It’s only been half a day, but the Republican National Convention is already a legendary shitshow

By Nidhi Prakash  |  July 18, 2016 | 7:58pm
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As Republican delegates gather in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, pro-Trump, anti-Trump, and anti-Hillary protesters descend on the streets outside the convention center, along with everyone from chem trails conspiracy theorists to Islamophobic Christians. These tweets give us just a taste of some of the mayhem developing in Cleveland:

Samantha Bee turned up in this bus:

And Stephen Colbert managed to get inside the venue in a Hunger Games-inspired stunt:

There’s this “Kick my dog for Trump” piece:

I don’t totally know what’s even happening with this one pic.twitter.com/JcDjqW8ikK
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 18, 2016

These men have a warning about chem trails:

And more than one group of Islamophobic banners and protesters, in line with presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s Islamophobic policy platform:

Then there’s this man, in a “cuck hunt” T-shirt and Trump hat:

The City Club of Cleveland is fenced off inside the “separation wall”:

And a man with an “Our candidates stink” sign heading into the convention arena:

This sign at an anti-Trump rally, pointedly referencing Trump’s hands:

Geraldo Rivera, InfoWars’ Alex Jones, and Bikers for Trump converged at another rally:

There’s this man, with maybe an even less subtle message about Hillary:

Can’t believe people think the GOP has a misogyny problem #gopconvention pic.twitter.com/2I7LZ76IY4
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) July 18, 2016

And then this classy message from political consultant Roger Stone at a rally:

This shot of the Cleveland police looking like motocross bikers:

Meanwhile there are reports of anti-Muslim groups running into anti-Trump protesters already:

And finally, just to add to the chaos, people spotted men in camouflage gear and carrying rifles, in downtown Cleveland:

Reminder: we’re only about half way through day one of four.

 
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