Welcome to ConBag, a daily roundup of gossip from the Republican National Convention, which we are attending for four very long days.
CLEVELAND — Stassa Edwards and I arrived in Cleveland Sunday night and promptly got very lost looking for a Doobie Brothers concert that Gawker apparently attended. (Correction: A Doobie Brothers spokeswoman informs us they didn’t perform. They were replaced by Three Dog Night, late enough that the Doobies were still advertised on the lanyards for the show. Interesting!)
But not as lost as handsome elderly suit model Mike Pence, who bumbled through a disastrous 60 Minutes interview last night with his new BFF Donald Trump.
Lesley Stahl [referring to the Iraq War]: Your running mate voted for it.
Trump: I don’t care.
Stahl: What do you mean you don’t care that he voted for it?
Trump: It’s a long time ago. And he voted that way and they were also misled, a lot of information was given to people, but I was against the war in Iraq from the beginning.
Pence: [Smiling silently and uncomfortably]
Stahl: Yeah, but you used that vote of Hillary’s that was the same as Governor Pence as the example of her bad judgment. You said —
Trump: Many people have, and frankly I was one of the people who was right on Iraq. He’s entitled to make a mistake every once in awhile. [Playfully nudging Pence]
Pence: [Laughing uncomfortably]
Stahl: But she’s not.
Trump: No. She’s not.
The beginning of a truly beautiful relationship!
The theme for the first day of the RNC is “Make America Safe Again,” featuring Melania Trump, for some reason, Duck Dynasty son Willie Robertson, Congressman Ryan Zinke and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who can still be counted on to keep us safe from the menace of horny pigs.
The best RNC attendee we have seen so far is a young man in a very large cowboy hat, khakis and a blue blazer, who, as he walked down the street, anxiously took off the RNC-issued badge identifying him as a delegate.
“I better take this off in case there are protesters around,” he said to his brofriend. He was surrounded by, conservatively, 20 police officers. Also, even without the badge we could tell. The badge was not the problem.
- Chris Christie is here and he is thrilled!
- An incredibly smart man allegedly tried to steal a state trooper’s gas mask at a protest Sunday. He was immediately arrested because, again, there are thousands of cops here.
- Stassa saw Geraldo Rivera at the Cleveland airport. “I’m taller than him.”
- Whatever’s left of Lynyrd Skynyrd performed for RNC delegates Sunday night.
- Scott Baio is here at the RNC, as is his lovely wife. It’s spelled “cuntiness,” though.
Image via AP