Melania Trump makes plea for racial harmony
First lady Melania Trump offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial harmony in a Republican convention speech on Tuesday aimed directly at the women voters who have abandoned US President Donald Trump.
On the convention's second day, the speech's warm tone was out of step with a Republican gathering that featured harsh rhetoric about Democratic challenger Joe Biden and sometimes apocalyptic warnings about the dangers of Democratic governance.
Trump's wife acknowledged the pain of the pandemic in sharp contrast to most other speakers at the party's national convention, notably her husband, assailed by Democrats for his lack of solace during a US health crisis that has killed more than 178,000 people.
She offered her deepest sympathies to everyone "who has lost a loved one."
The first lady also reflected on the racial unrest that has swept the country in the months since the death in May of a Black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a white policeman in Minnesota.
"I urge people to come together in a civil manner so we can work and live up to our standard American ideals," she said. "I also ask people to stop the violence and looting being done in the name of justice and never make assumptions based on the colour of a person's skin."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking from a Jerusalem rooftop with the city lights visible in the background, praised a recent deal to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump will deliver his convention speech from the White House lawn today.
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