Republicans kicked off night one of the Republican National Convention tonight with a theme focused around the "Land of Promise" after formally nominating President Donald Trump earlier in the day in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A slew of Trump surrogates and supporters delivered speeches from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
Republicans tried to cast Trump as a caring, empathetic leader who worked to halt the spread of the coronavirus and created an inclusive economy, while being the only thing standing between the US and a devious Democratic Party.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott delivered the closing speech on the first night of the party's convention, and — invoking the names of Black people who had been shot by police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — he touched on his own roots as the son of mother who "worked 16 hours a day to keep food on the table" and a "roof over our heads" as they shared a two-bedroom house with his grandparents.
Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley attempted to burnish Trump's image on the world stage even as America's standing has fallen across the globe during his presidency. She argued that unlike former President Barack Obama and Biden, Trump has projected strength around the world while Biden would be "good for Iran and ISIS" and "great for Communist China."
"He's a godsend to everyone who wants America to apologize, abstain and abandon our values," said Haley, the former governor of South Carolina. "Donald Trump takes a different approach. He's tough on China, and he took on ISIS and won, and he tells the world what it needs to hear."
Haley made that argument despite the fact that Trump is viewed unfavorably around the world. Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center found that across 32 countries, a median of 64% said they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs, while only 29% expressed confidence in the President.
Trump made his first “surprise” appearance in tonight’s Republican National Convention alongside frontline workers in the East Room of the White House. In his second appearance of the night, the President was featured in a video from the White House with American hostages freed by foreign countries during his administration. "We got you back," Trump told Sam Goodwin, who was held in Syria in 2019.
The other featured Americans were held abroad in countries that included in Turkey, Iran and Venezuela.
Catch up on more moments of the night here.