WASHINGTON -- First lady Melania Trump cast her husband as the best hope for America's future in a Rose Garden address Tuesday night as President Donald Trump relied on family, allies and the trappings of the presidency to boost his reelection chances on the second night of the Republican National Convention.
Melania Trump and two of Donald Trump's children led a diverse collection of Republicans -- swing-state farmers, evangelical Christians and even a convicted bank robber -- in calling for Trump's reelection.
"I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know you're not alone," Melania Trump said, referring to the pandemic raging across America. "Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic."
Melania Trump called covid-19 an "invisible enemy" that she said has challenged America but brought its citizens together.
In her prime-time Republican National Convention address on Tuesday night, the first lady said she has "been moved in the way Americans have come together in such an unfamiliar and frightening situation."
She said her husband "will not rest until he has done all he can" to stem the "invisible enemy" of the coronavirus outbreak.
Melania Trump also talked about "the beautiful side of humanity" she has observed in the wake of natural disasters around the country, noting that a common thread "is the unwavering resolve to help one another."
The first lady spoke about healing "racial unrest in our country" and her pride in becoming a U.S. citizen. She also talked of her "Be Best" initiative to discourage online bullying of young people.
"In my husband, you have a president who will not stop fighting for you and your families," she said. "He will not give up."
Out of the public view for much of the year, Melania Trump was stepping into the spotlight to argue for a second term for her husband.
Only the second foreign-born first lady in U.S. history, Melania Trump, 50, is a native of Slovenia, a former communist country in eastern Europe. She became Trump's third wife in 2005 and gave birth to their now 14-year-old son, Barron, in 2006 -- the year she became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
The first lady spoke from the renovated Rose Garden, despite questions about using the White House for a political convention. She addressed an in-person group of about 50 people, including her husband.
TRUMP'S CEREMONIES
In one of the more emotional moments of the night, a video was shown of Donald Trump signing a pardon for Jon Ponder, a man from Nevada who has founded an organization that helps prisoners reintegrate into society.
"We live in a nation of second chances," Ponder said, standing alongside Trump.
"John's life is a beautiful testament to the power of redemption," Trump said before he signed the pardon.
Trump also hosted a naturalization ceremony at the White House in a video that aired Tuesday night.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf administered the oath to five people as Trump looked on.
Afterward, Trump welcomed the five into the "great American family" and congratulated them, saying, "Great going."
He told them: "You followed the rules, you obeyed the laws, you learned your history, embraced our values and proved yourselves to be men and women of the highest integrity."
He said there is "no higher honor and no greater privilege" than being a U.S. citizen.
The five new U.S. citizens hailed from Bolivia, Lebanon, India, Sudan and Ghana.
Tuesday's 2½-hour lineup also featured a Maine lobsterman, a Wisconsin farmer and an American Indian leader. Social conservatives were represented by an anti-abortion activist and Billy Graham's granddaughter. The convention also featured a Kentucky high school student whose interaction last year with American Indians became a flash point in the nation's culture wars.
Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of the late evangelist, said Trump is the only choice for voters of faith, adding that the Democratic ticket "leaves no room" for them.
Lynch portrayed the Barack Obama administration as one in which religious freedoms "were under attack." But with Trump's election, Lynch said, "people of faith suddenly had a fierce advocate in the White House," citing the appointment of judges "who respect the First Amendment."
Lynch spoke Tuesday night during the Republican National Convention. She said the "Biden-Harris vision for America leaves no room for people of faith," referring to Trump's Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California.
Later, Trump's youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, attributed a litany of characteristics to her father's supporters, saying, "We believe in freedom of religion for all faiths."
"A vote for my father, Donald J. Trump, is a vote to uphold our American ideals," declared Tiffany Trump.
GOP SPEAKERS
Vice President Mike Pence was the star of a video airing during the convention that featured the stories of six Americans whose lives have been helped by the Trump administration.
The nine-minute video, titled "Lincoln," was filmed last week at President Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home in Lincoln City, Ind. Pence delivered a tribute to Lincoln, the first Republican president, before holding casual conversations with everyday Americans.
Pastor Aaron Johnson praised Trump's support of opportunity zones, and Judge Cheryl Allen, the first Black woman to be elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, outlined her belief that Trump is committed to improving minority communities.
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Jordan McLinn, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, thanked Trump for signing the federal version of the "Right to Try" law in 2018.
Jack Hughes and his mother, Sarah, discussed how they used school vouchers to enroll Jack in a parochial school that better suited his learning needs.
And Lidia Brodine, a naturalized American originally from Honduras, talked about how the Paycheck Protection Program helped save her family's new security business from folding once the pandemic hit.
The convention also featured Nicholas Sandmann, known for video of his interaction with a Native American man at the Lincoln Memorial. Sandmann said the country must unite around a president "who calls the media out."
Sandmann assailed the media on Tuesday and contended that no one has been a victim of unfair media coverage more than Trump.
Sandmann asserted that the simple act of wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap made him the target of network and cable news networks that painted him wrongly in a negative light.
Sandmann was among the students from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Ky., participating in an anti-abortion march in Washington in January 2019. Footage of his interaction with Nathan Phillips, who was participating in a separate demonstration supporting Native American rights, spread widely online.
Both Sandmann and Phillips later said they were trying to defuse tensions among three separate groups participating in both demonstrations. Video of the encounter showed Sandmann and Phillips standing very close to each other after Phillips marched up to Sandmann, singing and playing a drum as Sandmann stood on the steps.
Sandmann later settled lawsuits against CNN and other media outlets.
HOPEFUL MESSAGE
Convention organizers had promised an uplifting and hopeful message the night before as the convention began, but at times that was undermined by warnings from the president and his allies about the country's future if he should lose in November.
On Tuesday night, there was criticism of Biden throughout, although the lineup generally maintained a more positive tone -- in part due to some last-minute changes.
Mary Ann Mendoza, an Arizona woman whose son, a police officer, was killed in 2014 in a car accident involving an person in the country illegally, was pulled from the program minutes before the event began. She had directed her Twitter followers to a series of anti-Semitic, conspiratorial messages.
There were also barrier-breakers featured, such as Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the first African American to hold statewide office in Kentucky, and Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, first Hispanic woman to hold that office in her state.
And the convention lineup featured a Democrat for the second night: Robert Vlaisavljevich, the mayor of Eveleth, Minn., praised Trump's support for the state's mining industry in particular.
"President Trump is fighting for all of us. He delivered the best economy in our history, and he will do it again," Vlaisavljevich said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the convention and nation during an official overseas trip in Israel.
Pompeo spoke about the successes of Trump's "America First" foreign policy against Russia, China and Iran. He said those successes made his family and all Americans safer. He spoke of the defeat of the Islamic State's physical caliphate, Trump's pro-Israel agenda and the president's determined vigilance to guard against the "predatory aggression" of the Chinese Communist Party.
"President Trump has put his America First vision into action," Pompeo said. "It may not have made him popular in every foreign capital, but it's worked."
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.
TAX-CUT PLANS
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in his address that more tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks will be in store under Trump in a second term, with payroll tax cuts for higher wages; income tax cuts for the middle class; and capital gains cuts for investment, productivity and jobs. He said it's no time for about $4 trillion in higher taxes that Biden proposes, promising to apply them only to the wealthy.
"Coming out of the deep pandemic, who in their right mind would pick the pockets of taxpayers and drain money from their wallets and purses?" Kudlow said. "Look, our economic choice is very clear: Do you want economic health, prosperity, opportunity and optimism, or do you want to turn back to the dark days of stagnation, recession and pessimism?"
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was on Trump's impeachment defense team in the Senate, recounted that Biden's son Hunter was paid to serve on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while his father was vice president.
"If they want to make this election a choice between who's been saving America and who's been swindling America, bring it on," Bondi said.
The convention also heard from Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, whose libertarian background may appeal to a section of the Republican Party base that's especially concerned about limiting government intervention. Although he's a Trump supporter -- and sometimes a golf partner -- he's differed with the president on issues including federal spending and the debt, federal agents rounding up violent protesters in Portland, Ore., and military action abroad.
Paul said their policy differences are outweighed by their agreements, adding that he's concerned about Biden's vote to support the Iraq war.
"I fear Biden will choose war again," Paul said. "He supported the war in Serbia, Syria, Libya. Joe Biden will continue to spill our blood and treasure. President Trump will bring our heroes home."
Information for this article was contributed by Steve Peoples, Michelle L. Price, Darlene Superville, Kevin Freking, Zeke Miller and Dave Bauder of The Associated Press; and by Mark Niquette and Jordan Fabian of Bloomberg News.
