Night two of the Republican National Convention had a heavy emphasis on Trump’s family with appearances from Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump, and Melania Trump, each speaking about Donald Trump as a father and husband, and seeking to convince viewers to vote for him in the upcoming election. Another speaker of note was Nicholas Sandmann, a high schooler who was in the news last January for a video that came out showing a confrontation between him, wearing a MAGA hat, and Native American activist, Nathan Phillips. Sandmann, and other speakers, brought up the ethics of journalism and the role that the media has in our country right now, and criticized the media for being what they see as untruthful and malicious.

Melania Trump’s speech was highly anticipated because she rarely makes public appearances or speeches. Her role tonight was to show empathy for those being affected by a multitude of problems, but especially the protests over the murder of George Floyd and the pandemic. She asked for people to “stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice, and never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin.” Addressing the pandemic, she said, “My husband’s administration will not stop fighting until there is an effective treatment or vaccine available to everyone. Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic.” And, on par with the theme of the night of praising the president, Melania said that her husband “makes no secret about how he feels about things…Whether you like it or not, you always know what he is thinking.”

Continuing the endless flow of praise for President Trump, other family members spoke at the convention. Notable moments from President Trump’s daughter Tiffany’s speech included her statement that her father’s slogan, “make america great again,” is what drives him to be a “good president” daily. Eric Trump’s speech continued in aiding the apparent mission of the evening– building President Trump’s character. He even spoke to his father, saying, “I miss working alongside you every single day, but I’m damn proud to be on the front lines of this fight.”

Another crucial speaker on day two was Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who spoke from the city of Jerusalem. There has been controversy over his decision to speak because the Secretary of State has not spoken at a convention in over 75 years. This is due to the belief that politics and diplomacy should be kept separate. His speech was similar to  many of the other speakers, talking about Trump’s greatness, especially in foreign policy issues related to China, Israel, Russia, and the Middle East.

Other nontraditional speakers appeared at the convention, discussing their various frustrations with issues ranging from cancel culture to a supposedly malicious media, to their quandaries with rioting and protesters. However, the majority of each speaker’s time was used to highlight President Trump’s strengths, according to his family members and close adversaries, in an attempt to hopefully draw viewers to vote for him come election time.