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RNC Night(mare) Two: Trump Junior, the 'Lynch Mob,' and... Lucifer?

Donald Trump, Jr. was arguably the star of the Republican National Convention, day two. (Photo: Reuters)

RNC Night(mare) Two: Trump Junior, the 'Lynch Mob,' and... Lucifer?

Republican convention speakers 'barely mentioned' the real estate tycoon on Tuesday night, focusing their energy instead on taking down Hillary Clinton

On the night Donald J. Trump officially secured the GOP nomination for president (he'll formally accept the nod on Thursday), Republican convention speakers "barely mentioned" the real estate tycoon, focusing instead on Hillary Clinton, keeping conservative control of Congress, and Lucifer.

Donald Trump, Jr. was arguably the winner of Tuesday night, with multiple sources referring to him as a rising "political star" after a speech in which the billionaire's son said his father would "put Americans first, all Americans, not a special class of crony elites at the top of the heap."

After bashing Clinton over Benghazi and her emails, he declared Trump Sr. would be

A president who knows we can't simply delete our problems, but that we have to tackle them head on. A president who won't allow PC culture to put the safety and well-being of our children and our loved ones at stake. A president who won't bow and pander to nations that shudder at the very thought of America's existence. A president more concerned with the safety and comfort of his fellow Americans than the feelings of those hostile nations abroad who, if given the option, would wipe America off the face of this earth.

Some suggested Trump, Jr. should run for president in 2024.

Watch the full speech below:

Before Trump took the stage, the convention heard from former presidential candidate Chris Christie, whose "dark and accusatory" speech bordered on some "Salem witch trial level BS," as one Twitter commentator put it.

Los Angeles Times journalist Mary McNamara set the scene:

The crowd that murmured and rustled impatiently while House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke of ideas came roaring to life when, moments later, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie put Clinton on trial.

Charging her with a list of crimes that stopped just short of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby, he repeatedly called on the crowd to pronounce a verdict.

"Guilty or not guilty," he asked, as if he was the host of a new and chilling reality show, or a member of the Panem elite from The Hunger Games.

"Guilty," they roared, over and over, when they weren't chanting "Lock her up, lock her up."

As TV critic Ken Tucker wrote at Yahoo!, "[t]he lynch-mob energy Christie stoked was striking."

Watch here:

And when it was former presidential candidate Ben Carson's turn to speak, he went off-script, veering in a surprising direction.

Carson "abandoned his prepared remarks to talk about Saul Alinsky, the Democratic socialist writer who met with Hillary Clinton while she was in college and who's become a bugaboo of the right," Gideon Resnick reported for the Daily Beast. "Alinsky, said Carson--who's been talking about this for years now--dedicated his book Rules for Radicals to Lucifer. Connect the dots."

The former neurosurgeon did just that for his audience, asking the crowd: "Are we willing to elect as president someone who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?"

Despite the fact that the comment left many scratching their heads, Carson reportedly "doubled down" on the Clinton-Lucifer connection Wednesday morning, tellingCNN anchor Chris Cuomo that Clinton's campaign pushes for principles "espoused by evil."

Carson's full speech is below:

Others who took the stage Tuesday night included one of Trump's daughters, Tiffany; House Speaker Paul Ryan; and actress, avocado farmer, and fellow reality show host Kimberlin Brown.

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