Republicans nominated President Trump as their candidate at a scaled-back convention in North Carolina and Washington, with the president and his allies offering ominous warnings about electing Democrats in November.
Throughout the daylong, two-city event Monday, speaker after speaker praised the president—particularly for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economy—and conjured images of riots in the street, an uptick in crime and a flood of policies that could bankrupt taxpayers if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins. The tone at times contrasted with the uplifting message that Mr. Trump’s campaign said would characterize the event, though it ended with more positive remarks from two high-profile speakers.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, used a Monday-afternoon speech in Charlotte, N.C., to again question the accuracy of mail-in voting.
“The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election,” Mr. Trump said, alleging that Democrats were trying to steal the presidency. He added that he doesn’t believe it would be possible to accurately count mail-in ballots.
In Charlotte, where Mr. Trump was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, more than 300 delegates gathered for a unanimous roll-call vote on their nominations, underscoring the grip the president has on a party that only four years ago harbored deep reservations about his candidacy.
The action then shifted to an auditorium in Washington, D.C., for a prime-time event featuring two high-profile speakers: Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Mr. Scott concluded the night with remarks that focused on his family’s story, offering it as an example of American opportunity.
“Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” said Mr. Scott, who is Black. “And that’s why I believe the next American century can be better than the last.”
President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on the first day of the convention.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Associated PressMs. Haley, who is viewed by some Republicans as a potential future GOP presidential candidate, criticized Mr. Biden on several fronts, particularly foreign policy.
“Joe Biden is good for Iran and ISIS, great for communist China, and he is a godsend to everyone who wants America to apologize, abstain and abandon our values,” she said. Ms. Haley, an Indian-American, also argued that the U.S. isn’t a racist nation, calling the country “a work in progress.”
The president played a central role in the proceedings, speaking to delegates in Charlotte and later appearing in a pair of videos from the White House.
Mr. Trump’s aides said he is expected to appear every night of the four-day event, breaking with past conventions, in which the candidate was mostly confined to accepting the nomination in a tightly choreographed speech. The president was involved in planning the event and encouraged his advisers to make it flashier than last week’s Democratic convention, aides said.
The president has been contending with a coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the U.S. and jeopardized his re-election chances, with polls showing him trailing Mr. Biden.
At the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium—a federal site near the Trump International Hotel in Washington that served as a hub for Monday night’s proceedings—speakers cast Mr. Trump as a hero who saved the country from Democratic policies.
And they warned that Mr. Biden would undo it all.
“Biden’s radical left-wing policies would stop our economic recovery cold,” Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, said.
“What you saw happen to us could just as easily happen to any of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our country,” said Patricia McCloskey, who along with her husband was charged with felonies for waving guns at a group of Black Lives Matter protesters outside their St. Louis home.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey speaking from St. Louis on Monday.
Photo: RNC/Associated PressThe most impassioned speech of the night came from Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and campaign adviser, who shouted parts of her speech. “Ladies and gentleman, leaders and fighters for freedom and liberty and the American dream: The best is yet to come!” she said.
Monday’s proceedings had none of the intrigue of the 2016 GOP convention, in which a small group of Mr. Trump’s opponents unsuccessfully sought to complicate his nomination. Soon after the 2018 midterm elections, the Trump campaign set up a delegate-focused team that worked to avoid the 2016 drama by ensuring state Republican officials across the country were supportive of the president.
In their four-day virtual convention last week, Democrats sought to make the case that Mr. Trump is unfit for the job, while emphasizing Mr. Biden’s personal story and reaching out to a broad coalition of voters.
Republican delegates, in contrast, appealed largely to Mr. Trump’s base, using a series of early Monday speeches to criticize 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and warn of the alleged consequences of Mr. Biden’s policy agenda. One delegate asserted that the former vice president would impose regulations that would “put us under the yoke of bondage once again.”
“Tonight was dark,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said in an email to supporters. “In the backdrop of a pandemic, when so many in this country are suffering, Republicans just spent the first night of their convention touting the ‘accomplishments’ of a president who has failed the test of leadership at nearly every turn.”
The Monday-evening portion of the GOP event featured a variety of speakers, including a public-school teacher, a small-business owner, a surgeon and a nurse practitioner.
During a largely unscripted speech earlier Monday that echoed campaign addresses he made around the country last week, Mr. Trump defended his handling of the pandemic, criticized North Carolina’s Democratic governor for safety rules that prevented a larger gathering and complained that cable news wasn’t carrying the entirety of the roll-call vote.
The president also portrayed Democrats as lawless socialists who would plunge the nation into chaos, while arguing that he helped build a strong economy before the pandemic led to a recession.
“We were going in a direction like we had never seen,” he said, adding: “Everybody was doing well and we were actually coming together. You know success brings people together, maybe better than anything else.”
Mr. Trump began his speech by repeatedly raising questions about whether the election would be fair.
Studies haven’t found widespread voter fraud, though there have been isolated cases linked to mailed ballots. Research isn’t definitive on whether voting by mail benefits one party more than the other.
At least nine states and the District of Columbia plan to mail ballots to all registered voters this fall. Five—Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah—had existing mail-in voting programs. The others—California, New Jersey, Nevada and Vermont—are doing so in response to the pandemic. Most states will allow any voter to request a by-mail ballot. A handful of states restrict voting by mail to those who meet special criteria, such as being out of town on Election Day.
Republicans hope to use the convention events to refocus voters on what they see as key achievements of the president and plan to highlight everyday people who represent policy and social issues.
Delegates awaited the arrival of President Trump after voting to confirm him as the Republican presidential nominee in Charlotte.
Photo: Carlos Barria/ReutersThe proceedings Monday in Charlotte took place with participants seated at a distance at long tables draped with blue bunting and marked for each state.
While wearing masks was required, many delegates didn’t do so as they chatted ahead of the event. The group was subject to strict safety guidelines because of the pandemic, including mandatory testing and daily health checks. Chairs throughout the ballroom were distanced.
Both parties were forced to rethink their roll call of the states, which typically happens on the convention floor in a raucous, celebratory fashion. The Democrats took theirs online, offering a montage of people in their states, appearing before traditional backdrops, such as the Iowans in corn fields, while Republicans sought a way to keep their roll call a live event.
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By keeping the event in a convention center ballroom, the Republican version of the roll-call vote lacked some of the visual sweep that Democrats achieved on screen, though the Republican event offered the drama of presidential remarks.
Ahead of the convention, Democrats released a list of former GOP lawmakers endorsing Mr. Biden, including former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who has been a vocal critic of the president.
Campaign aides said the Republican event, airing from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time on a variety of streaming platforms from Monday through Thursday, will offer more live programming, particularly in the 10 p.m. hour, than the Democratic one. The rest of the week’s proceedings will mostly take place around Washington.
The president had pushed to keep a flashy in-person convention even after the virus took hold. Earlier in the summer, he moved the bulk of the proceedings from the designated host city of Charlotte to Jacksonville, Fla., in the hope that gathering there would face fewer restrictions. But after cases began to tick up in that state, he announced that he was calling it off there as well.
Corrections & Amplifications
Former Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Mr. Flake had endorsed President Trump. (Corrected on Aug. 24)
Write to Catherine Lucey at catherine.lucey@wsj.com and Andrew Restuccia at Andrew.Restuccia@wsj.com
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