RNC Day 2: Melania Trump acknowledges COVID-19 victims; calls for unity during racial unrest

First lady Melania Trump, speaking from the White House Rose Garden, delivered an address that acknowledged the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, called for racial tolerance and urged those watching to return her husband to office for four more years.

“I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically. The invisible enemy COVID-19 swept across our beautiful country and impacted all of us,” she said. “My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one, and my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering.”

The first lady spoke about the continued racial unrest that first exploded across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd in May at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.

“I urge people to come together in a civil manner,” President Donald Trump said. “I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice. And never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin.”

She went on to make a case for her husband’s reelection, saying that he loves America and works tirelessly on behalf of Americans while acknowledging that people — whether they like him or not — “always know where he stands.”

The first lady’s address capped a full evening that saw a full presidential pardon and a naturalization ceremony for five new American citizens.

Another speaker, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, drew controversy not for what he said in his speech, but for the fact he gave it at all.

Pompeo recorded the speech to be played at the convention while he was on a trip to the Middle East, leading Democrats to complain that he was campaigning for a candidate while on foreign soil carrying out his duties.

Below is the livestream of the evening’s events and live updates from the speeches.

Livestream

Live updates

The first lady speaks of her history, desire to be in American

10:44 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Melania Trump delivers her address from the Rose Garden.

She thanks health care workers for their service during the pandemic and offers her condolences to Americans who have lost a loved one to the COVID-19 virus.

“I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically,” she said. “My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one and my prayers with those who are suffering.”

She remembers those who voted for her husband, military members and their families and of the children she has met.

She says her husband will never stop working for the American people.

“He [Trump] had the energy and enthusiasm for who should lead this nation. It’s real today as it was four years ago.”

“America is in his heart,” she says of her husband.

She addresses the racial unrest. “Focus on our future while still learning from our past,” she said.

“I urge people to come together in a civil manner,” Trump said. “I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice. And never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin.”

She encourages the media to focus on the drug addiction crisis in America, not gossip.

She makes the case for her husband to be re-elected.

“Whether you like it or not, you always know what he is thinking,” she said.

Pompeo speaks from Israel

Daniel Cameron on the protests

10:30 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Daniel Cameron, the first African American attorney general in Kentucky history, is speaking.

He addresses the recent protests saying, “Sadly, there are some who don’t believe in this wisdom or in the better angels of our shared American history, as they tear down the statues of people like Ulysses S. Grant, Frederick Douglass, and even Mr. Lincoln himself.

“Republicans will never turn a blind eye to unjust acts, but neither will we accept an all-out assault on western civilization.”

Eric Trump and the silent majority

10:16 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Eric Trump, Trump’s second son, says because of his father, the US once again became the envy of the world.

He talked about how the silent majority was mocked and ignored in the 2016 election and he recounts the promises he said his father made and kept.

“If you do not have a border, you do not have a country,” Trump said of his father’s support for a strong immigration policy.

He vows to police officers, the voiceless, veterans, parents and every “proud American who bleeds red, white and blue,” that “my father will fight for you.”

He ends his speech by telling his father that he loves him and references his uncle, Robert Trump, who died about a week and a half ago.

A naturalization ceremony

10:07 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Trump hosts a naturalization ceremony at the White House for five new citizens of the United States.

Florida’s lieutenant governor with a change of heart

10 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez said Democrats are trying to “normalize socialism to dismantle our Constitution.”

Nuñez is a surprise speaker to some. She once said Trump was “the biggest con-man there is.”

A police officer and a pregnant homeless woman

9:55 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Ryan Holets, an Albuquerque, New Mexico police officer, tells how he met a pregnant homeless drug addict while on duty and was moved to help her by agreeing to adopt her child.

Holets talks about the Trump Administration plan to attack the opioid crisis across the country to help people like the mother of his adopted daughter. He says he has seen what the program has done.

“Donald Trump is the right president at the right time,” Holets says.

Help after the derecho

9:40 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds thanked Trump for helping her state after the recent storm, called a derecho.

“Iowans did what you expect Iowans to do. They helped each other. They took care of each other. And they still are,” Reynolds said. “But someone else also had our back: Our president.”

Tiffany Trump defends her father

9:35 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: President Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, talks about graduating from law school and looking for a job.

She says her father built an economy that would help her and others get a job and, even though COVID-19 tanked it, he will build it again.

She says the media will not report the truth about her father or his policies and that you should ask yourself why.

“Our generation is unified in facing the future in uncertain times -- and many of us are considering what kind of country we want to live in.

“You see, Make America Great Again is not a slogan for my father, it is what drives him to keep his promise of doing what is right for American citizens,” Trump said. “A vote for my father, Donald J. Trump, is a vote to uphold our American ideals.”

Bondi goes after Joe, Hunter Biden

9:30 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, laid out accusations of corruption against Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

The student from Covington Catholic

9:22 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Nicholas Sandmann, a teenager who ended up suing several media outlets for defamation following the coverage of his encounter at a protest in Washington D.C., is speaking.

Sandmann speaks of the “cancel culture” and said Trump has refusal to back down in the face of the liberal media.

“I learned that what was happening to me had a name. It was called being canceled.”

From Planned Parenthood to pro-life activist

9:22 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Abby Johnson is a former clinic director for Planned Parenthood, tells the story of walking away from her job after witnessing the abortion of a 13-week old fetus.

Evangelist Billy Graham’s granddaughter is speaking

9:12 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: The granddaughter of evangelist Billy Graham, Cissie Graham Lynch, is talking about the right to practice the religion of your choice. She says Biden and the Democrats have threatened that right and will continue to do it.

“The radical left’s god is political power,” Lynch said.

Lynch is the daughter of Franklin Graham.

A message from Kudlow

9:05 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Larry Kudlow, White House National Economic Council director, touts a booming economy, set to get even stronger, that was slammed down by the pandemic.

“Our economic health is coming back,” Kudlow says. “Who in their right mind” would raise taxes, he says, referring to Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s plan to raise taxes on those who make more than $400,000.

Wisconsin farmer: Trump understands us

9:02 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Cris Peterson, a dairy farmer from Wisconsin, praises Trump and the help he has given farmers.

She and her family have 1,000 cows and she said that her family would not have made it through the spring and summer without Trump’s help for farmers.

Rand Paul on Trump

A convert

8:55 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Jason Joyce, who said he did not vote for Trump in 2016, is supporting him now, he said.

He praises Trump’s recent action that reversed an Obama Administration policy that hurt lobstermen like Joyce.

A rehabilitation story and a pardon

8:44 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Former FBI agent Richard Beasley and Jon Ponder, the man Beasley arrested for robbing a bank, appear with Trump at the White House.

Ponder tells of his jail cell conversion, making a promise to God to serve him once he got out of prison.

Once Ponder was released, Beasley sought him out and the two eventually founded an organization that helps former prisoners reintegrate into society.

Ponder tells a story about Trump coming to a graduation ceremony for his program, staying for the entire ceremony, handing out “diplomas” and shaking the hands of all of his “students.”

After Ponder tells his story, Trump surprises him with a full pardon.

Native Americans for Trump

8:39 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: “Our people have never been invited into the American dream,” Myron Lizer, Navajo Nation vice president said.

Not until President Donald Trump got into office, he said. He said Trump has done much for the Native American community.

The convention is beginning

8:31 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: The convention is beginning now. The Rev. Norma Urrabazo is offering a prayer.

Speech pulled

8:30 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Mary Ann Mendoza, an “Angel Mom” whose son was killed in a DUI traffic accident with a man in the country illegally, was to speak this evening, but her speech has been pulled. According to several media outlets, Mendoza posted a tweet that urged her followers to investigate a supposed Jewish plot to “enslave the world.”

Secretary of State Pompeo’s speech causing controversy

8:25 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s address to the Republican National Convention, which was taped in Jerusalem, has caused a stir on Capitol Hill even before it is delivered. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said Tuesday he planned to launch an investigation into Pompeo’s decision to make the speech.

The first lady will speak from the Rose Garden. Maybe.

8:13 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: First lady Melania Trump will deliver her address from the newly renovated White House Rose Garden, weather permitting. Rain is scheduled for this evening in Washington D.C.

Live updates begin

8 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2020: Good evening and welcome to live updates from the second night of the Republican National Convention. Tonight the country will hear from the first lady, two of President Trump’s children and the secretary of state, among others.

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