Large crowds, no arrests

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was met with thunderous applause as he took the stage to deliver remarks that centered on unity and inclusiveness. During the general election, he stumped in Arizona for Trump.

During his brief remarks, Carson said the nation could not be divided and asked that hearts be filled with “love instead of hatred,” and tongues be used for “words of respect instead of slander.”

He was followed by prayers from Alveda King, a niece of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and Franklin Graham, son of the Rev. Billy Graham.

Graham then introduced Vice President Mike Pence.

— Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said no one has crowds the size of Trump’s.

“I don’t go anywhere in the political world and see crowds like this,” Franks told The Arizona Republic from inside the Phoenix Convention Center.

Franks, a close ally of Trump’s in Congress, greeted the president at the airport when he arrived in Phoenix on Tuesday.

— Eliza Collins

The gathering outside the Trump rally was large but relatively peaceful.

As of 6 p.m., no arrests had been made, according to Phoenix police.

The Phoenix Fire Department reported 26 heat-related calls, with two people transported to hospitals for further evaluation.

— Megan Cassidy

Jordan Klepper, a former correspondent for “The Daily Show,” was spotted interviewing several protesters and Trump supporters outside of the Phoenix Convention Center.

The wry comedian’s “Daily Show” spinoff, “The Opposition,” premieres Friday on Comedy Central. The new series will make fun of the hyperbolic and conspiracy-inducing “fake news” in the alternatenews media landscape, Comedy Central announced last month.

— Garrett Mitchell

Gallego joins protests

Rep. Ruben Gallego, who earlier Tuesday called Trump an “abject liar” and “racist,” joined the protesters across from the convention hall.

“This is a long-term exercise in democracy,” he said, urging peace.