Highlights from the first night of the Republican National Convention

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott and Donald Trump Jr. Getty Images

Republicans kicked off night one of the Republican National Convention tonight with a theme focused around the "Land of Promise" after formally nominating President Donald Trump earlier in the day in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A slew of Trump surrogates and supporters delivered speeches from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.

Republicans tried to cast Trump as a caring, empathetic leader who worked to halt the spread of the coronavirus and created an inclusive economy, while being the only thing standing between the US and a devious Democratic Party.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott delivered the closing speech on the first night of the party's convention, and — invoking the names of Black people who had been shot by police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — he touched on his own roots as the son of mother who "worked 16 hours a day to keep food on the table" and a "roof over our heads" as they shared a two-bedroom house with his grandparents.

Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley attempted to burnish Trump's image on the world stage even as America's standing has fallen across the globe during his presidency. She argued that unlike former President Barack Obama and Biden, Trump has projected strength around the world while Biden would be "good for Iran and ISIS" and "great for Communist China."

"He's a godsend to everyone who wants America to apologize, abstain and abandon our values," said Haley, the former governor of South Carolina. "Donald Trump takes a different approach. He's tough on China, and he took on ISIS and won, and he tells the world what it needs to hear."

Haley made that argument despite the fact that Trump is viewed unfavorably around the world. Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center found that across 32 countries, a median of 64% said they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs, while only 29% expressed confidence in the President.

Trump made his first “surprise” appearance in tonight’s Republican National Convention appearing with frontline workers in the East Room of the White House. In his second appearance of the night, the President was featured in a video from the White House with American hostages freed by foreign countries during his administration. "We got you back," Trump told Sam Goodwin, who was held in Syria in 2019.

Other featured Americans held been abroad in countries that included in Turkey, Iran and Venezuela.

Catch up on more moments of the night here.

President Trump speaks to first responders at the White House. Republican National Convention

After weeks of increasing political furor over recent cuts at the US Postal Service, President Donald Trump on Monday said he would not support agency cuts.

"We're taking good care of our postal workers. That I can tell you," the President said on the first night of the Republican National Convention. "Believe me, we're not getting rid of any our postal workers, you know." He went on to claim, "If anyone does it’s the Democrats, not the Republicans.”

Facts first: This is false. Internal USPS documents obtained by CNN contradict the President's statement. Before Postmaster General Louis DeJoy suspended many changes until after the election, the USPS was planning to drastically cut work hours in at least one district. Also, Democrats have not proposed laying off postal workers. 

In documents obtained by CNN, USPS managers held a "stand up talk," around July 13, telling workers they would be cutting roughly 100,000 to 124,000 work hours across the district, in all sectors — retail, delivery and processing. It was unclear how management would be implementing the changes. The USPS planned on cutting so many work hours in mail processing operations — 124,000 — the documents say it would be the equivalent of closing all processing plants in the Appalachian district for 29 days or eliminate an entire shift of workers for 86 days.

Delivery in urban areas would be reduced by 110,983 work hours. The documents equated the work hour cuts to: not delivering mail for 13 days, or stopping 43 city routes, or ending mail delivery by 25 minutes every day. 

It also included clerk and retail operations, which management was going to cut by 112,475 work hours. That's the equivalent of shutting post office retail operations for 90 days, district wide, according to the documents.

The initiative to cut work hours has since stopped because DeJoy paused them after intense public scrutiny. But union officials CNN has spoken to fear the changes will be brought back after the 2020 election.

They also are concerned because past work hour cuts have led to job cuts. 

In his congressional testimony, DeJoy alluded that significant changes are still coming to the USPS, they're just coming after the election now.

DeJoy operates independently of the President, but has significant ties to him as a mega-donor and the former finance chair for the Republican National Committee. In recent weeks, the President has pushed baseless accusations that sought to undermine trust in the USPS and has said he opposed funding the USPS because of mail-in voting.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stands on stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while addressing the Republican National Convention on Monday in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley attacked Democratic positions on health care. 

“They want a government takeover of health care,” she said at the Republican National Convention on Monday. 

Facts first: This is true of some Democrats, but it’s not a policy Joe Biden supports. While he does advocate broadening the government’s involvement in the nation’s health care system, he does not back so-called “single payer” programs like Medicare for All, which were pushed by others in the primary.  

While Biden has agreed to back lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60, from the current 65, as a concession to the party’s progressive wing, he is not a supporter of Medicare for All, which would have essentially replaced the private health insurance system with a single, government-run plan. That idea was pushed by Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. 

Biden would also increase the federal subsidies in Obamacare so more middle-class Americans could afford to buy coverage. 

His running mate, Kamala Harris, shifted her positions during her short campaign – at times strongly backing Medicare for All. But when she eventually unveiled her health care plan, it also included a role for private insurance companies. However, she now supports Biden’s proposal. 

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina stands on stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while addressing the Republican National Convention on Monday in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In the final major speech at the Republican convention tonight, South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott called on voters to look at the actions of each presidential candidate to guide them in the voting booth, and used his life story as an example for the night's theme — "Land of Promise."

Scott, the only Black Republican in the US Senate, cast the GOP vision for the country as one of opportunity for all Americans — praising school choice, touting opportunity zones and describing his electoral success in an overwhelmingly White district as one where "voters judged me not on the color of my skin, but on the content of my character."

He also invoked the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and asserted that this coming election is "not solely about Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It’s about the promise of America."

Scott, who has called some of the President's tweets "indefensible" and "racially offensive," criticized cancel culture and boasted the economic opportunities for minorities he said were made possible by Trump and the Republican agenda.

He also sought to cast Biden as a president who would not defend minority communities, bringing up Biden's support for a 1994 crime bill often blamed for disparities in the US criminal justice system, and criticizing his inaction to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Biden and his vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, "want a cultural revolution" that's "a fundamentally different America" which will look like "a socialist utopia," Scott said.

The South Carolina senator concluded by speaking about his grandfather, who was forced out of school to pick cotton.

"Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime," Scott said. "There are millions of families like mine across this nation...full of potential seeking to live the American dream. And I’m here tonight to tell you that supporting the Republican ticket gives you the best chance of making that dream a reality

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Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. Republican National Convention

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan claimed that Democrats were trying to confiscate US citizens' guns.

“They’re also trying to take away your guns,” Jordan said.

Facts First: Some Democrats have supported a mandatory gun confiscation buy-back. Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, instead supports a voluntary buy-back program.

Along with banning the “manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” Biden’s plan includes mandating that people who own assault weapons either sell theirs to the federal government or properly register them with the authorities.

Donald Trump Jr. Republican National convention

Donald Trump Jr. claimed that Joe Biden had called President Donald Trump a racist and xenophobe for having imposed travel restrictions on China.

Facts First: Biden did accuse Trump of “xenophobia” in an Iowa campaign speech the same day, Jan. 31, that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced the Trump administration’s travel restrictions on China – but it was not clear if Biden was even aware of the travel restrictions at the time, and his campaign says he wasn’t. Biden first took a firm position on the travel restrictions in early April, when he expressed support for them.

Biden said on Jan. 31 that “this is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia — hysterical xenophobia — and fear-mongering to lead the way instead of science.” But he did not specifically mention the travel restrictions in that address. 

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Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate Sean Parnell. Republican National Convention

Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate Sean Parnell spoke at the Republican National Convention on Monday, saying he believes in “our President’s vision for the future.”

“I look across the aisle and I do not see a party that wants you to pursue your dreams. I see a Democrat party that wants to dictate what those dreams are. I don’t see a party that wants you to be free. I see a party that wants to chain you to conformity and will destroy anyone they deem a heretic,” Parnell said. 

Parnell is running against Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb, who has been representing Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District since 2019.

A veteran who served in Afghanistan, Parnell said, “I swore an oath to defend my country and its Constitution. President Trump has sworn to do the same. That is why he has advanced freedom despite savage political attacks to overcome the agenda of the radical left.”

Parnell urged Americans to vote for Trump in November, saying, “It doesn’t matter what you look like, who you love, how you worship, your gender or your job. If you’re a traditional Democrat who has become disillusioned with how radical your party has become, then stand with us. You are most welcome.”

“America needs all her patriots to rush to her defense,” Parnell said. 

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise. Republican National Convention

Top Congressional Republicans attacked the Democrats on police funding.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan implied Democrats want to “defund the police” and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said “The left wants to defund the police."

Facts First: While some Democrats have joined calls for a radical shift in police policy, including a reduction in police budgets, top congressional Democrats and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have not supported calls to “defund the police.”

Biden’s published criminal justice plan called for a $300 million investment in community policing efforts – including the hiring of more officers. 

On June 8, Biden told CBS, “No, I don’t support defunding the police,” Rather, he said, “I support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat of Maryland, told CNN, “Defunding police departments are not the answer.” House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline and Karen Bass have also spoken out about the phrase, CNN reported in June. 

It’s worth noting that the slogan “defund the police” means different things to different activists – from the dissolution of police forces to partial reductions in funding. 

Trump’s campaign has seized on a single comment Biden made to a progressive activist in a July video chat. In that conversation, Biden repeated his opposition to defunding police. When pressed, he did say he "absolutely" agrees that some funding can be redirected to social services, mental health counseling and affordable housing, but he immediately transitioned to his previous proposal to deny federal funding to specific police departments that do not meet certain standards. Biden said in early June that decisions about funding levels should be made by local communities, since some have too many officers but some don’t have enough.  

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. Republican National Convention

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said allegations that the country is racist are personal to her, and she used her remarks before the Republican National Convention to praise the leadership of President Donald Trump while noting that "America is a work in progress."

"America is a work in progress, now it's time to make America even for your, and better forever," she said.

Haley went on to slam the Democratic Party for "turning a blind eye toward riots and rage."

"The American people know we can do better, and of course we value and respect every Black life. The Black cops who have been shot in the line of duty, they matter. The Black small business owners who have watched their lives work go up in flames, they matter. The Black kids who have been gunned down on the playground, their lives matter too. And their lives are being ruined and stolen by the violence on our streets. It doesn't have to be like this," Haley said.

Haley said that with Trump as president, "we will build on the progress of our past and unlock the promise of our future."

"America is not perfect but the principles we hold dear are perfect. There is one thing I've learned, it's that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America. It's time to keep that blessing alive for the next generation. This President and this party are committed to that noble task," Haley.

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