The Republican National Convention saw its first uproar Monday afternoon, with delegates hoping to deny Donald Trump the GOP nomination by forcing a state-by-state vote. A voice vote led by Rep. Steve Womack was declared a loss for the #NeverTrump movement to the audible disapproval of delegates, Politicoreports. When Womack returned for a second voice vote, the outcome was declared the same and elicited a similarly chaotic response.
The Colorado delegation promptly walked out amid the uproar, Cleveland Scene reports:
Those attempting to keep Trump as far away from the nomination as possible had amassed the required signatures for a forced roll call vote, with Politico reporting they had secured signatures from 9 states. Party rules requires the majorities of just 7 delegations.
The #NeverTrump movement promptly released a statement on the vote via Twitter, criticizing the convention for ignoring "the will of the delegates" in order to preserve the illusion of Trump support:
Monday's RNC theme is "Make America Safe Again" and is set to feature appearances from Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, Jason Beardsley (CEO of patriotic t-shirt company The Underground Movement), U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, and Melania Trump, Donald's wife. "The convention is going to offer most people the first chance to form a legitimate opinion about her," Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a historian for the National First Ladies Library, told USA Today of Melania's appearance.
This post will be updated.
