Melania Trump makes pitch for Donald
The people closest to President Donald Trump — his family — starred on the second night of the Republican National Convention as the GOP works to reintroduce the president to the American electorate in the midst of the campaign and pandemic.
First lady Melania Trump delivered Tuesday evening’s keynote address before a small audience at the White House, while the president’s daughter Tiffany and son Eric were featured, too.
As on the night before, Trump himself was expected to play “a significant role” in the prime-time programming, a campaign spokesman said.
The focus on Trump’s family comes as the firstterm president labors to improve his standing in a 2020 presidential race he is currently losing.
Most polls report that Democratic rival Joe Biden has a significant advantage in terms of raw support; the former vice president also leads on character issues such as trustworthiness and likability.
With Election Day 10 weeks off and early voting beginning much sooner, Trump is under increasing pressure to reshape the contours of the campaign.
But as he struggles to contain the pandemic and the related economic devastation, Republicans have yet to identify a consistent political message arguing for his reelection.
Convention organizers had promised an uplifting and hopeful message on the opening night of the scaled-back proceedings, but that was overshadowed by ominous warnings from the president and his allies about the country’s future if he should lose in November.
Tuesday’s program was designed around the theme of “Land of Opportunity.”
Beyond the president’s family, the speakers included the mother of a police officer killed by an immigrant in the country illegally, a former Planned Parenthood official who became an anti-abortion activist and a Kentucky high school student whose confrontation last year with Native Americans became a flashpoint in the nation’s culture wars.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the nation during an official overseas trip in Israel.
Pompeo’s taped appearance breaks with decades of tradition of secretaries of state avoiding the appearance of involving themselves in domestic politics. That his video was filmed in Jerusalem, where he was on an official foreign trip, has raised additional questions of propriety.
Overall, there were more than a dozen speakers planned for the evening’s prime-time program, most of them appearing in prerecorded video or inside a largely empty Washington auditorium. But there is one intended star.
“Tonight is the first lady’s night,” said campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh.