CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Donald Trump's campaign tried to kick-start his flagging re-election bid as the first night of the Republican convention began Monday night by touting economic accomplishments and trying to depict Democrats as a threat to America.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a Missouri couple who gained national attention when they pointed guns as Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their home, will argue "radical leftists" are trying to take over America.
“Democrats no longer view the government’s job as protecting honest citizens from criminals, but rather protecting criminals from honest citizens," they will say, according to Trump's campaign.
The McCloskeys are one strand in the backdrop for Trump's convention: an America in turmoil. The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage after a summer punctuated by protests calling for an end to racial injustice. This week, the nation is also grappling with duel natural threats from wildfires in California and a pair of hurricanes in the Gulf.
Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, began the speaking program Monday night by casting Trump as “the bodyguard of western civilization.”
Kirk said America was “under attack by a group of bitter, deceitful, vengeful, activists who have never built anything in their lives.”
The president enters his convention trailing rival Democrat Joe Biden in the polls, and he faces a torrent of criticism for his administration's handling of the pandemic. This week's convention will be his most aggressive attempt yet to turn the national sentiment in his favorite.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate, is expected to use his Monday night speech to try to appeal to minority voters, a group Trump has struggled with.
Scott will touch on Trump’s work on behalf of Black Americans “to clean up Joe Biden’s mess,” and how the Democrats are campaigning on a “cultural revolution” for a “fundamentally different America,” according to excerpts released by the Trump campaign.
Donald Trump Jr., the president's oldest son, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley are also expected to speak.
Trump is scheduled to make an appearance every night, ending with his formal acceptance speech on Thursday, the final night of the convention.
Trump is expected to make a taped appearance Monday with six hostages who were rescued during his administration, according to a campaign official.
Trump will seek to highlight his personal interactions with voters, a senior administration official told reporters traveling with the president on the flight to Washington on Monday.
The campaign has also said they will feature people from different parts of the country who have been positively impacted by Trump’s policies.
Rebecca Friedrichs, a California public school educator, was the first “every day” American to share their story of why they support Trump, praising the president for “breaking the unions' grip on our schools.”
Democrats hosted their convention last week, conducting the event almost entirely remotely and receiving high praise for the production value. Republicans will feature taped videos, but conclude each night with a more traditional format featuring a series of speakers on a single stage.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel will argue that Democrats spoke “very little about what they actually plan to do” at their convention and will cast their policies as “radical.”
The Republicans decided to forgo a new party platform this year and instead passed a resolution to leave in place their 2016 platform.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of Trump’s most fervent defenders, mocked Biden for not holding more events outside of his home during the pandemic.
“I’m speaking from an auditorium emptier than Joe Biden’s daily schedule,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz called a Biden administration a “horror movie."
"They’ll disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door," Gaetz said. "And the defunded police aren’t on their way.”
CORRECTION (Aug. 24, 2020, 7:10 p.m. ET): A photo caption on a previous version of this article misidentified Tim Scott's congressional position. He is a senator, not a House member.
