutely huge.”
-Associated Press
Digital Billboards, Smaller-Scale Demonstrations as RNC Kicks Off 2nd Day
12:45 p.m., Red Arrow Park, Milwaukee
Video: A line of trucks with anti-Donald Trump videos lined Water Street next to Red Arrow Park on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Shortly before noon, competing protesters began demonstrating at the park. (Nicole Cardos / WTTW News)
Smaller-scale demonstrations and digital billboard trucks representing a broad range of political issues could be seen Tuesday as the Republican National Convention kicked off its second day. Some protesters took aim at Donald Trump, the broader Republican agenda, abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
The scene was a contrast to Monday’s major protests against the RNC, which organizers said brought more than 3,000 attendees.
In a statement Tuesday, the Coalition to March on the RNC said it has no further plans to organize demonstrations around the RNC.
“Our endorsing organizations will continue their work to stand with Palestine, defend and expand immigrants’ rights, defend women’s, LGBTQ, and reproductive rights, and demand peace, justice, and equity for all,” the coalition said.
The coalition said that in the coming weeks, many of its groups will be looking ahead to demonstrating in August outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- Eunice Alpasan, WTTW News
Despite Party’s Pushback on Early Voting, Illinois Republicans Urged to Take Advantage
11:40 a.m., Comfort Suites Milwaukee Airport
The Illinois delegation to the RNC got a message they might not have been expecting at their daily breakfast on Tuesday – early voting and mail-in ballots are your friends.
That was the guidance from former U.S. Rep Lee Zeldin (R-NY), the day’s guest speaker, who said if laws expanding voting access are on the books, Republicans ought to take advantage of them.
“I believe that every state in the country should have voter ID,” Zeldin said to a round of applause. “Ballot harvesting should not be legal in any state. Universal mail-in balloting should not be legal in any state. But when the Democrats change an election law in a particular state and it is the law for that election, I believe that we should be leaning into that law instead of boycotting that law.”
Zeldin, who unsuccessfully challenged Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022, told attendees about his time campaigning in solidly blue districts with a large number of Black, Latino and Asian voters.
“I was told when I was first elected, don’t go there. Don’t waste your time. You will not get their vote,” Zeldin said. “It somehow made me think that that’s exactly where we need to be. If the political consultant is saying, ‘don’t go there, it’s not worth your time,’ … maybe no one in either party is going there.”
Another group Republicans have been making overtures to, or at least softening their stance on – labor unions. Monday’s RNC featured a keynote from Teamsters union leader Sean O’Brien, who’s also asked to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
Asked about O’Brien’s pro-worker message, Illinois state Sen. Terri Bryan (R-Murphysboro) said some of his comments were “really refreshing” to hear, especially since she’s a retired member of the Laborers’ union. Read the Full Story.
- Nick Blumberg, WTTW News
Illinois Holocaust Museum Takes Survivor Stories to RNC
11 a.m., Baird Center, Milwaukee
Illinois Holocaust Museum board member Andy Lowenthal demonstrates the virtual reality headset available to convention attendees. (Nick Blumberg / WTTW News)
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie is taking its mission on the road this summer, bringing the stories of survivors to life at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions through virtual reality headsets.
“It’s just a very engaging way to connect,” said Deb Rodak, who’s part of the museum’s team at the RNC. “Our museum is really focused … on first person survivor stories, and that population is aging. So we’ve had to use technology to help us save their stories before they’re gone.”
The museum’s booth at the RNC has several chairs for attendees to sit, don a VR headset and headphones, and watch 15 to 20 minute movies featuring survivors returning to their city of origin or the place to which they fled.
Rodak says while Holocaust history is required in Illinois schools, some attendees who visited from other states didn’t know much about the genocide and said it was a story people needed to hear.
Rodak says technology like VR allows the museum to preserve the stories of aging survivors, and is a “much deeper way” to connect with viewers. Read the Full Story.
- Nick Blumberg, WTTW News
Democrats Moving Forward With Virtual Roll Call to Nominate Biden
9:40 a.m., Milwaukee
NEWS: Biden-Harris campaign manager Quentin Fulks says in Milwaukee there will be a virtual roll call to officially nominate President Joe Biden, to ensure no one “plays games” with ballot access. “We’re not going to leave it up to them,” referring to Ohio Republicans. @wttw
— Heather Cherone (@HeatherCherone) July 16, 2024
Incoming Illinois GOP Leader Makes Appearance
9:15 a.m., Milwaukee
(Nick Blumberg / WTTW News)
Incoming Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi and National Committeeman Richard Porter greet each other at the Illinois delegation breakfast on the second day of the Republican National Convention.
- Nick Blumberg, WTTW News
2 People Arrested During, After RNC Protest
7:45 a.m., Downtown Milwaukee
Two people were arrested during or shortly after the first large-scale protest of the Republican National Convention on Monday afternoon.
The Milwaukee Police Department confirmed one person was arrested at the downtown protest and one more person was arrested after the march concluded.
According to police, MPD officers arrested a 36-year-old man for disorderly conduct at around 3:20 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of North Water Street — the location of Red Arrow Park, where protesters held a rally and began their march. Police said the man intentionally disrupted protesters, took signs from protesters and attempted to knock over a booth which they said caused a disturbance.
Hours later at around 6 p.m., Milwaukee police arrested a 61-year-old woman who was allegedly blocking traffic in the 900 block of West Winnebago Street, which is a short distance from the RNC convention hall at the Fiserv Forum. The woman, who police described as a protester, allegedly intentionally blocked a vehicle checkpoint and refused to move after she was given several orders. She was arrested and cited before being released.
The protest march itself, which shut down several main streets in downtown Milwaukee during the middle of the afternoon, remained peaceful. Read the Full Story.
- Matt Masterson, WTTW News
From Immigration to Public Safety, What a Trump Victory Could Mean for Chicago
5 a.m., Chicago
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
To hear Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson tell it, the prospect of former President Donald Trump returning to the White House represents an existential threat to Chicago and its residents.
As stalwart supporters of President Joe Biden, Pritzker and Johnson frequently spotlight the danger Trump poses to American democracy, pointing to his support for the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and his incessant lies about the 2020 election. But in the week leading up to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which kicked off Monday, both Pritzker and Johnson told reporters Trump poses a specific — and dire — threat to Chicagoans.
“Trump’s plan to roll back the progress we have made to strengthen the economy, defend reproductive rights, protect the environment, uphold democracy, and more, poses a unique and serious threat to everything we hold dear here in Chicago,” Johnson said.
However, Chicago GOP Chair Chuck Hernandez, a former Chicago Police Department detective elected in May, said a second Trump term will mean a “return to prosperity,” citing the former president’s economic record between 2017 and 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an economic collapse.
“It will be easier to buy groceries under President Trump,” Hernandez said. Read the Full Story.
- Heather Cherone, WTTW News
Floor Fights, Boos and a Too-Long Kiss. How the Dramatic and the Bizarre Define Convention History
5 a.m., Washington
FILE - Actor Clint Eastwood speaks to an empty chair while addressing delegates during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 30, 2012. (Lynne Sladky / AP Photo, File)
In 1948, the Republican and Democratic parties did something unthinkable in today’s climate of ferocious political animosity: They not only held their national conventions in the same city but also shared some of the props.
Both gathered in Philadelphia, largely because its Municipal Auditorium had already been fitted with the wiring needed for then-groundbreaking live convention coverage on national television. To save money, Democrats asked Republicans to leave the American flags and bunting up to be reused at their event 17 days later. The GOP complied, though some items became faded and worn in the interval.
Like party comradery, the more informal way conventions were staged has evaporated. Once bare-knuckled showdowns to hammer out presidential nominees, modern gatherings have evolved into carefully scripted, made-for-TV events meant to showcase party unity.
But even with conventions now choreographed down to tiny details, the unexpected can still happen. Here’s a look at the floor fights, street battles and other memorable convention scenes that were uplifting, outlandish or just plain awkward. Read the Full Story.
- Associated Press
