Pence Convention Speech Ends With Pomp: Convention Update
New York lawmaker praises President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus.
(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Mike Pence ends his convention speech with a taste of traditional pomp. Lara Trump challenges the president’s public image. And football-star-turned-congressional-candidate says President Donald Trump has delivered for Black Americans.
There are 69 days until the election.
Other developments:
Pence Convention Speech Ends With Pomp
Pence had a little taste of the traditional convention at the end of his big speech.
After his keynote address at Fort McHenry ended, Pence and his wife Karen were joined by the president and Melania Trump who arrived on site to cheers and chants of “four more years.”
“God bless you Mr. President. Baltimore loves you, I’m telling you,” yelled one supporter.
Country music star Trace Adkins then treated the crowd to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which was inspired by a battle there during the War of 1812.
Afterward, the Pences and the Trumps waved and spoke with supporters across a small divider.
Lara Trump Challenges President’s Public Image (11:23 p.m.)
Lara Trump said that the president’s public image doesn’t accurately convey his personality.
Speaking on the third night of the Republican National Convention, the wife of the president’s son Eric Trump said that the Trump family was different from what she expected.
“Any preconceived notion I had of this family disappeared immediately,” she said. “They were warm and caring, they were hard workers, and they were down to earth. They reminded me of my own family — they made me feel like I was home.”
Trump, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said that since marrying into the family she has seen a different side of the president.
“What I learned about our president is different than what you might have heard,” she said. “I learned that he is a good man. That he loves his family. That he didn’t need this job.”
Football Star Turned Candidate Praises Trump (11:08 p.m.)
Former All-American football player and Republican congressional candidate Burgess Owens said Trump has delivered results for Black Americans and warned of Democratic extremism in a speech to the Republican National Convention Wednesday.
“This November, we stand at a crossroads. Mobs torch our cities while popular members of Congress promote the same socialism that my father fought against in World War II,” he said.
He also criticized Joe Biden’s comments on race, saying, “We have a Democrat candidate for president who says that I’m ‘not Black’ if I don’t vote for him.”
Owens, one of a number of Black Republicans given high-profile speaking roles at the convention, is the GOP candidate for a Utah congressional seat now represented by Democrat Ben McAdams. He previously achieved fame as a safety in the National Football League, winning a Super Bowl with the Oakland Raiders in 1981.
But he also has ties to the QAnon movement, having appeared on a YouTube channel promoting the discredited conspiracy theory that a deep state ring of child sex traffickers is seeking to undermine Trump. -- Gregory Korte
Lawmaker Says Trump Helped Supply Frontline Workers (10:55 p.m.)
New York Congressman Lee Zeldin said Trump delivered critical supplies to frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic, countering a major criticism of the president’s handling of the crisis.
Zeldin, who is facing a tough re-election campaign, said at the Republican National Convention Wednesday that the president sent personal protective equipment, ventilators and medical professionals to New York during the peak of the pandemic there.
“During a once-in-a-century pandemic, an unforeseeable crisis sent to us from a faraway land, the president’s effort for New York was phenomenal,” he said.
State officials have repeatedly criticized Trump’s handling of supplies in the pandemic, complaining that the lack of federal coordination left them in a bidding war with each other.
In late July, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, chairman of the National Governors Association, said that governors still did not have the equipment they needed.
Iowa Senator Says Trump Is the Best Choice For Farmers (10:47 p.m.)
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst promoted Trump as the best candidate to help struggling Iowa farmers after a powerful wind storm destroyed millions of acres of corn and soybeans.
Ernst said while national media organizations were ignoring the damage, Trump “quickly signed an emergency declaration” to get relief to Iowans. By contrast she said she couldn’t “recall an administration more hostile to farmers than Obama-Biden, unless you count the Biden-Harris ticket.”
The storm struck Iowa in early August with 100-mile-per-hour winds that left three people dead. Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have visited the state in the wake of the disaster.
Trump won Iowa by nine percentage points in 2016 but both the president and Ernst face more competitive re-election races there this year. A Monmouth University poll earlier this month found Ernst was leading Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield by just three percentage points. Trump was supported by 48% of registered voters in the state compared to the 45% that said they support Joe Biden, the poll found. -- Naomi Nix
New York Congresswoman Slams Trump Impeachment (10:31 p.m.)
Elise Stefanik, the third-term New York congresswoman who became a Republican star by defending President Donald Trump in impeachment hearings, told the Republican National Convention that efforts to remove the president from office were “an attack on you — your voice and your vote.
“Since his first day in office, President Trump has fought tirelessly to deliver results for all Americans, despite the Democrats’ baseless and illegal impeachment sham and the media’s endless obsession with it,” she said. “But the American people were not swayed by these partisan attacks. Our support for President Trump is stronger than ever before.”
Stefanik’s speech also served to highlight a theme of women Republican office-holders on Wednesday night.
“More Republican women than ever are running for office this year,” she said. “We understand that this election is a choice between the far-left Democratic socialist agenda versus protecting and preserving the American dream.”
First elected to Congress at age 30, Stefanik was once seen as a moderate with a bipartisan voting record. But as the impeachment inquiry came to a fever pitch last year, she clashed with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California and became one of Trump’s most fervent defenders. -- Gregory Korte
Chinese Dissident Praises Trump Stand on China (10:23 p.m.)
Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng lauded Trump’s leadership in standing up to the Chinese Communist Party.
“The U.S. must use its values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law to gather a coalition of other democracies to stop CCP’s aggression,” Chen told the Republican National Convention Wednesday, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. “President Trump has led on this and we need the other countries to join him in this fight.”
Chen’s speech highlights Trump’s focus on China as a campaign issue. Echoing Trump’s labeling of the coronavirus as the “China virus,” Chen referred to it as the virus of the CCP.
In his prepared remarks, Chen had planned to criticize what he called the “policy of appeasement” of the Obama-Biden administration — the same administration that secured his release from Chinese house arrest in 2012. That section was cut from his final speech.
The blind human rights activist spent more than four years in a Chinese prison before escaping house arrest and taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. His case brought bipartisan condemnation of Chinese human rights abuses, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was so instrumental in his release that Chen reportedly told her, “I want to kiss you.” -- Gregory Korte
Kellyanne Conway Says Trump Empowers Women (10:12 p.m.)
Conway argued that the president has been a champion of women throughout his life.
Speaking at the Republican National Convention Wednesday, the White House adviser said that Trump “empowered” her by choosing her as his final campaign manager, making her the first woman to run a major-party presidential campaign.
“For decades, he has elevated women to senior positions in business and in government. He confides in and consults us, respects our opinions, and insists that we are on equal footing with the men,” she said.
Conway has long been one of Trump’s most vocal defenders on television, especially on his treatment of women, arguing that he does not get enough credit due to politicization of the country.
She will leave her job at the White House at the end of the month to concentrate on her family.
Karen Pence Calls for Support of the Military (10:02 p.m.)
Second lady Karen Pence called on Americans to support the military, first responders and frontline workers who are keeping the country functioning during the coronavirus crisis.
“In these difficult times, we’ve all seen so many examples of everyday Americans reaching out a hand to those in need,” Pence said. “We’ve seen health care workers, teachers, first responders, mental health providers, law enforcement officers, grocery and delivery workers, and farmers, and so many others. Heroes all!”
Pence’s son Michael serves in the Marines.
Pence was a teacher before becoming first lady of Indiana. Pence has been a longtime supporter proponent of art therapy which she credited in her speech for helping rehabilitate soldiers. -- Emma Kinery
Kamala Harris Scorns Trump Record on Coronavirus (9:50 p.m.)
Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, lambasted the Trump administration’s record in handling the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday in a fundraising email to supporters.
Harris argued Trump and Pence have responded to the pandemic and economic crisis incompetently and treated systematic racism in the country with “callousness.” Harris sent the email around the same time second lady Karen Pence addressed the nation at the Republican National Convention.
“America is grieving, and Trump and Pence have tried to turn our tragedies into political weapons,” she wrote. “They think it will help them win re-election, but they’re wrong. Because we know the truth: We can do so much better, and we deserve so much more.”
She added that Biden can bring the country together and lead in a time of crisis. -- Naomi Nix
White House Aide Tells of Fight Against Cancer Gene (9:40 p.m.)
This time, the story Kayleigh McEnany told in defense of President Donald Trump was a personal one.
The White House Press Secretary told the Republican National Convention of the preventative double mastectomy she had two years ago, at age 30, after learning she had a BRCA 2 genetic mutation that greatly increased her risk for breast cancer.
One of the first calls of support came from the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, she said.
“Days later, as I recovered, my phone rang again. It was President Trump, calling to check on me. I was blown away. Here was the leader of the free world caring about my circumstance,” she said. “At the time I had only met President Trump on a few occasions. But now I know him well. And I can tell you that this president stands by Americans with pre-existing conditions.”
“The same way President Trump has supported me, he supports you,” she said. “I see it every day.”
McEnany was press secretary for the Trump campaign before being tapped as White House press secretary in April. She’s one of a number of Trump aides speaking at the convention in their personal capacities, flouting a tradition of separating government service with politics even among White House officials. -- Gregory Korte
Pence Aide Rebuts Bolton’s Trump Allegations (9:26 p.m.)
Pence’s national security advisor, Keith Kellogg, offered a direct rebuttal to Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton, who alleged in a book published earlier this year that the president prioritized his own political benefits over those of the country in foreign policy.
“Over the past three and a half years, I have witnessed every major foreign policy and national security decision by the president,” Kellogg said at the convention. “I have been in the room where it happened. I saw only one agenda and one guiding question when tough calls had to be made: Is this decision right for America?”
Bolton’s book is titled, “The Room Where it Happened.” -- Emma Kinery
Crenshaw Describes Rosy Future for America (9:09 p.m.)
Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw painted a rosy picture of the future of America but said little about the virtues of President Trump’s candidacy.
“We can decide right now that American greatness will not be rejected nor squandered,” Crenshaw said during the Republican National Convention. “As the American founding was grounded in individual liberty, so will be our future.”
A former Navy SEAL who served in Afghanistan, Crenshaw was elected to Congress in 2018. He has defended Trump’s proposal to erect a wall at Mexican-American border. Most recently, Crenshaw earned praise from Trump for defending the administration’s response to the pandemic. -- Naomi Nix
Senator Blackburn Laments Calls to ‘Defund the Police’ (9:02 p.m.)
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn tried put the Republican party on the side of uniformed services Wednesday, saying the “defund the police” movement is a Democratic-led effort to destroy the heroism of police officers and troops.
“Leftists try to turn them into villains. They want to ‘cancel’ them. But I’m here to tell you that these heroes can’t be canceled,” Blackburn told the Republican National Convention.
“Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their radical allies try to destroy these heroes because if there are no heroes to inspire us, government can control us,” she said. “If the Democrats had their way, they would keep you locked in your house until you become dependent on the government for everything.”
The first term Tennessee senator is one of nine Republican women in the Senate. -- Gregory Korte
Governor Kristi Noem Condemns Protest Violence (8:49 p.m.)
Noem condemned protesters who are across the country demonstrating against police violence, saying Americans are “left to fend for themselves.”
“From Seattle and Portland to Washington and New York, Democrat-run cities across this country are being overrun by violent mobs,” Noem said. “The violence is rampant. There’s looting, chaos, destruction, and murder. People that can afford to flee have fled. But the people that can’t -- good, hard-working Americans -- are left to fend for themselves.”
Earlier this year protests broke out across the country following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Demonstrations are currently happening in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake, a Black man. Last night a 17 year old White teenager shot and killed two protesters, injuring one other.
Noem helped orchestrate Trump’s Independence Day rally at Mount Rushmore in her state. -- Emma Kinery
Former NFL Player on Convention Schedule Faces Insider Trading Charges (7:49 p.m.)
A former NFL player slated to speak at the Republican National Convention Wednesday was charged with insider trading earlier this month.
Former Minnesota Vikings safety Jack Brewer, a member of Black Voices for Trump, worked in financial services after leaving pro football. On August 6, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with insider trading, alleging he sold 100,000 shares in a penny stock that he knew was likely to drop.
Along with financial penalties, the SEC is seeking to bar Brewer from buying, selling or dealing with penny stocks.
Earlier Wednesday he told a Minnesota talk radio station Wednesday morning that he rewrote his speech before getting on a plane for Washington, D.C., based on something his eight-year-old son said to him.
“It touched me, and I completely changed my speech,” he said, without revealing the change.
Kanye West Sues Over Being Blocked From Ballot (6:07 p.m.)
Rapper Kanye West is suing to overturn a decision to keep him off the Nov. 3 ballot in Ohio as an independent presidential candidate.
West was disqualified because information and a signature on a nominating petition and statement of candidacy for the rapper and running mate Michelle Tidball didn’t match the paperwork used to gather needed voter signatures, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said on Aug. 21.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in the Ohio Supreme Court, an attorney for West and Tidball said LaRose had a legal duty to accept West’s nominating petition. Two signatures by Tidball that didn’t appear to match were both genuine, the complaint said.
A spokeswoman for LaRose declined to comment.
Trump Suggests Pre-Debate Drug Tests (5:39 p.m.)
First Trump said he wouldn’t debate Biden unless he could pick the moderators. Then he said three debates weren’t enough but now wants at least four. His latest ask: he and Biden both should be drug-tested before they step on stage.
It’s all part of Trump’s near-daily attempts to suggest that Biden is somehow mentally impaired, even though Trump can offer no evidence to back up the assertion. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said he believed that the former vice president’s performance improved in the final Democratic debate and that he suspected drug use.
“I don’t know how he could have been so incompetent in his debate performances and then all of a sudden be OK against Bernie,” Trump said, referring to Biden’s final primary season debate with Senator Bernie Sanders earlier this year.
The Biden campaign dismissed the request. “We know it’s unbelievable to Donald Trump, but Joe Biden can speak honestly without a shot of truth serum. We’d like to see Trump do the same,” said spokesman Andrew Bates.
Trump took a similar tactic in 2016, accusing rival Hillary Clinton of “getting pumped up” and calling for a drug test before their final contest. Trump’s health has been a focus of Democratic speculation after he appeared to raise a water glass and walk down a ramp with difficulty. Trump has also boasted repeatedly of his performance on a cognitive skills test and challenged Biden to do the same. -- Justin Sink
Pelosi Denounces Trump’s Use of White House During Convention (1:39 p.m.)
Pelosi denounced Trump and Republicans as “so unethical” for using the White House as the backdrop for the Republican National Convention.
Pelosi said Democrats believe the use of the White House is illegal as it violates the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch employees, with the exception of the president and the vice president, from engaging in political activities while on duty and in federal buildings.
She also slammed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for giving his convention speech from Israel after warning State Department employees about engaging in politics.
But Pelosi, who was part of a Biden campaign press call along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, focused most of her attention on Republicans’ attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Trump’s mismanaged response of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Instead of crushing the virus, he’s trying to crush the Affordable Care Act in the tradition of the Republicans in the Congress who more than 60 times tried to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi said. “This president is trying to crush it in the courts.” -- Tyler Pager
Harris Will Deliver Speech Assailing Trump’s Virus Response (12:16 p.m.)
Harris will deliver a speech Thursday assailing Trump’s stewardship of the response to the coronavirus pandemic as she offers the main Democratic counter-programming on the final day of the Republican National Convention.
The vice-presidential nominee will speak just hours before Trump officially accepts the Republican nomination at the White House.
The speech will be her first solo in-person campaign event since Joe Biden selected her as his running mate two weeks ago.
In joining the Democratic ticket, Harris was expected to play an aggressive role in detailing what Democrats see as the failings of the Trump administration. Harris, a former prosecutor who ran for the Democratic nomination, often said during her presidential run that she wanted to “prosecute the case” against Trump. -- Tyler Pager
Harris Urges Women to Turn Out in November (9:48 a.m.)
Harris urged women to turn out to vote in November to honor the hard-won battles for the right to suffrage, which she said is still being denied to many women of color.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post to mark Women’s Equality Day, she said the 19th Amendment passed 100 years ago guaranteed the right to vote for White women. But she said Black women didn’t get similar rights until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and they continue to face obstacles at the ballot box.
“We cannot mark this day, now known as Women’s Equality Day, without remembering all the American women who were not included in that voting rights victory a century ago,” Harris wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece Wednesday. “In fact, if I had been alive in 1920, I might not have been allowed to cast a ballot alongside White women.”
Harris accused Republicans of “doing everything in their power to suppress and attack the voting rights of people of color” with voter ID laws, reduced early-voting days and racial gerrymandering. She said they were taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to scare voters and spreading misinformation about voting by mail.
She stressed the necessity of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which calls for automatic and same-day voter registration and would provide funding for secure state voting systems. She said Democrats are working with election officials across the country to ensure a safe and effective election. -- Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou
Joni Ernst Slated to Speak Wednesday (7:52 a.m.)
Ernst will speak at the Republican National Convention Wednesday, the only high-profile Senate incumbent in a competitive race this year to do so.
The first-term senator is in an unexpectedly tight race against Democratic Senator Theresa Greenfield, a real estate executive who is already targeting Ernst for participating.
“Tomorrow, my opponent @joniernst takes the RNC stage where she’ll continue standing with national Republicans at the expense of Iowans,” Greenfield tweeted Tuesday.
A recent Monmouth University poll put Ernst up by just 1 percentage point over Greenfield, essentially tied, and the race is considered a toss-up.
None of the other sitting Republican senators facing tough races, including Cory Gardner of Colorado, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are scheduled for appearances at the convention.
Democratic Senator Doug Jones of Alabama, who is expected to lose his re-election race, spoke at his party’s convention last week.
Coming Up:
The Republican National Convention on Wednesday will feature speeches from Vice President Mike Pence, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw, among others.
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