The final day of the Republican National Convention kicks off Thursday, culminating in President Donald Trump’s speech accepting the Republican nomination for president.
Also scheduled to speak are Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Trump is expected to give his speech at the White House, a decision that critics have said could be a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in certain political activities. The president and vice president are exempt from the law but other White House employees are not.
Read the highlights from Wednesday’s RNC coverage, including takeaways and our fact check of the night’s speeches. Follow coverage of the day’s news on NBC News and MSNBC. NBC News NOW will livestream the convention each day, and NBCNews.com will have breaking news, analysis and fact checks.
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ANALYSIS: Pence is afraid that Biden doesn’t scare voters
WASHINGTON — The only things Americans have to fear, Vice President Mike Pence suggested Wednesday, are their neighbors and his out-of-power predecessor.
“Joe Biden would double down on the very policies that are leading to unsafe streets and violence in America’s cities,” Pence said on the third night of the Republican National Convention. “The hard truth is, you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”
Pence’s tack reflects a larger Republican strategy for the convention and the broader Trump re-election campaign that tries to focus voters on a generic fear of the unknown rather than problems at hand. It is, of course, Trump and Pence who have presided over the coronavirus crisis and its devastating impact on the economy, the civil unrest in the wake of police killings of Black men, women and children, and the emboldening of white supremacist militia groups.
Read more of Jonathan Allen’s analysis of Day 3 of the RNC here.
FIRST READ: Real world chaos undercuts Trump’s convention message
WASHINGTON — For most of this year, the events of 2020 have overshadowed the actual presidential campaign. And it’s happening again — as the Republican convention concludes and with 68 days until Election Day.
A powerful hurricane has slammed into the Louisiana-Texas Gulf Coast. The shooting of Jacob Blake by police has resulted in unrest, further violence and the arrest of a 17-year-old charged with murder during the protests. Also because of the Blake shooting, professional athletes — from the NBA and WNBA, to Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and tennis star Naomi Osaka — walked off their respective courts and playing fields.
Two things can be true at the same time. One, this presidential election is so consequential, as Democrats and Republicans continue to remind us. And two, the actual campaigns — whether it’s the conventions or the limited campaign activity — seem so small compared with everything else.
5 takeaways from the RNC, Night 3
On the third night of their national convention, Republicans warned “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America” while largely ignoring that more than 1,000 people are dying every day on average of the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice President Mike Pence joined other speakers in suggesting Trump is the only thing standing between good, peaceable citizens and violent mobs, rampant abortion and the end of America as we know it.
“Keep America America,” said Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law. “Make America Great Again — again,” Pence added.
Fact check: Night 3 of the Republican National Convention
Night 3 of the Republican National Convention featured a number of elected officials, second lady Karen Pence and others who made the case for President Donald Trump’s re-election during a program focused on “law and order” as protests grow over the police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin.
Vice President Mike Pence also accepted his renomination with a speech praising Trump for his leadership, but he frequently distorted the facts.
Praising police, Mike Pence at RNC says ‘you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America’
WASHINGTON — Driving President Donald Trump’s “law and order” message, Vice President Mike Pence praised law enforcement on the third night of the Republican convention Wednesday against the backdrop of protests sparked by a police officer shooting a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“Law and order are on the ballot,” Pence continued. “The choice in this election is whether America remains America.”
The third night of the RNC — the traditional political pep rally that Trump is hoping will boost his flagging re-election campaign — was held as the country faces turmoil.
A teenager was arrested Wednesday for fatally shooting protesters in Wisconsin demonstrating against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. The NBA postponed playoff games in response to Blake’s shooting. Texas and Louisiana braced for a catastrophic hurricane. Deadly wildfires continued to burn in Northern California. All while the coronavirus death toll rapidly nears 200,000.
