The 2020 Republican National Convention kicked into full swing Monday night, complete with speeches from a slew of Republican politicians, conservative figures and frontline medical workers.
The convention officially began earlier in the day in Charlotte, North Carolina, the original scheduled site of the RNC. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both flew in and gave speeches to the social distanced attendees. (RELATED: Live From The White House: Take A Behind-The-Scenes Sneak Peak At Our Coverage Of Trump’s 2020 RNC)
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Monday night’s theme — “Land of Promises” — portrayed actions taken by the Trump administration as instrumental in stemming the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. “Right to Try” advocate Natalie Harp and West Virginia nurse Amy Johnson Ford both thanked Trump for his administration’s expansion of access to lifesaving treatments and telehealth services.
Trump is scheduled to deliver his keynote acceptance speech Thursday night, but he also spoke in two pre-taped segments, an unusual feature for a political convention. The first featured a number of coronavirus frontline workers, while the second featured Americans freed by the administration after being imprisoned abroad.
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Two speakers, football star Herschel Walker and Democratic Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones, delivered impassioned remarks rebutting claims that Trump is racist. Walker spoke on his 37-year-long friendship with Trump and claimed to be personally hurt by individuals who think he would carry on such a long relationship with a racist.
Jones praised Trump’s work on criminal justice reform and for putting “black workers first … when Obama wouldn’t do it.”
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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2020
Arguably the most talked about moment belonged to former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle. The Trump campaign fundraiser and girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. gave an impassioned speech denouncing socialism, but her at times over-the-top delivery raised eyebrows, including those belonging to Trump campaign officials.
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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2020
I just noticed the text of Guilfoyle’s speech has a lot of exclamation points.
— James Oliphant (@jamesoliphant) August 25, 2020
Nikki Haley’s quiet, measured tone makes her seem somnambulant following Kimberly Guilfoyle. #RepublicanNationalConvention
— Bill Goodykoontz (@goodyk) August 25, 2020
From a technical standpoint, the audio mix on Kim Guilfoyle’s speech would make most people sound like a maniac. High volume speech in an empty chamber with no audience to muffle it. The fact that Guilfoyle looks like a maniac while giving the speech is on her, though.
— Matthew Stinson (@stinson) August 25, 2020
Nobody ever messes up Kimberly Guilfoyle’s order at the drive-thru. #RNC2020
— Gerry Dee (@gerrydee) August 25, 2020
Monday night program also featured speeches from:
South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott
Donald Trump Jr.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley
Republican Pennsylvania Congressional Candidate Sean Parnell
School Safety Advocate Andrew Pollack
Cuban American Businessman Maximo Alvarez
Mark and Patricia McCloskey
According to the schedule released by the Trump campaign on Sunday, Tuesday night’s portion of the convention will include speeches from First Lady Melania Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Nicholas Sandmann, and Eric and Tiffany Trump.
You can watch Monday night’s entire program below.
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