US first lady Melania Trump on Wednesday speaking at the Republican National Convention at White House brings compassion on pandemic and immigrants and puts a kinder, gentler sheen on Donald Trump's reelection campaign.
Unlike often aggressive speeches by two of Trump's children from previous marriages, Eric and Tiffany, the first lady brought a soft touch to her keynote address from the White House's Rose Garden.
She began by offering prayers for the "ill and suffering."
The coronavirus, which has killed 178,000 Americans and wreaked economic chaos, was almost entirely ignored by other speakers and the president himself.
"My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one," she said.
The simple acknowledgment of the tragedy shaking the United States was a jarring change in the mood of the convention, which has mostly been a steady drumbeat of attacks on what Republicans call a "radical left" under Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
"I don't want to use this precious time to attack the other side," she said.
The 26-minute speech, which she delivered in her heavily accented English, also was remarkable for her defense of the immigrant experience and acknowledgment of soaring racial tensions - two combustible topics that her husband is often accused of stoking for political gain.
"I have reflected on the racial unrest in our country. It is a harsh reality that we are not proud of parts of our history," she said.
"I call on the citizens of this country to take a moment, pause, and look at things from all perspectives," she said. "We still have so much to learn from one another."
The first lady followed a controversial speech by heavy-hitting Trump supporters and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who broke with longtime tradition to campaign openly for the president while on diplomatic business in Israel.
One person who didn't address the nation on Tuesday, however, was a so-called "angel mom", Mary Ann Mendoza. She had been due to tell the story of her son's death after he was hit by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally.
Mendoza was yanked from the schedule at the last minute after it emerged that she had just retweeted an elaborate anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jews taking over the world.
"We all know Donald Trump makes no secret about how he feels," she said in a possible nod to the president's loud and often brutal way of expressing opinions on other people.
However, with Biden leading in opinion polls, the Trump campaign is seeking to claw back some of the middle ground.
Source: AFP
