RNC 2020 Live: Melania Trump headlines from Rose Garden, Pompeo to speak from overseas trip

Official White House Photo by Andrea HanksBy LIBBY CATHEY, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — A partially virtual Republican National Convention continues Tuesday under the theme “Land of Opportunity” where President Donald Trump will make another appearance, promising to each night, as speakers are expected to tout his first-term contributions and paint a dark picture of America under the Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

First lady Melania Trump, who takes a softer approach to politics than her husband, will headline Tuesday’s program with remarks from the historic and freshly-renovated White House Rose Garden — four years after her first big GOP speech was criticized for striking similarities to Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention address.

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7:59 p.m. Former administration officials launch anti-Trump group

Miles Taylor, the former senior Trump administration official who endorsed Joe Biden last week and delivered a scathing criticism of his time working for President Donald Trump, has launched a group of current and former administration officials with the goal of ensuring Trump is not reelected.

Taylor described it to ABC News as a “cleanup crew for the Republican Party,” which is also planning reforms for the post-Trump era.

.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump administration official Miles Taylor speaks out on breaking with Pres. Trump and endorsing Joe Biden. https://t.co/io8dW4sq7E pic.twitter.com/hBZsncaZz5

— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 18, 2020

Two current senior administration officials who are debating whether to reveal their identity have already signed on, according to a source familiar with the project.

The group is called the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform or REPAIR for short and is made up of “former U.S. officials, advisors, and conservatives — organized by ex-Trump administration officials — calling for leadership change in the White House and seeking to repair the Republican Party,” according to its website.

Last week, Taylor likened his time working with the While House with playing “whack-a-mole with bad presidential decisions” on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He warned then that his public comments were just the “opening salvo” for former administration officials coming forward to tell unflattering stories witnessed first-hand inside the administration.

— ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Libby Cathey

7:53 p.m. Black GOP congressional candidate encourages party to compete in inner cities

Black Republican congressional candidate Kim Klacik, who entered the spotlight last year with videos attacking the late Rep. Elijah Cummings on the decline of Baltimore, brought her message to the RNC Monday night.

Klacik was defeated by Democrat Kweisi Mfume to fill Cummings’ seat in a special election in April, and is now facing off against Mfume again in November’s general election. She taped her convention remarks in West Baltimore, the same location she used for a campaign video titled “Black Lives Don’t Matter to Democrats,” that was launched last week and shared by the president.

In her RNC remarks, she once again blamed Democrats for “running this beautiful city into the ground.”

GOP congressional candidate Kim Klacik, who is running for Congress in a blue district in Maryland, speaks at #RNC2020: “The Democrats still assume that Black people will vote for them … the days of blindly supporting the Democrats are coming to an end.” https://t.co/P17bioFUb1 pic.twitter.com/pOpm3H0R7H

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 25, 2020

Klacik’s videos last summer blaming Cummings for the increase in litter and crime in Baltimore prompted President Donald Trump to attack Cummings for his leadership over the city, tweeting that the city was a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”

Klacik contended that Black voters will not all flock to the Democrats and that Republicans could turn the city around.

“I want Baltimore to be an example to Republicans around the country. That we can compete in our inner cities if we reach out to the citizens and deliver real results,” she said.

— ABC News’ Ivan Pereira

7:43 p.m. FiveThirtyEight presidential forecast

Heading into the second night of the RNC, Joe Biden is favored to win the 2020 election — but there’s still time for the race to tighten, according to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential forecast. 

Heading into the second night of the #RNC2020, Joe Biden is favored to win the 2020 election—but there’s still time for the race to tighten, according to @FiveThirtyEight’s presidential forecast.

Explore: https://t.co/fV6Zr719S9 pic.twitter.com/lXzMHgzh9e

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 25, 2020

7:40 p.m. Nikki Haley says Trump has worked to address America’s racial divide

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley acknowledged on Tuesday that America is not perfect, but said the country has progressed and President Donald Trump has worked to bridge the racial divide.

“America is a work in progress. You know, if you look at the fact that, you know, we were able to fight a Civil War and slavery. We got through the segregation system. We had an African American president,” she said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Tuesday. “We got an African American female vice presidential candidate, so we are continuing to get better, but we have to always keep improving.”

ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos then pressed Haley to explain what Trump has specifically done to “address this systemic racism and the racial divide,” reminding Haley that he has tweeted a video where a man shouts “white power” and has also praised the Confederate flag, which Haley called a “divisive symbol” in her speech at the convention on Monday night.

“Well, I will tell you first of all, President Trump has passed criminal justice reform which Obama and Biden didn’t do,” she said. “We saw the lowest unemployment of African Americans and Hispanics, which wasn’t under President Obama or Biden. We have seen more funding go to the historically black colleges that never have happened under Obama and Biden.”

Haley continued, “I’m looking at results at what the president has done. We’ve seen real change. Do we have more to do? Absolutely. Are we perfect? No, but we have to continue improving, and that means getting rid of dirty cops, making sure we continue to add to criminal justice reform and making sure that every person, regardless of color and gender, has opportunities to lift them and their families up.”

“Do we have racists in our country? Yes, but we are a work in progress.” Former ambassador Nikki Haley speaks out about racism in America at the #RNC2020 https://t.co/WYQQZhH8ND pic.twitter.com/5W6CFBBO8S

— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 25, 2020

7:31 p.m. Sen. Tim Scott on ABC News Live Prime following Monday night keynote

Sen. Tim Scott closed out the first night of the Republican National Convention with a largely optimistic keynote speech that touched on his own path to the Senate as a Black man and implored Americans to “focus on the promise of the American journey.”

Much of the South Carolina politician’s speech was devoted to his biography. The GOP’s lone Black senator also used his speech to go after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and highlighted some of the former vice president’s statements on race, including comments from his tense radio interview with Charlamagne tha God back in May.

On Tuesday, ABC News’ Linsey Davis asked Scott about President Trump’s claim that he has done more for Black Americans than any other president.

“There’s a lot of accomplishments under the belt in this administration that really outpaces anything that I’ve seen in my lifetime,” he said on ABC News Live Prime. “I’ll probably leave it right there, though.”

 

Sen. Tim Scott on Pres. Trump’s claim that he did more for Black Americans than any other president: “There’s a lot of accomplishments under the belt in this administration that really outpaces anything that I’ve seen in my lifetime. I’ll probably leave it right there, though.” pic.twitter.com/kdQYWcezIk

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 25, 2020

 

7:17 p.m. House Democrats move to investigate Pompeo’s participation in RNC during official overseas trip

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, a senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has opened an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s participation in the RNC from Israel — and is seeking more information about any internal legal vetting of the move, whether any staff were involved in the setup for his speech, and if his participation impacted planning for his trip to the region.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable that a sitting U.S. Secretary of State, America’s top diplomat, would use official taxpayer-funded business to participate in a political party convention, particularly after the State Department published guidance that explicitly prohibits such activity,” Castro said in a statement earlier Tuesday.

“This action is part of a pattern of politicization of U.S foreign policy, for which President Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives, that undermines America’s standing in the world. The American people deserve a full investigation,” he said.

The State Department has defended Pompeo’s decision to appear at the convention in a “personal capacity” with officials noting that Hatch Act rules for Senate-confirmed political appointees like the secretary are less restrictive than those for rank-and-file diplomats.

“No State Department resources will be used. Staff are not involved in preparing the remarks or in the arrangements for Secretary Pompeo’s appearance. The State Department will not bear any costs in conjunction with this appearance,” the department said in a statement.

— ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel

7:07 p.m. First lady’s top aide says she’ll speak about achieving her dreams as an immigrant

First lady Melania Trump will headline the evening with what her chief of staff describes as a “very uplifting” and “very positive” address that speaks to her experience as American immigrant and includes making the case for her husband’s reelection.

“I would say it is very forward looking, she lays out some of the things she wants to do with the best in the next four years. She also reflects on some of her favorite moments as first lady which there are many. And I think she makes a really good case to the American people about why it is so important that her president continue — her husband continue on as our president for the next four years,” the first lady’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told reporters earlier Tuesday.

When the first lady steps to the podium Tuesday night in the historic Rose Garden that she finished renovating just days ahead of the convention — to some controversy — a key task will be appealing to and making her husband more relatable to women voters. A recent ABC/Washington Post poll found that President Donald Trump trails former Vice President Joe Biden’s support among women by double digits, 56% to 40%.

On the topic of whether the first lady could help appeal to suburban women, Grisham told Fox News the first lady is “very, very relatable” and “will talk about her role as a mother. She also commends mothers across this country for how hard they work and especially right now in the age of COVID.”

Grisham said it will be one of the longest speeches the first lady has ever delivered.

–ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

Those scheduled to speak on the Tuesday night include:

First lady Melania Trump
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds
Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
Abby Johnson, anti-abortion activist
Jason Joyce, Maine lobsterman
Myron Lizer, vice president of the Navajo Nation
Mary Ann Mendoza, an “Angel Mom” whose son was killed by an undocumented immigrant
Megan Pauley
Cris Peterson
John Peterson
Nicholas Sandmann, a student from a Covington, Kentucky, high school who sued news outlets for their coverage of a confrontation between him and a Native American man at the Lincoln Memorial
Eric Trump, the president’s son
Tiffany Trump, the president’s daughter

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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