CORONAVIRUS AN AFTERTHOUGHT AS RNC OPENS 

WASHINGTON — There were no scenes of cheering crowds, delegates pressed together, waving American flags or “Make America Great Again” posters. Most of the speeches that opened the Republican National Convention on Monday evening did not even take place in Charlotte, N.C. They were instead broadcast from an auditorium in Washington, D.C., where the marble walls and dramatic lighting only accentuated each speaker’s solitude.

President Trump had wanted to hold at least part of the RNC in person in Jacksonville, Fla., but the continued spread of the coronavirus forced him to change those plans. The pandemic presented not only a logistical inconvenience but a thematic one, leaving Trump and his supporters to make the case that it was morning in America again, and not another morning filled with grim fatality statistics and lockdown updates.

Donald Trump, Donald Trump are posing for a picture: President Trump speaks Monday during the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. (Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)© Provided by Yahoo! News President Trump speaks Monday during the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. (Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)