Four Trumps have spoken during the first two days of the Republican National Convention, and there seems to be a trend developing.
There’s not much love for the president.
With the exception of Eric Trump, who briefly expressed his affection for his father at the very end of his address, members of the president’s family have mostly used their time to either attack Joe Biden and Democrats, promote the administration or spew easily debunked lies.
It has been a clear contrast from last week’s Democratic National Convention, when family members dead and alive spoke about their deep admiration for the former Vice President. So far this week -- with the president’s clear-cut favorite relative, daughter Ivanka, having yet to speak -- there has been scant adoration shown for Donald Trump.
Speaking for 26 minutes Tuesday night in front of a mostly unmasked and not-socially-distanced crowd of about 100 spectators from the White House Rose Garden, First Lady Melania Trump delivered a mostly meandering and unfocused address. She veered from talking about her Be Best campaign, to drug addiction, to racial unrest.
But there was one notable sentiment absent from her speech. She never told Donald Trump that she loved him.
Melania was the 24th person to speak to the American people Tuesday and 45th overall in two days. Prior to her appearance, speakers from a wide swath of the country continued to hammer on pro-business and pro-school-choice Republican themes.
There were also plenty of speeches that were anti-Biden, anti-cancel culture, anti-media and one particularly graphic anti-abortion address. Republicans also continued to repeat their lies about Biden’s stance on defunding law enforcement and raising taxes.
Donald Trump, breaking convention norms, used the opportunity to pardon a felon and stage a naturalization ceremony inside the White House, using five immigrants as political props, a particularly offensive gesture considering how his administration has treated migrants and fought to abolish the DACA program.
Tiffany Trump and Eric Trump gave what amounted to stump speeches, after their brother Donald Jr. did likewise Monday. Then came Melania’s big moment.
It would have been a monumental task for her to humanize a man that has acted in such an inhumane and callous manner to so many, so the First Lady didn’t even try. Instead, she displayed the empathy to COVID-19 victims that the president has been so incapable of doing the last six months.
“It has been inspiring to see what the people of this nation will do for one another,” she said.
She spoke of her own American immigrant story, ironic considering this administration’s virulently anti-immigration policies, and then she did what Trumps do best. She promoted herself.
Melania talked about her “Be Best” program, and told us what we can expect from her for the next four years, as if she was running for president. Then, she delivered perhaps the most unintentionally comedic line of the night.
“Total honesty is what our citizens deserve from our president,” she said.
And that’s why America will likely be electing Joe Biden.