First lady Melania Trump offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial understanding in a Republican convention speech on
First lady Melania Trump offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial understanding in a Republican convention speech on Tuesday aimed directly at the women voters who have abandoned U. S. 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 U. S. health crisis that has killed more than 178,000 people. “I want to acknowledge the fact that since March, our lives have changed drastically,” Melania Trump told a crowd seated in the White House Rose Garden, the president in the front row. “My deepest sympathy goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one.” “And my prayers are with those who are ill or suffering. I know many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know: You’re not alone.” With opinion polls showing Trump shedding support among college-educated women turned off by his combative style,Melania Trump and other women featured on Tuesday appeared to be trying to sway the critical voting bloc ahead of the Nov.3 presidential election. The first lady 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. Protests flared anew this week after a Black man was shot and left paralyzed by police in Wisconsin. “I urge people to come together in a civil manner so we can work and live up to our standard American ideals,” she said.
