After Melania Trump’s much-talked about speech at the Republican National Convention, it seems that attendees had had enough, leaving the convention floor in a mass exodus.
Only one problem: more people were scheduled to speak after Donald Trump’s wife.
Sen. Joni Ernst, a veteran and the first female elected to statewide office in Iowa, was one of the people who spoke to a nearly-empty arena.
Trump gives GOP rising star Joni Ernst the empty arena slot on convention opening night pic.twitter.com/1zf4AE8J3f
— Alan Rappeport (@arappeport) July 19, 2016
The folks running the convention may get a complaint from Joni Ernst's staff. Folks starting leaving post Melania pic.twitter.com/IGpviIBhNu
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) July 19, 2016
Making matters worse, many of the previous speeches in the evening ran long, resulting in Ernst being booted past 11 p.m. and out of the prime-time news slot.
Twitter reacted strongly to the photos of the empty stadium:
This is my 8th convention. Have never seen one empty out like this. Normally they try to wrap with the end of prime time.
— ana marie c?x (@anamariecox) July 19, 2016
RNC officials weren’t happy that Ernst had been pushed back, and some tied this snafu to larger evidence that the Trump campaign is disorganized.
It's so puzzling that a Trump event reveals disorganized thinking and poor planning.
— Jessica Cannon (@JHCannon5) July 19, 2016
Asked an Iowa delegate about Joni Ernst getting bumped out of prime time for that speech: "Effing brutal," was response.
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) July 19, 2016
One user did point out that by the time Ernst’s speech finally rolled around, attendees were too tired to stay and watch.
@NoahCRothman almost midnight, speeches still going, and most had been at the convention since 11:00am.
— Nathan Cox (@NathanDCox) July 19, 2016
In her speech, Ernst criticized President Obama’s weak foreign policy and argued for a stronger stance against ISIS, noting that Donald Trump “will not hesitate to call radical Islamic terrorism by its name.”
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