Addressing the Republican Convention, the U.S. first lady Melania Trump pleaded for an end to “violence and looting”, she also said as protests continued over a police shooting in Wisconsin.
The first lady pleaded with Americans to stop making speculation related on race and highlighted candidly on US history.
President Donald Trump currently trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden in opinion polls for November’s election.
The normally limelight-shunning Mrs Trump dropped Tuesday evening’s keynote address before a small audience, including her husband, in the Rose Garden of the White House.
“Like all of you, I have reflected on the racial unrest in our country,” she said.
“It is a harsh reality that we are not proud of parts of our history. I encourage you to focus on the future while still learning from the past.”
“I urge people to come together in a civil manner so we can work and live up to our standard American ideals,” she added.
“I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice, and never make assumptions based on the colour of a person’s skin.”
Tuesday’s convention schedule kicked off with a prayer for Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old black man who was shot multiple times in the back by police in Wisconsin on Sunday.
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President Donald Trump tweeted a call for the Midwestern state’s governor to bring in the National Guard as unrest carried on related to the shooting.
Trump has frequently been accused by opponents of stoking racial tension, though black speakers at the opening night of the Republican convention emphatically refused he was racist.
In her speech, the first lady also showed compassion for Americans worried about the COVID-19 outbreak, which has costed the lives of more than 178,000 Americans.
“I know many people are anxious,” she said. “Some feel helpless. I want you to know you’re not alone.”
The U.S. first lady applauded her husband as someone who “makes no secrets about how he feels about things”.
“Total honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president. Whether you like it or not you always know what he’s thinking.”
Her choice to speak from the seat of presidential power has provoked anger in Democrats, who said the venue was an unsuitable use of government resources.
If the first night of the Republican National Convention was about addressing the president’s discern weaknesses among American voters – on the COVID-19 pandemic, racial matters and overall empathy – Tuesday concentrated on encouraging his base, from anti-abortion activists to Christian conservatives.
Meanwhile, the president flexed his executive powers from the White House in two extraordinary norm-stretching bits of political theatre providing a pardon and taking part in a naturalisation ceremony.
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U.S. first lady finished up the evening from the newly renovated Rose Garden. She was one of the few to directly show sympathy for those who have suffered from Coronavirus. It was a sharp contrast with White House economist Larry Kudlow, who spoke about the pandemic in the past tense earlier in the night.
Unless something different comes up in a few months to come COVID-19 will be at the top of voters’ minds when they cast their ballots.
And while red meat for the base is useful, public perception of the president’s handling of the coronavirus – and its economic fallout – will influence heavily in choosing his political fate.
The second night which was designed around the theme of “Land of Opportunity” – also heard from the president’s children, Eric and Tiffany Trump.
Eric railed against “radical Democrats” a repeatedly message of the convention so far.
“They want to disrespect our National Anthem by taking a knee,” he said, “while our armed forces lay down their lives every day to protect our freedom.”
He made allegations against Biden of planning to defund law enforcement, though the Democratic nominee has revealed no such proposal.
Tiffany, Mr Trump’s daughter with his second wife Marla Maples, accused the media and tech companies of keeping Americans “mentally enslaved”.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a pre-recorded speech from Israel, applauding the president’s “America First vision”.
Normally, the nation’s top diplomat does not attend political conventions, and attacks referred to his participation unethical.
Though he is not scheduled to address his keynote address to the convention until its final night, President Donald Trump played a big part in Tuesday’s schedule, just as he did on the opening day.
The conference contained emotional footage of the president earlier on Tuesday pardoning a Nevada bank robber, Jon Ponder, a black man who founded a charity that helps convicts reintegrate into society.
In another surprise moment of the night, Trump emerged live from the White House to take charge over a naturalisation ceremony for immigrants.
Critics said the segment was hypocritical, as President Donald Trump has taken steps during his presidency to ban legal immigration, as well as eliminate on illegal immigration.
Joe Biden’s campaign accused the president of using the newly coined American citizens as “props”.
“Immigrants and Latinos are not props, and these empty gestures won’t make us forget Donald Trump’s failures,” the Democrat’s Latino media director, Jennifer Molina, told AP news agency.
