On the campaign trail in the USA, July 2016

August 23, 2016

The following is the third edition of a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2016 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month's biggest stories.

In this month's edition on the campaign trail: two individuals previously interviewed by Wikinews announce their candidacies for the Reform Party presidential nomination; a former Republican Congressman comments on the Republican National Convention; and Wikinews interviews an historic Democratic National Convention speaker.

Summary
As July started, presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton met with the FBI to discuss the private e-mail server she used as. A few days later, FBI Director held a press conference where he announced that charges would not be appropriate against Clinton. He noted, however, that Clinton had acted carelessly in installing a private e-mail server for State business and had risked compromising State secrets. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump tweeted that the lack of charges in the case showed "the system is totally rigged!" Polls from the early part of the month gave Clinton a slight lead in the race. She led the July 4 Real Clear Politics average 44.9% to 40.3%. At this time, media interest in the running-mate selections of Trump and Clinton intensified.  speculated that New Jersey  and former   Newt Gingrich were the leading contenders to be Trump's running mate. However, other reports pointed to Indiana governor, who confirmed he would accept the position if asked. Trump commented that ten names were on the shortlist including some not mentioned in the media. In later days, General was floated as a possibility in reports. Gingrich, Flynn, and Pence were apparently finalists for the position, with Pence believed to be the favorite. For the Democrats, Senator, Congressman and   received mention as potential running mates for Clinton, but the shortlist reportedly included Senators , ,  , and. On July 7, Trump arrived in Washington D.C. and met with Republican members from the House of Representatives and Senate. During the meeting, Trump reportedly told the attendees if they did not support his candidacy, they were, in effect, supporting Clinton. Trump agreed to allow his former rival, Senator Ted Cruz, to speak at the convention, but he did not secure an endorsement from Cruz. The next day, both Trump and Clinton canceled campaign events as an African American shooter in killed five police officers. Trump's state chairman in Virginia blamed the shooting on Clinton and others "who label police as racists." In the aftermath, Trump proclaimed himself the " candidate." Ahead of its convention, the GOP platform committee approved a socially conservative platform that opposed and identified  as a "public health crisis." The convention's host, Ohio, a former presidential rival of Trump, would not endorse Trump and claimed through a spokesman that Trump had asked Kasich join the presidential ticket in May, but Kasich had declined. Trump's spokesman denied the claim. Another former rival, former Florida governor, said he might vote for Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson instead of Trump. On the other side, Hillary Clinton's principal rival, Senator, dropped his campaign and officially endorsed Clinton. Clinton also seemingly received support from Supreme Court Justice who called Trump "a faker" and wondered why he has "gotten away" with not releasing his tax returns. Democratic Senator questioned whether the country was "well served" with a Supreme Court justice openly discussing her political views. Trump referred to Ginsburg's comments as "highly inappropriate." Ginsburg later apologized.

Trump announced he would officially name his running mate on July 15. Though Pence was the favorite to receive the nod, Trump met with Senator, and had additional meetings with Christie and Gingrich. According to multiple news reports, Trump's daughter, her husband , and financier all tried to convince Trump to select Gingrich, while campaign manager  favored Pence, and pollster Tony Fabrizio wanted Flynn. CNN reported Trump had offered the position to Pence, who accepted. According to NBC, the purported leak of the news had left Trump "seething." Due to the July 14 attack in, France, Trump postponed the planned announcement. Both CNN and NBC reported Trump was looking for ways to get out of the selection of Pence. The campaign denied the report. The New York Times alleged the Pence selection was revisited because Christie had begged the campaign to reconsider its decision and replace Pence with himself. On July 15, Trump officially announced via Twitter that he had selected Pence. Through the selection, Trump said he hoped to unify the party. Manafort said the ticket would appeal to former supporters of Sanders. As the GOP convention approached, Manafort declared the #NeverTrump movement "gone," as the GOP rules committee voted not to unbind delegates. Clinton announced she would reveal her vice presidential selection after the GOP convention. The Washington Post tapped Vilsack as the favorite.

RNC
As the began in, Trump trailed Clinton in the July 18 Real Clear Politics average 40.6% to 43.8%. Although Ohio was hosting the convention, the state's delegates were not placed in the front as is tradition. This was believed to be punishment for Governor Kasich's refusal to endorse Trump or attend the convention. Manafort called Kasich's absence a "big mistake" and "embarrassing [to] his state." With the release of the lineup of speakers showing many members of Trump's family, former RNC chairman called the convention "a [Trump] family affair."

On the opening day, on the floor of the convention at, anti-Trump delegates unsuccessfully attempted to force a roll call vote on the convention rules. Protests outside were relatively minor with only 24 arrests throughout the entire convention. During the convention speeches, delegates frequently chanted "Lock her up!" in reference to Hillary Clinton. Patricia Smith, mother of diplomat who died in the, blamed Clinton for her son's death and exclaimed, "Hillary belongs in prison. She deserves to be in stripes." In his speech, former New York City Rudy Giuliani commented Clinton "would go to jail" if he were allowed to prosecute her. In the prime-time opening-night speech, Trump's wife delivered a speech that initially received acclaim. However, this changed once the media pointed out some lines were nearly identical to those from the speech of First Lady Michelle Obama at the. The Trump campaign spent most of the second day of the convention explaining away the plagiarism flap as speechwriter Meredith McIver took the blame for the passages and offered to quit. Trump requested she remain. Trump officially received the presidential nomination on the second day of the convention and Pence received the vice-presidential nomination. Christie delivered a speech in which he held a mock trial prosecuting Clinton in absentia before the delegates. He was followed with prime-time speeches by Trump's children and On the third day, The New York Times released a transcript of an interview with Trump in which he criticized NATO and questioned whether the US should honor the treaty if member nations do not contribute their share of funds. Several Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said they disagreed with Trump's comments. Disagreements seeped into the convention as well when Cruz gave a speech in which he did not endorse Trump. When his refusal became evident, a chorus of boos erupted from the delegates, continuing until he left the stage. The speech overshadowed that of Pence who accepted the vice-presidential nomination later that night. Cruz received almost universal condemnation from prominent Republicans. However, Gingrich, who spoke after Trump's son, who followed Cruz, commented he did not take the speech to show a lack of support for Trump. Manafort and Donald Trump Jr. claimed it had helped Republicans unite behind Trump.

On the last day of the convention, after a formal introduction from Ivanka, Trump accepted the GOP nomination and delivered, CNN noted, the longest nominee acceptance speech in 40 years. In the speech, Trump emphasized "law and order", and referenced his proposals of building a wall along the southern border and banning immigration from nations with a history of terrorism. Trump described the legacy of his opponent Clinton as one of "death, destruction, terrorism, and weakness." President Barack Obama criticized the speech, accusing Trump of basing it on fear and inaccurately painting a bleak portrait of the nation. Nevertheless, a CNN/ORC instant poll showed 57% of respondents who watched the speech received it favorably and 56% were more likely to vote for Trump. According to pundit, the speech and overall convention provided the GOP with about a 5.9% bounce in the polls, one point higher than the average. Most polls at this time showed Trump leading Clinton.

A day after the convention, Clinton announced her vice-presidential selection. The New York Times had reported that Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, wanted Clinton to pick Senator Tim Kaine. Indeed, she named Kaine, a centrist from Virginia, as her running mate. Republican National Committee Chairman called Clinton-Kaine a "failed Democrat status quo" ticket.

DNC
Ahead of the in, Pennsylvania, Wikileaks released nearly 20 thousand hacked  (DNC) e-mails. The e-mails showed favoritism of Clinton within the DNC and revealed plans to diminish the Sanders campaign. DNC Chairwoman resigned her position as a result. Initially, she was to gavel-in the convention, but after a highly negative reception from her home state Florida delegation before the convention, she was replaced with DNC Secretary. Media reports and the Clinton campaign itself blamed Russia for the hacking and leaking of e-mails. The DNC issued an apology to Sanders. Sanders urged his supporters not to protest on the floor of the convention. He was booed upon reiterating his support for Clinton before a group of delegates. Presumptive Green Party presidential nominee invited Sanders to meet with her, but Sanders declined. Via Twitter, Trump said Sanders had "sold out." On the first day of the convention, the first speakers received boos upon mentioning Clinton with the crowd erupting into chants of "Bernie! Bernie!" and "Count our votes!" As the convention continued, the protests died down inside, but continued outside. Overall, a total of 103 citations were issued in lieu of arrests, while the arrested eleven. As the convention moved along, commentators oddly noted a common theme of "" in speeches and more religious references than at the RNC. On the first night, Michelle Obama addressed the convention in a well received speech. She did not mention Trump by name, but referenced his slogan in proclaiming, "don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth!" She heaped praise upon Clinton, whom she called a leader "guided every day by the love and hope and impossibly big dreams that we all have for our children." She was followed by the keynote speaker Elizabeth Warren, who opened a blistering attack on Trump, accusing him of defrauding people. Sanders spoke. He expressed disappointment in the outcome of the primaries but heralded the "historical accomplishments" of his movement and urged his followers to get behind Clinton. In a historic moment on the second day, Clinton officially received the Democratic presidential nomination, making her the first woman to be nominated by a major party. That night, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, addressed the convention, discussing his relationship with his wife and highlighting her accomplishments. Before the convention convened on the third day, Trump held a press conference. Referencing the DNC hack leak, he remarked, "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." The Clinton campaign attacked Trump for "actively encourag[ing] a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent," though Trump claimed he was merely joking. Wikileaks founder commented in an interview that he timed the release of the hacked e-mails to hurt Clinton in the election.

On the third day, after a speech from Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, addressed the convention. He formally endorsed Clinton and referred to Trump as a "con," arguing, "[t]he richest thing about Trump is his hypocrisy." Later, Kaine officially accepted the vice-presidential nomination. President Obama followed with a speech to wrap up the third day. He argued that no one, himself included, was "more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America." He accused Trump of offering "no serious solutions to pressing problems — just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate."

On the final day, spoke and introduced her mother, Hillary Clinton, who accepted the Democratic nomination. During her speech, Clinton laid out policy proposals and attacked Trump for making some of his products overseas. In addition, she argued that Trump cannot be trusted with. Clinton's speech was deemed a success. A CNN instant poll revealed 71% of viewers had a favorable opinion of the speech with 60% more likely to vote for her after watching. Although Trump's speech received higher television ratings, Clinton overtook Trump in post-convention polls.

Press coverage of Clinton's speech was overshadowed by an earlier speech from, a couple whose son died in Iraq in 2004. The speech set off a back-and-forth between Trump and Khan that lasted several days. With his wife at his side on the convention stage, Khizr Khan delivered a stinging attack on Trump for his earlier proposal to ban Muslim immigration and wondered whether Trump had ever read the. Trump responded, attacking Khizr for his comments and questioning whether Khizr's wife remained silent during the speech because she was not allowed to speak. Trump's comments were condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike. Khizr labeled Trump "void of decency" and accused him of having a "dark heart." Ghazala responded with an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she attributed her silence at the convention to grief.

As July came to a close, Trump had additional setbacks. First, he mistakenly asserted that no Russian troops were currently in Ukraine. Second, he made an unsupported claim that the NFL had complained to him about the presidential debate schedule coinciding with NFL games. Nevertheless, Trump received some positive news with the announcement that Julian Assange had "extremely interesting" information on Clinton that had yet to be released through Wikileaks. In the July 31 Real Clear Politics average, Clinton, who had just received the endorsement of billionaire, held a 1.1% lead over Trump.

Reform Party race features two Wikinews interviewees
Two candidates who each previously spoke with Wikinews have both announced their candidacies for the 2016 presidential nomination of the Reform Party of the United States. Historian and businessman  each decided to seek the nomination in July. Both have previously run for president as Democrats.

Richardson, a veteran of politics, sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2012 and briefly vied for the Reform Party presidential nomination that same year. He is the author of "The Others" anthology, covering third-party candidates, and has written books on such political topics as the and the presidential candidacies of, , and recently, Bernie Sanders. He served as campaign manager during McCarthy's. In addition, he ran for Pennsylvania in 1980, and was the Consumer Party's 1988 nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. In 2010, he ran for as the running mate of gubernatorial candidate.

Richardson has a history within the Reform Party beyond his 2012 run. He participated in the party's 1996 and 2000 mail-in primaries, was part of the 2004 nominating conference calls, donated to candidates nominated by the party, and contributed to the Reform National Committee. Richardson says Reform Party Secretary Nicholas Hensley encouraged him to enter the 2016 race. As the nominee, he plans to spread the party message through television, radio, and speaking engagements.

"In short, my candidacy is designed to remind older folks about the Reform Party’s important role in American politics", says Richardson, "and to inform younger millennials — those facing a low-paying, if not jobless, future — that there was and is a party that was opposed to, , the and other unfair trade agreements and which is still deeply committed to the  idea of protecting U.S. jobs and industry as we proceed into the 21st Century."

De La Fuente, a businessman with properties throughout the world, got his start in the automobile industry and has since branched into the banking and real estate markets. Before his 2016 Democratic Party campaign for president, he had not sought political office, but did serve as the first-ever, at the. During his 2016 presidential campaign, which he began largely as a reaction to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, De La Fuente qualified for the ballot in 48 Democratic primary contests. In addition to seeking the Reform Party nomination, he is current attempting to qualify for the general election ballot in several states as an independent or as the nominee of the new "American Delta Party," which he founded. De La Fuente is currently running in the Democratic Party primary for U.S. Senate in Florida as well. According to Hensley, in remarks to Wikinews, ballot access expert encouraged De La Fuente to seek the Reform Party nomination. According to Richardson, De La Fuente entered the race a mere 24 hours after he did. Moreover, Richardson distinguishes himself from De La Fuente, arguing that while those within the Reform party encouraged him to run, De La Fuente ran at the insistence of "a partisan Libertarian [Winger] [...] who personally has little interest in the Reform Party's current fortunes or its future", and who sees the Reform Party as "just an available ballot line".

Richardson's preferred running mate, activist Thomas Knapp, founder of the now-defunct, draws an even greater contrast between Richardson and De La Fuente.

"[There were] five states that both Mr. [De La] Fuente [in 2016] and Mr. Richardson [in 2012] appeared on a Democratic primary ballot [in different election cycles] [...]," explains Knapp, comparing De La Fuente and Richardson's Democratic Party candidacies, "Richardson outpolled [De La] Fuente and did so on a budget two full orders of magnitude smaller, even though Richardson was running against a popular incumbent president [Barack Obama] and [De La] Fuente was running against one of the most hated politicians in America [Hillary Clinton]."

"In his presidential campaign so far [De La Fuente] has spent $6.4 million to get 67,000 votes", Knapp continues. "That's $95.50 per vote."

De La Fuente was asked to respond to these statements and to comment on this report, but he has yet to do so.

The Reform Party was founded in 1995 by industrialist. Perot ran as the party's first presidential nominee in, and won over eight percent of the popular vote, the highest percentage for a third-party candidate since. In 1998, professional wrestler ran on the Reform Party ticket and was elected. The party fell in prominence during the lead-up to the when it was plagued by infighting between ideological factions. In 2000, Donald Trump briefly sought the party's presidential nomination, but it was ultimately won by icon, who went on to receive only 0.4% of the popular vote in the general election. In, the party opted to endorse consumer advocate , but ended the year nearly bankrupt. won the party's 2008 presidential nomination, but appeared on the ballot in only one state and won a total of 481 votes. In 2012, the party's presidential nominee, fitness model Andre Barnett, on the ballot only in Florida with write-in status elsewhere, received a total of 952 votes. The party is currently on the ballot in New York and Florida, but, according to Ballot Access News, the New York affiliate is expected to nominate Trump.

The party held its 2016 convention the last weekend in July. It had planned to formally announce its presidential ticket on August 8. According to Knapp, Richardson and De La Fuente were the two leading contenders for the nomination. Others seeking the nomination included 2012 vice presidential nominee Kenneth Cross and psychologist Lynn Kahn.

"I was approached about entering the contest very recently", says Richardson. "I plan to support whatever ticket the party nominates."

Former Congressman responds to Cruz RNC speech
As Senator Ted Cruz delivered his much-discussed speech before the Republican National Convention, former Congressman Tom Tancredo, an early supporter of, watched with disappointment. In an exclusive interview with Wikinews, Tancredo argued that Cruz's refusal to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the speech, which prompted what was perhaps one of the most negative crowd reactions to a convention speech in recent memory, was a mistake.

"He needs to realize and appreciate the bigger picture", said Tancredo about Cruz, "[y]ou can still hate Donald Trump for the things he says [but] he has to recognize what will happen to the country if the Supreme Court is under the control of Hillary Clinton." Tancredo, who represented from 1999 to 2009, endorsed Cruz in January, writing an op-ed for  in which he touted Cruz as an outsider and "the real deal." Tancredo himself ran for president in 2008 as an outsider Republican, focusing on securing the and enforcing laws against illegal immigration. Notably, during his, Tancredo had a September 2007 interview with Wikinews.

Cruz's speech affected more than just Tancredo's opinion. Though some praised the speech as principled and politically astute &mdash; including Hillary Clinton, who tweeted "vote your conscience", repeating what Cruz had said &mdash; many prominent Republicans offered rebukes. Former Congressman called for a Texas Republican to "primary" Cruz in 2018, when his Senate seat goes up for re-election, as a consequence for not honoring the GOP endorsement pledge. Chris Christie described Cruz as "selfish" for refusing to endorse. Congressman called Cruz an "asshole", a term which RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said was apt. Polls from before and after the speech showed Cruz's approval rating among Republicans fall from 60% to 33%.

Addressing the backlash, Cruz defended his decision, arguing "I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father." Moreover, he claimed the GOP endorsement pledge "was not a blanket commitment that, if you go and slander and attack [his wife], that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say thank you very much for maligning my wife and my father".

The attacks Cruz refers to are Trump's re-tweeting in March of a graphic comparing an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife, Heidi, to a glamour shot of Melania Trump, as well as Trump's mention last May of a  report connecting to, assassin of President.

Tancredo said he believes the issues facing the nation are "more important than [Cruz's] personal feelings about his wife or father." He maintained that Cruz "could have avoided the problem and 'lived with himself' by passing on the invitation to speak. Apparently the few minutes still in the spotlight was too alluring".

A new view on Cruz was not Tancredo's only takeaway from July's convention. He appreciated Trump's acceptance speech as well, calling it the "[b]est I've heard from him".

Wikinews interviews history-making DNC speaker
Before Hillary Clinton's historic moment on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, as she became the first woman to accept the presidential nomination of a major US political party, another woman, much younger than Clinton, made history of her own. , national press secretary for the (HRC), became the first openly  person to address a major political party's national convention when she spoke before the Democratic National Convention. Wikinews contacted McBride to find out more about her groundbreaking speech. McBride, a native of Delaware in her mid-20s, came out as a transgender woman during her term at as student body president. Before HRC, an LGBT lobbying group, McBride was employed by the, a progressive advocacy organization, and was the first openly transgender woman to at the. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the LGBT activist group Equality Delaware, through which she successfully lobbied the legislature of Delaware to expand the state's anti-discrimination and hate-crimes acts to include gender identity and expression.

During her convention speech, McBride discussed her relationship with a transgender man, Andrew, who continued LGBT activism despite having terminal cancer. McBride married the man just a few days before his death. McBride's speech received widespread coverage with feature stories from ', The Washington Post, Daily Mail, CNN, ABC News,, ', , and others.

With Wikinews, McBride discusses the speech, her experience at the convention, and any future political plans.

'''How did you find out the DNC wanted you to speak at the convention? What were your initial thoughts?'''


 * McBride: I found out that I was speaking about a week before the convention started. The Congressional LGBT Caucus was granted six minutes on the main stage of the convention and they decided that they wanted to dedicate half of that time to having a transgender person speak, breaking that barrier of finally having an openly trans speaker at a major party convention. When I found out, I was excited, nervous, and honored. Throughout the week leading up to the convention and during the week of the convention, my main thought was that I wanted to do the trans community proud and do them justice.

How did you prepare for the speech and what did it feel like to deliver it before millions of people?


 * McBride: For the last few years, much of my advocacy has been about telling my personal story and weaving it in to the larger effort for LGBTQ equality. In writing my speech for the DNC, I took some of the themes, thoughts, and experiences that I've spoken about before and condensed them for the speech. During the week of the convention, I didn't have much time to really focus on the upcoming speech. Instead, I went from interview to interview, talking with various outlets about this opportunity and the stakes of this election for LGBTQ people.


 * Standing on the stage and delivering my remarks was one of the most empowering and inspiring experiences of my life. While I was nervous beforehand, once I got on the stage and started speaking, I felt calm and determined to utilize those three minutes to effectively speak to the audience, both in and out of the arena. Throughout the speech and right afterward, I kept on thinking about a young transgender person in North Carolina who may be watching, who is wondering whether this country has a place for them too, and hoping that my speech could give that person, and anyone like them, just a little comfort and hope that things are changing, that they matter, and that their dreams and identity are not mutually exclusive.

What did you hope to achieve with the speech and what reaction have you received thus far?


 * McBride: I really hoped to drive two major points home. The first was that there is a lot of unfinished work for the LGBTQ equality movement and that Hillary Clinton is the champion and fighter we need to deliver the change so many of us still need. The second point was that I wanted to reinforce that behind this national conversation on transgender rights, are real people who hurt when we are mocked, who hurt when we are discriminated against, and who just want to be treated with dignity and fairness.


 * The energy in the arena was palpable as I stood on stage and I hope that the trans community could see and hear the love in that space. [The] response was and has been overwhelming and heartening. I hope that my speech helped open some hearts and change some minds, even if it was just one person.

Other than the speech, how was your experience at the convention?


 * McBride: This was the first convention I had ever attended and needless to say it was an incredible experience. Watching the first woman nominee of a major party stand up and accept the nomination of her party for President of the United States was a sight and experience I will never forget. I feel so lucky to have witnessed so much history in Philadelphia.

After participating in the convention, do you personally have any interest in pursuing political office?


 * McBride: I've always been interested in politics and government and I definitely plan on returning to my home state of Delaware at some point, but I don't know if running for office is ever in my future. Right now, I'm incredibly focused on contributing whatever I can to push equality forward for LGBTQ people and if there is anything I've learned in the last few years, it's that making long term plans is usually a pretty fruitless exercise.