There is nothing more presidential than the White House. Donald Trump has taken advantage of the fact that the Republican Convention has not been able to be held only in North Carolina, due to the coronavirus pandemic, to take the political appointment to the same presidential residence in Washington. The president of the United States has exhibited several of the tasks that he has been in charge of since 2017, but at the same time he has asked to be voted on. Trump has blurred the line between being president and being a candidate that his predecessors have historically respected when seeking re-election. The second night of the Republican Convention became a showcase of the powers that the presidency gives and how the New York tycoon has used them.
The halls of the White House were used during the convention for Trump to sign the pardon of a former Nevada convict and also for a brief naturalization ceremony for five foreigners. In the latter, the president was greeted with Hail to the chief , an imposing hymn announcing the arrival of the US commander-in-chief wherever he goes. Although immigration measures have been toughened during the Trump administration, the recording showed a lenient president handing out citizenship certificates equally to a Bolivian man or a Lebanese woman. "They played by the rules," Trump said, nodding to the complex immigration system that in recent years has increasingly hampered entry into the United States.
Democrats have warned, in the weeks leading up to the convention, that the president could use the White House as a stage and that it would also be a platform for the Republican Party that would be financed with public money. Just a week earlier, for example, the Administration announced the renovation of the historic Rose Garden under the supervision of the first lady, Melania Trump. That same space served as the setting for her speech on Tuesday night and it will be there that Trump will accept the Republican Party's nomination as her presidential candidate on Wednesday night.
The first lady spoke to almost a hundred people - all without masks and without maintaining social distance - about the character of her husband. Melania Trump described him as "a genuine person who loves her country." The mysterious first lady, who for all these years has moved away from the spotlight and avoids speaking in public as much as possible, avoided attacking the Democrats and focused her speech on the figure of Trump. "Like it or not, they always know what she's thinking," she said.
His message, in addition, was the only one in which the advance of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States was recognized as a problem still to be solved. And she was the only participant in the encounter who showed some empathy with her victims. For a few minutes she resumed the old role of the first ladies in a phrase that has been understood as a gesture of support for the Americans: “I know that many people feel anguished and defenseless. I want them to know that they are not alone ”.
The guests to speak on the second day of the Republican Convention served to tell about Trump's vision, which is already attractive to his base but also seeks to seduce undecided voters. His economic adviser Larry Kudlow recalled the tax cuts that Trump has made and assured that if he is re-elected he will continue to lower taxes. Kudlow, who recorded his message from his office in the White House, called the president's economic handling of the health crisis "a complete success." A not very credible panorama when 17 million people are unemployed during the deepest economic crisis in history; and when the deaths from the disease already reach 178,000 and the country accumulates more than 5.7 million infected.
Pompeo from Israel
Another controversial case of the use of the presidency to campaign was the intervention of Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Against all odds, Pompeo sent a recorded speech from Jerusalem, where he was on an official visit. This breaks another unwritten rule that prevents the person in charge of the Foreign Ministry from taking a political position to prevent his diplomatic work from being affected. Ignoring any objections, Pompeo took advantage of his speech to highlight Trump's policy against China and the dissolution of what he called "a disastrous nuclear deal with Iran." He also highlighted the role of the United States in NATO and that Trump has guaranteed peace in the Middle East with the historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, recently reached. "An agreement that our grandchildren will read about in the history books," he said.
In the House of Representatives, some legislators protested Pompeo's participation in the convention. Democratic congressman Joaquín Castro, leader of the Foreign Affairs committee, said in a statement that the Secretary of State's speech is "highly unusual, unprecedented and probably illegal." The State Department assured Reuters that no public resources were used for Pompeo's message and that it was carried out during the secretary's break.