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Trump Kids Speak As Donald Trump Becomes GOP Nominee

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images.
Donald Trump is officially the Republican Party's nominee for president. The businessman clinched the GOP nomination during the second night of the party's four-day convention in Cleveland. He hit the required number of delegates before a full roll call of the states was completed. Delegates from states across the country cast their votes on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena. Representatives from each state announced the breakdown of their delegation's support. Trump, who introduced his wife ahead of her prime time speech on Monday, spoke via video after the roll-call vote. He is expected to address delegates in person on Thursday.
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Two more members of the Trump family took the stage in his absence. Tiffany Trump, the 22-year-old daughter of the nominee, gave a personal pitch for her dad in a rare public appearance, praising him for his love, backing, and "desire for excellence." The daughter of Trump's second wife, Marla Maples, played up her father's dedication to his family, citing his interest in her report cards as early as kindergarten, and his emotional support during tough times. "He always helped me be the best version of myself," the recent college graduate said.
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images.
Tiffany Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention.
Later on in the program, the crowd heard a passionate and powerful speech from Donald Trump, Jr. The 38-year-old father of five echoed many of his dad's frequent refrains on the campaign trail as he made a pitch for a Trump presidency. The remarks from the two Trump kids came a day after the nominee's current wife, Melania Trump, delivered a speech that quickly became mired in controversy (and Twitter ridicule) over language that mirrored a 2008 address by Michelle Obama. The Trump campaign says the similarity wasn't plagiarism. Similarities between Trump's son's speech and an article by the writer F.H. Buckley also raised eyebrows soon after the night wrapped up. But Buckley came to the surrogate's defense, saying he helped write that speech. Two more Trump children, Eric and Ivanka, are expected to address delegates later this week. Other notable speakers Tuesday included House Speaker Paul Ryan and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Trump's convention win brings an end to a long and contentious campaign that once saw a field of more than a dozen GOP White House hopefuls. Some delegates dissatisfied with Trump's primary wins tried to force a rule change earlier this week to allow them to vote for someone else, even if their state primary results bound them to support Trump. But that effort failed. Trump is expected to face presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on the November ballot. Democrats select their nominee at their own convention in Philadelphia next week.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. This story was originally published on July 19, 2016 at 7:18 p.m.
Refinery29’s News team is on the ground covering the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention. Follow along @R29News and check out our full coverage of the 2016 race here.

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