Shortly before his wife was to take the stage in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention, presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump did a live phone interview on Fox News -- effectively preempting the convention's ongoing speeches.
In the quick, five-minute live interview with host Bill O'Reilly, Trump among other topics blasted Black Lives Matter protestors for "on occasion...essentially calling 'death to the police.' And that's not acceptable."
"Everybody's free to say what you want to say up to a point," he added, implying that the protestors "at minimum" would have to be monitored for comments he said were threatening to police.
With a little prodding by O'Reilly, Trump also couldn't help poke at former rival John Kasich, especially since Ohio's GOP governor has declined to attend the party's convention despite it being in his home state.
"I beat him very badly...(but), from a standpoint of honor, I think he should show up. If it were the Democratic convention, I think he should show up because it’s good for Ohio."
Was he a sore loser, O'Reilly asked?
"He got beaten very, very badly," Trump said. "Maybe if I were in his position, I wouldn’t show up, either."
The interview came during an incredibly emotional speech at the convention by Pat Smith, who lost her son during the 2012 attacks at Benghazi.
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Follow the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s political team as it reports from The Republican National Convention in Cleveland this week and from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next week. Stay on top of the developments by following our special convention pages http://www.myajc.com/2016-republican-convention/ andhttp://www.myajc.com/2016-democratic-convention/ . You can also follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/GAPoliticsNews or Facebook at facebook.com/gapoliticsnewsnow.
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