Republicans Occupy Boxing Ring in Philly During DNC
It may not be one that the press will cover, but the Republican Party has staked a physical presence in Philadelphia during the Republican National Convention. According to the Wall Street Journal, Republicans fresh from last week’s convention in Cleveland have staked out their own corner of the sky in the City of Brotherly Love – a 20,000 square foot wrestling and boxing arena.
It may be the Democrats’ week in the spotlight, but the GOP is attempting to steal a bit of that sunshine with a small-scale occupation in Philadelphia.
According to Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer, the ring is just the place to symbolize the in-fighting happening at the DNC this week between supporters of Hillary Clinton and those of Bernie Sanders, as well as the “bare-knuckle brand of politics that GOP nominee Donald Trump has taken to a new level in 2016.”
What have the Republicans planned for the full week that they’ve rented out the ring? Mocking and discrediting Hillary Clinton, pretty much. The overall message is that Clinton has had her nomination rigged in her favor, starting with the lack of criminal action on the leaks from her private e-mail servers and continuing with last week’s brouhaha over e-mails from higher-ups in the Democratic Party showing favoritism to Clinton versus Sanders. The GOP’s goal? To stir up as much muck as they can while the city’s attention is mostly focused on the DNC.
In that vein, Republicans have arranged to have reporters given swag bags printed with a list of Hillary Clinton’s scandals on them. Inside there are “sunglasses (“Because she is shady,” said Mr. Spicer), a redaction pen, a rag to wipe a server, and – of course – loaded dice.” In other words, it’s all very mature and professional.
Trump himself is scheduled for a campaign stop in Scranton, PA on Wednesday. When asked if he thought Trump might stop by Philadelphia, Republican Party head Reince Priebus could only say that, “With Donald Trump, anything is possible.”
