The Latest: Democratic delegates mostly positive about Kaine

Sanders endorsed Clinton last week.

Clinton superdelegate Katie Naranjo says that while Kaine may seem like a “conventional choice,” he will balance the ticket well for the general election.

10:25 p.m.

Donald Trump’s campaign already has a nickname for Hillary Clinton’s new running mate: “Corrupt Kaine.”

The Trump campaign calls Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine “ethically challenged,” citing a Politico report that he accepted $160,000 in gifts from 2001 to 2009, when he was Virginia’s lieutenant governor and governor.

Trump’s senior communications adviser Jason Miller says “the Status Quo ticket of Clinton-Kaine wants us to believe in a rigged system that enriches them at your expense.”

Earlier Friday, Trump sent supporters a text calling Clinton, Kaine and President Barack Obama “the ultimate insiders.”

Clinton announced Friday night that Kaine would join her ticket. The running mates will campaign together in Miami on Saturday.

7:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says in a text message to supporters that she’s picked Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine to join her on the Democratic ticket as their party’s nominee for vice-president.

In the message, Clinton says: “I’m thrilled to tell you this first: I’ve chosen Sen. Tim Kaine as my running mate.”

Kaine is expected to join Clinton at a rally in Florida on Saturday.

A favourite since the start of Clinton’s search for a running mate, Kaine is a former governor of the battleground state and former mayor of Richmond.

Kaine won election to the Senate four years ago after serving as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Clinton is choosing Kaine from a group that included Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

6:05 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is calling the Republican convention “perversely flattering,” saying the speakers spent more time talking about her than the problems facing the country.

“I never thought I’d say these words but Ted Cruz was right,” Clinton said Friday at a campaign rally in Tampa. “In this election, do the right thing and vote your conscience.”

Cruz refused to endorse Trump during his remarks at the convention Wednesday, prompting boos and jeers from the Republican crowd.

Clinton says Trump’s convention address offered a “dark and divisive” vision of the future. Her GOP opponent, she says, offered “fear and anger and resentment” but few solutions to the problems he highlighted in his Thursday evening speech.

“He doesn’t speak for anyone who thinks our country should be standing together,” she says.

The comments mark Clinton’s first extended remarks on the GOP convention and came as her campaign was expected to announce her running mate.

6 p.m.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has issued a statement lamenting Friday’s deadly shootings in Germany.

Reports that at least eight people had been killed in a Munich shopping centre shooting prompted Trump to release a statement offering condolences.

It states: “Our prayers are with all those affected by the horrible attacks in Munich. This cannot continue. The rise of terrorism threatens the way of life for all civilized people, and we must do everything in our power to keep it from our shores.”

Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination Thursday night.

3:21 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is making an impromptu stop at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the site of the deadly shooting rampage that killed 49 people.

Clinton was joined by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, first responders and community residents at the makeshift memorial outside the club.

She placed a bouquet of white flowers at the site next to a candle and a framed picture of a cross.

Clinton made the brief visit after a sombre meeting with community leaders and family members who were affected by the shooting.

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2:46 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says that Americans must confront “hate and bigotry” particularly against LGBT and minorities. The Democratic presidential nominee says during a visit Friday to Orlando, Fla., that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are more likely to be victims of a hate crime. She says: “It is still dangerous to be LGBT in America.”

Clinton is meeting with religious, government and social services leaders in the city, which was the site of a deadly shooting last month in a gay nightclub. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 injured by a shooter who pledged fidelity to Islamic militants. Most of the victims were LGBT and Latino.

Clinton is promising to “promote the kind of changes” that would prevent future attacks, including banning assault weapons and dismantling online terrorist networks that radicalize Americans.

She’s speaking a day after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump promised to do all he can to protect LGBT Americans.

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2:09 p.m.

The nation’s largest gay rights group is accusing Donald Trump of “pandering” to gay voters in his convention speech by denouncing violence and oppression against the LGBT community.

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin says it’s “bizarre” that Trump is being praised. He says Trump referenced gays and lesbians “for his own selfish, political advancement.” Griffin’s group has endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.

In his speech, Trump noted the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida and pledged to do everything possible to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.

Before Trump spoke, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel became the first person to say he’s gay in a GOP convention speech.

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1:39 p.m.

Hillary Clinton will reveal her vice-presidential choice on Friday in a text message to supporters and then appear with her running mate for the first time at a rally in Miami on Saturday.

That’s according to a person familiar with the process who spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to discuss publicly the campaign’s internal plans.

The person did not say who Clinton would name as her running mate. The timing was first reported by NBC News.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine has emerged as the leading contender to become Clinton’s vice-president, according to Democratic sources familiar with her plans. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is also under consideration, among a few others.

Clinton was kicking off a two-day swing through Florida on Friday with stops in Orlando and Tampa.

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12:33 p.m.

President Barack Obama is dismissing any perceptions that the country is on the “verge of collapse.”

Obama was responding to questions Friday about whether he watched the Republican National Convention, something he said he was too busy to do.

But the president responded to a litany of statistics that GOP nominee Donald Trump laid out at the convention and pointed out that illegal immigration and violence are less of a problem today than they were 20 or 30 years ago.

He spoke Friday during a joint news conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

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12:20 p.m.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says that he will not get involved in the American electoral process but he’s looking forward to a “frank, open dialogue” with whomever is elected.

Pena Nieto joined President Barack Obama in a joint White House press conference Friday. The two leaders outlined their commitment to strong bilateral relations between the two nations.

Pena Nieto avoided questions about Donald Trump’s vow to build a wall between the two countries and make Mexico pay for it. He has previously said that Mexico will not pay for the wall should Trump become president.

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12:05 p.m.

“Major loser,” ”total lightweight” and “fat pig” are among the Donald Trump phrases Facebook users can brand themselves with using a new app from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

The Democrat launched the “Trump Yourself” app Thursday. It allows users to place one of 15 filters containing an insulting phrase from the Republican presidential nominee over their profile pictures. The pictures appear similar to special ones created by Facebook to show support for various causes.

Clinton’s Twitter account promoted the app Thursday with a tweet, “discover what @realDonaldTrump thinks about people like you.”

To use the app, users must give the campaign contact information through Facebook, including email addresses. Users immediately receive an email thanking them for registering for an account on the campaign’s website.

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11:41 a.m.

Ivanka Trump is using her big speech introducing her father at the Republican convention to promote her clothing line. The oldest daughter of GOP nominee Donald Trump says in a tweet from her official account: “Shop Ivanka’s look from her #RNC speech.”

The Ivanka Trump sleeveless sheath dress in light pink sells at Macy’s for $138.00.

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11:30 a.m.

Donald Trump says people who want a conservative justice to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court have no choice but to vote for him.

Trump on Friday said if he’s elected he will nominate someone with views as close as possible to those of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

He says no matter what people think of him as a Republican, “If you’re a great believer in the Constitution, you have no choice.”

Trump in May released a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat. The list was meant to ease concerns about his conservative credentials in the Republican primary.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Democratic delegates mostly positive about Kaine

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