JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden traded barbs today
on the racial unrest gripping the nation just hours before the president's final convention
address from the White House tonight.
Amna Nawaz begins our convention coverage, starting with a recap of last night.
AMNA NAWAZ: For the third night in a row, Republicans, like Democrats before them, used
their convention stage to argue, the soul of the nation is at stake.
MIKE PENCE, Vice President of the United States: Not so much whether America will be more conservative
or more liberal, more Republican or more Democrat. The choice in this election is whether America
remains America.
AMNA NAWAZ: Vice President Pence delivered his keynote address before a mostly unmasked
crowd at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.
As the U.S. COVID-19 death toll topped 178,000, he hailed the federal response and presented
an optimistic view of the ongoing pandemic.
MIKE PENCE: After all the sacrifice in this year like no other, all the hardship, we are
finding our way forward again.
AMNA NAWAZ: While racial justice protests roiled communities after the police shooting
of another black man, Jacob Blake, Pence and the party doubled down on their message of
law and order.
MIKE PENCE: The hard truth is, you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America. Under President
Trump, we will always stand with those who stand on the thin blue line, and we're not
going to defund the police, not now, not ever.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
AMNA NAWAZ: And as league after league of professional athletes boycotted games in response
to Blake's shooting...
MADISON CAWTHORN (R), North Carolina Congressional Candidate: You can kneel before God, but stand
for our flag.
AMNA NAWAZ: Madison Cawthorn, a North Carolina congressional candidate who is partially paralyzed,
delivered this message to those who kneel during the national anthem.
MADISON CAWTHORN: Be a radical for freedom, be a radical for liberty, and be a radical
for our republic, for which I stand, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.
AMNA NAWAZ: Republicans this week have featured a number of black speakers.
CLARENCE HENDERSON, Frederick Douglass Foundation of North Carolina: It was the Republican Party
that passed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery.
AMNA NAWAZ: Messaging their support for the president and his party.
CLARENCE HENDERSON: Donald Trump truly cares about black lives. His policies show his heart.
He has done more for black Americans in four years than Joe Biden has done in 50.
AMNA NAWAZ: Last night's programming leaned heavily into the theme of patriotism and national
security.
MAN: He's always there trying to take care of veterans.
AMNA NAWAZ: Honoring military service members and featuring several veterans.
And on the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, Republicans' appeals to
them forged on. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany shared a deeply personal
account of her mastectomy, and why she's supporting Mr. Trump.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, White House Press Secretary: I have a 9-month-old daughter. She's a beautiful,
sweet little girl. And I choose to work for this president for her.
AMNA NAWAZ: Senior adviser to the president Kellyanne Conway said the president has empowered
the women around him.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, Counselor to President Trump: For decades, he has elevated women to senior
positions in business and in government. He confides in and consults us, respects our
opinions, and insists that we are on equal footing with the men.
AMNA NAWAZ: The Republican National Convention rolls into its final night with another norm-shattering
event. President Trump will deliver his remarks from the White House to some 1,500 attendees.
Meanwhile, today, Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris claimed a
Biden presidency would better tackle the pandemic.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), Vice Presidential Candidate: Trump still doesn't have a plan.
He still doesn't have a plan.
Joe Biden released his first plan in March. He's got a national strategy. He's more than
ready to lead. Every month since March, as this pandemic has unfolded, Joe Biden has
updated the steps he would take to save American lives.
AMNA NAWAZ: And on MSNBC, Biden himself charged, the Trump administration is using the moment's
many uncertainties to its advantage.
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential Candidate: He views this as a political benefit to him.
You know, he's rooting for more violence, not less, and is clear about that.
And what's he doing? He's pouring gasoline on the fire. And you want to end where we
are now, we have got to end his tenure as president.
AMNA NAWAZ: But speaking today, the president said authorities must squash the demonstrations.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: If they request that we send in the National
Guard, they will be there instantaneously, and we will put out the fire, we will put
out the flame, we will put out the vandalism, because the vandalism and the looting is ridiculous.
AMNA NAWAZ: On this, the last night of 2020's unconventional virtual conventions, President
Trump will make his case for American voters to give him four more years.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Amna Nawaz.