US First Lady Melania Trump acknowledged the devastating consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic on families and businesses in an address on the second night of the Republican convention in sharp contrast to President Donald Trump and his surrogate’s dismissive impatience with it.
She struck a generally different note from speakers that preceded her, as also those on Monday. Unlike them, she sought to address the recent racial unrest with a unifying call, for instance. Her husband and his surrogates have used the protests to stoke fears about lawlessness and chaos.
“I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed dramatically,” the first lady said, addressing at the outset an issue that had been largely ignored by other speakers. “I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know you are not alone.”
She pledged her husband was committed to finding a vaccine. “Donald will not rest” till then, she said.
Notably, she went with the widely used name “Covid-19” for the epidemic and not “China Virus” or the “China Plague” or the “Kung Flu” that the president has preferred.
The First Lady also addressed anti-race protests for what they were, without portraying them as a harbinger of lawlessness by “radical left” Democrats that will follow under Joe Biden, if he was elected president, as had been done by a string of speakers before her.
{{/usCountry}}The First Lady also addressed anti-race protests for what they were, without portraying them as a harbinger of lawlessness by “radical left” Democrats that will follow under Joe Biden, if he was elected president, as had been done by a string of speakers before her.
{{/usCountry}}“I urge people to come together, in a civil manner, so we can work and live up to our standard American ideals,” she said. “I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice. Never judge anyone based on the colour of their skin.”
Speaking from the newly renovated Rose Garden of the White House, the First Lady also sought to portray her husband, who sat among socially distanced audience, as a straight-talker. “Whether you like it or not, you always know what he’s thinking,” she said.
Melania Trump, who was the third member of the president’s family to address the convention on Tuesday after adult children Tiffany Trump and Eric Trump, delivered the most important speech of the night, one that earned her the grudging respect even of some Democrats, who have rarely had a good word for her husband.
The focus of Night 2 of the convention — labelled the “Land of Opportunity” — was on the Trump administration’s economic successes before the Covid-19 epidemic hit the country and the recent signs of recovery; foreign policy achievements such as the recent Israel-UAE accord, aggressive steps towards China and Iran; and appealing to women voters.
But it was also a day that President Trump and his senior aides faced a string criticism for deploying tools of federal government in his re-election bid, such as hosting a naturalization ceremony for immigrants at the White House, and grating presidential pardon to a former felon.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was criticised for bucking a decades-old practice of not addressing a political convention as secretary of state, observed by both parties. He spoke of the administration’s foreign policy through a pre-recorded video from Jerusalem, a venue chosen tactically as a reminder of administration recognising the city as Israel’s capital.
In the pre-recorded message from Jerusalem, Pompeo offered a quick summary of the administration key foreign policy moves, such as China.
“In China, he has pulled back the curtain on the predatory aggression of the Chinese Communist Party,” Pompeo said and proceeded to mention the president’s attempts to hold China accountable for the Covid-19 epidemic, punishing or evicting spies and ending “ridiculously unfair trade deals”.