Convention takeaways: All Trump, all the time

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump aggressively asserted control over the Republican National Convention on Monday, overshadowing the prime-time speakers, as he made clear he wants voters to focus on him.

The key takeaway from the first night of the convention: Trump. Trump. And more Trump.

Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Trump showed he will be omnipresent at the convention, appearing every night and sure to dominate the proceedings.

He made certain he was highly visible Monday with some preliminary appearances and a spasm of tweets.

Traditionally, the presidential nominee – including Democrat Joe Biden last week – makes a fleeting convention appearance or two early in the week but largely stays on the sidelines, building anticipation for the acceptance speech on the final night.

Trump has tossed that conventions’ convention aside. He is expected to appear every night.

Diversity counter-programming Republicans are not known as the party of diversity. But on Monday, the party showcased two of its stars, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and the state’s former governor, Nikki Haley, to try to tell a different story.

Both argued that the president and his party had done a lot to help minorities across the nation.

“We live in a world that only wants you to believe in the bad news, racially, economically and culturally-polarizing news,” said Scott, the party’s only African American senator. “We don’t give into cancel culture, or the radical – and factually baseless – belief that things are worse today than in the 1860s or the 1960s.”