This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

The RNC Was More About Hillary Clinton Than Donald Trump

Death threats and all.

The man of the first 48 hours at the Republican National Convention was not Donald Trump.

It was a woman, and the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Yes, the first few days of the Republican National Convention have been all about Hillary Clinton.

Trump has been mentioned far fewer times, with some speakers even avoiding endorsing Trump at all.

We'll get to that later, but first here are all of the vile and even violent comments made about the Democratic presidential nominee.

Tuesday was probably the biggest day of Hillary bashing so far, which was formally themed "Make America Work Again".

Clinton's email scandal and accent were mocked, and a video called 'Hil-LIAR-y' aired at the convention in Cleveland, Ohio. But the real gems were incessant chants to "lock her up" and have her "shot for treason".

So let's take a look at them all.

In New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's speech at the convention, Christie suggested Clinton was to blame for Islamic extremist group Boko Haram's kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls as the then Secretary of State did not add the group to the terrorist watch list.

Here's a few of Christie's comments:

"What happened because of this reckless action by the candidate who is the self-proclaimed champion of women around the world? These terrorists abducted hundreds of innocent young girls two years ago. These schoolgirls are still missing today.

"What was the solution from the Obama/Clinton team? A hashtag campaign!"

Christie listed off criticisms of Clinton asking the crowd whether she was "guilty or not guilty". The crowd then chanted "lock her up".

But one of the most violent sledges came from Trump adviser and former Marine Al Baldasaro on a radio show on Tuesday, when he said Clinton should be "shot for treason".

In an interview with Jeff Kuhner on 'The Kuhner Report', Baldasaro was asked whether he thought Clinton was responsible for the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Here are Baldasaro's comments:

"[Clinton] is a disgrace for the lies that she told those mothers about their children that got killed over there in Benghazi. She dropped the ball on over 400 emails requesting back up security. Something's wrong there".

"This whole thing disgusts me. Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason."

While speakers were quick to bash Clinton, many shied away from Trump.

While Paul Ryan only mentioned Trump twice in his 10-minute speech, Ted Cruz took a big stand by avoiding endorsing Trump when he spoke at the convention on Wednesday.

"I congratulate Donald Trump on winning the nomination last night," Cruz told the Cleveland convention.

"And like each of you, I want to see the principles that our party believes prevail in November."

Cruz was not the only one.

Retired NASA astronaut Eileen Collins skipped over a written endorsement of Trump in her speech.

The remarks provided by the convention committee included these final statements:

"We need leadership that will make America first again. That leader is Donald Trump. Thank you and God bless the United States of America!"

However this is how Collins' speech ended at the convention:

"We need leadership that will make America great again. I want to thank all of you. Thank you for what you're doing. God bless America."

When The Huffington Post asked delegates why there was more talk about Hillary Clinton than the Republican presidential nominee, delegates said there were two more days to talk Trump.

"We gotta beat Hillary Clinton, so we have to talk about all of her faults and all of her weaknesses," Trump's Colorado state director Patrick Davis said.

Whether the talk needs to be so dirty, we'll let you be the judge.

It looks like Hillary Clinton's risen above it all, with a hug. Here's what Clinton put on Snapchat after Christie's speech.

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar,rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.