43°
She is in Cleveland covering the Republican Convention and filing reports for Daily Voice.
Former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani just gave me an exclusive on the way out of his speech to the NY delegation at breakfast this morning.
I asked him why Donald Trump allowed Ted Cruz to come to the convention knowing Cruz wasn’t going to endorse him. Hear what he told me Thursday at 4 p.m. on AM 1490 WGCH and wgch.com.
So much happens in a day here that unless you take notes as you go, you can’t remember where you’ve been.
I attended a lunch for Republican Latinas because I wanted to see if there was any lingering fallout from the remarks Trump made in the campaign about the Mexican origin of a federal judge.
The lunch was fairly well-attended, maybe 100 people in the room. Many spoke glowingly of the natural affinity Latinas have with the values of Republicans. When I asked one leader about the campaign remarks, he admitted to having been offended by them, and said many others in his community were as well.
Nonetheless, he believed that Trump as an overall human being was not a racist and was supporting his campaign.
The message of this convention is that the Republicans are the party of change this time, not the Democrats. The Republicans argue that their message of entrepreurship and individual opportunity is the recipe for success for the lower economic class and for African Americans who are stuck in ghettos built as a result of Democratic policy.
On Wednesdday, Jim Campbell of Greenwich and Tom Herman of Easton stopped by the show to report live on their experiences. Also Jonah Goldberg, senior editor of The National Review, former NYC police commissioner Bernard Kerik, and Nick Loeb, former fiancée of Sofia Vergara and Honorary NJ Delegate here.
Sat next to Rob Astorino in the NY crowd, third row, to hear Scott Walker say “America Deserves Better."
Ted Cruz then started his speech slowly, building up to a speech affirming the value of freedom. He had the audience in the palm of his hand- it was the only time all evening that the crowd was quiet as a whole, listening to his every word.
A practiced orator, he created drama and suspense with his words, as the audience tuned in to hear the word “endorse”- or even to hear the words “Donald Trump." Nope. Not happening. One woman above us started shouting “Just Say It, Just Say It," screaming at the top of her lungs.
Eventually she gave out, exhausted and furious.
Here’s the thing: the Cruz speech was released to the press hours ahead of time. Certainly Trump knew about it, and he admits it as such. Some say the Trump campaign planted the “boos” in the audience.
But I don’t buy it. I think the delegates were hoping Cruz would change his mind and revise his speech to endorse Trump at the convention. They were hoping for their own fairy tale ending to this campaign, so the pleas at party unity would mean something. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is a no-show in his own state. The Bushes have disappeared. If Cruz had attached his conservative stamp of approval to the nominee, the others could more easily be dismissed.
The NY delegation was out in full Thursday morning here at the Renaissance hotel. A packed crowd gathered to hear former Mayor Giuliani, who gave a full-throated, red-blooded indictment of Hillary Clinton while at the same time touting the personal qualities and professional competence of Donald Trump.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.
