Here is what to expect on Day 1 of the Republican Convention and what Trump will be doing
WASHINGTON – The Republicans open their virtual convention Monday, and President Donald Trump marks the occasion by traveling to the battleground state of North Carolina.
Trump lands in Charlotte, N.C. – where Republican officials have been holding meetings all weekend – and is expected to thank delegates after they vote to formally re-nominate him for a second term.
Then it's on to Asheville, N.C., to appear with daughter Ivanka Trump at an event to highlight an administration food delivery program.
The virtual Republican convention – first set for Charlotte, but pulled because of the spread of the coronavirus – starts in the evening, with speakers to include Republican lawmakers and probably Trump himself.
"President Trump’s 2020 Convention will honor the great American story, the American people that have written it, and how President Donald J. Trump's Make America Great Again agenda has empowered them to succeed," the campaign said in a statement.
Who is talking today?
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel
Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones
Amy Johnson Ford
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Natalie Harp
Charlie Kirk
Kim Klacik
Mark and Patricia McCloskey
Sean Parnell
Andrew Pollack
Donald Trump Jr.
When will Trump talk?
Planners said they expect Trump to appear every night of the convention, leading up to his formal acceptance speech from the White House on Thursday night.
Convention activities begin Monday at 9 a.m. EST in Charlotte with a Republican National Committee meeting for the purpose of nominating Trump.
The virtual online convention is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The president's party convenes online as he trails Democrat Joe Biden in most pre-election polls; the president and allies said they will use the proceedings to promote their record and warn Americans about the consequences of a Democratic victory in the polls.
"I'm the only thing standing between the American dream and total anarchy, madness, and chaos," Trump told supporters last week in previewing what will likely be a rhetorically aggressive convention.
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Biden and the Democrats.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, predicted that Trump will "do what he always does, lie, scare, divide, distract and make the week all about himself.”
The overall theme of the Republican convention is “Honoring the Great American Story,” officials said, with each night devoted to a different chapter.
There is the “Land of Promise" (Monday), “Land of Opportunity" (Tuesday), “Land of Heroes" (Wednesday), and "Land of Greatness" (Thursday, the night Trump speaks from the White House).
Monday's agenda features GOP lawmakers like Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the only Black Republican in the Senate, and House members Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Jim Jordan of Ohio. Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, also plans to speak.
High-profile supporters on Day 1
The convention's opening night also features high-profile supporters who plan to discuss different Trump policies.
They include Tanya Weinreis, a Montana coffee shop owner who received federal loans to keep paying her employees during the coronavirus outbreak, and Andrew Pollack, a gun-rights supporter who lost his daughter in the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
More: Who's speaking at the RNC? What we know about the newly released lineup.
Trump himself is expected to make a virtual appearance at the convention after a day of activity in North Carolina, a pivotal state in the fall election.
Four years ago, Trump won the Tar Heel State – and its 15 electoral votes – by less than four percentage points over Hillary Clinton. Current surveys give Trump a tiny lead over Biden, just 0.61 percentage points according to the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls.
Charlotte was supposed to be the site of the convention. But the Republicans pulled it after the state government refused to lift restrictions on mass gatherings because of the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
The GOP then made plans for convention events in Jacksonville, Fla., but pulled those as well because of a spike in coronavirus cases in Florida, forcing plans for a virtual convention based mostly in Washington, D.C., and beyond.
On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence accepts his re-nomination with a speech at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, site of the battle during the War of 1812 that inspired the writing of The Star-Spangled Banner.
Expect the White House to make an appearance
First lady Melania Trump will speak from the new landscaped Rose Garden.
Some 1,000 invited guests are expected to gather on the South Lawn of the White House for Trump's acceptance speech on Thursday – much to the consternation of public interest groups who say the Executive Mansion and national parks should not be put to political uses.
"No President and Vice President have ever abused our national parks for political purposes in this way," said Norman Eisen, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution.
Jordan Libowitz, communications director with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, said the organization will see how things unfold before deciding whether to file some sort of complaint.
"Giving a political speech of this magnitude and visibility on the White House grounds creates the appearance that it's a government-sanctioned event, something multiple laws were written to avoid," Libowitz said.
Trump's plans to address the convention every night also drew catcalls.
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, now an opponent of the president, likened the convention plans to "a one-man Broadway show," with Trump thinking it is always abot him, "and that he alone can win without anyone’s help."
How to watch
USA TODAY will stream each night of the convention, and will provide live coverage and analysis as events unfold.
ABC, CBS and NBC will air convention coverage each night beginning at 10 p.m. EST. PBS and CNN begin their coverage at 8 p.m., MSNBC begins at 7 p.m. Fox News' official coverage starts at 10 p.m., but hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity will likely cover the RNC in the two hours before.
The official livestream of the convention will also be available on Amazon Prime, Facebook, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RNC: What to expect on Day 1 of the Republican Convention
