CLEVELAND (AP) – The Latest on the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (EDT):
7:05 a.m.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he is disappointed but has “no discontent” over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s decision to choose someone else as his running mate.
Christie told reporters Sunday night that he didn’t lobby for the position and was honored to be considered. Trump on Friday chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence after a vetting process that also included New Jersey’s Republican governor.
Christie gave his first public comments since Trump’s decision after a private speech Sunday at a hotel near where Republicans are gathering for this week’s convention in Cleveland.
He says he has been friends with Trump for 15 years and this is “just another one of those steps along our friendship and a hard decision for him to make, and he made what he thought was the best decision.”
___
3:25 a.m.
The Republican National Convention is set to kick off as the nation reels from another deadly shooting and dissident delegates stage a longshot, last-gasp effort to deny Donald Trump the GOP nomination for president.
It is Trump’s moment – a week that few could have imagined when the New York billionaire entered the race a year ago.
Yet the delegate rebellion is likely to underline how divisive Trump has been. Delegates vote on the rules that will govern the convention week, and insurgent delegates said they would try to force a state-by-state vote – a move that could disrupt floor proceedings even if they fail.
Trump’s opponents want to change a rule that requires delegates to vote for the candidate to whom they were committed after state primaries and caucuses.