Chris Christie's attacks on Clinton stoke convention mob mentality in Cleveland

There was a mood of mob justice at the Republican convention on Tuesday as delegates, egged on by New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s charge sheet against Hillary Clinton, stood punching the air and chanting: “Lock her up! Lock her up!”

History will remember Christie as the man whose early endorsement of Trump helped normalise and make possible his bitterly divisive nomination. The New Jersey governor admits he was disappointed to be passed over last week as Trump’s running mate; some reports described him as “livid”.

But the former federal prosecutor may still have his eye on the job of attorney general and slipped comfortably into the role of Trump’s convention attack dog, finding in Clinton a useful target on which to vent his anger and frustration.

“Let’s do something fun tonight,” Christie told the delegates. “As a former federal prosecutor, I welcome the opportunity to hold her accountable for her performance and her character.”

The crowd erupted in cries of: “Lock her up! Lock her up!” Far from discouraging them, Christie beamed and said: “All right, we’re getting there. Give me a few more minutes and we’ll get there.”

— Paul Owen (@PaulTOwen) July 20, 2016

Chris Christie asks Republican convention: "Is Hillary Clinton guilty or not guilty?" #RNCinCLE https://t.co/iUXT6MZOVi

The pugnacious governor, who was knocked out of the GOP primary race early, elicited a cheer as he declared: “I’m going to present the case now, on the facts, against Hillary Clinton.”

He proceeded to read an “indictment” against the former secretary of state, asking delegates after each charge whether she was guilty or not guilty. They shouted “guilty!” on every count.

“She was America’s chief diplomat,” he said. “Look around at the violence and danger in our world today – every region of the world has been infected with her flawed judgment.”

He cited the examples of Libya, where her “disastrous overthrow” of Muammar Gaddafi allowed Islamic State to thrive, and Nigeria, where he claimed she fought for two years to keep an al-Qaida affiliate off the terrorist watchlist, leading to the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls. “What was the solution from the Obama-Clinton team?” he asked. “A hashtag campaign!”

The governor also accused her of misjudging economic deals with China, praising the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, striking “the worst nuclear deal in history” with Iran, strengthening Vladimir Putin in Russia and making major concessions to the Castro brothers in Cuba.

Finally, Christie turned to potentially the most damaging charge against the former secretary of state: the private email server she set up at her home and what the FBI described as her “extremely careless”, but not criminal, handling of classified information.

“Let’s face it,” Christie said. “Hillary Clinton cared more about protecting her own secrets than she did about protecting America’s secrets. Then she lied about it over and over again.”

The director of the FBI had contradicted her statements on whether information was marked classified, whether she emailed any of it and whether all work-related emails were returned to the state department, Christie added. “As to Hillary Clinton, putting herself ahead of America: guilty or not guilty? Hillary Clinton, lying to the American people about her selfish, awful judgment: guilty or not guilty?”

Having summed up his case for the prosecution, Christie’s tirade continued: “Her focus group-tested persona, with no genuineness to be found, is a sham meant to obscure all the facts and leave you able to vote for her.

“We cannot promote someone to commander-in-chief who has made the world a more violent and dangerous place with every bad judgment she has made. We cannot make the chief law enforcement officer of the United States someone who has risked America’s secrets and lied about this to Congress and the American people.

“We didn’t disqualify Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States; the facts of her life and career disqualifies her. We in this hall agree with all of this.”

Trump, he contended, offered an inspiring an alternative because he was unafraid, wanted to lead and understood the frustrations of his fellow citizens.

“We know exactly what four years of Hillary Clinton will bring: all the failures of the Obama years, but with less charm and more lies,” he concluded. “It is our obligation to stop Hillary Clinton now and never let her within 10 miles of the White House again.”

Defeated anti-Trump delegates, however, are unlikely to forgive Christie for his part in that story.

Of all the charges levelled against Clinton this week, devil worship seemed safe to rule out, but Ben Carson nearly went there. Carson, another early adopter of the Trump cause who may one day face the judgment of history, went off script to deliver his own bizarre attack.

“One of her heroes, one of her mentors was Saul Alinsky,” he said, referring to the radical community organiser whose book, Rules for Radicals, he claimed contains an acknowledgement of Lucifer.

Carson reminded delegates that America is a Christian nation with a Declaration of Independence that refers to inalienable rights given by “our Creator”, currency that says “In God we trust” and a pledge of allegiance that hails “one nation under God”. He demanded: “Are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that.”