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It was a stunning scene in a country where parents and children have been laid to rest without their loved ones present, schools have gone to online-only learning and businesses have shut their doors to halt the spread of the coronavirus. On Thursday night, about 1,500 people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House so President Donald Trump could accept his party’s nomination for reelection in front of a roaring crowd. Masks were not required and chairs were placed inches apart from one another, with no room for social distancing, in violation of endless public health recommendations. Only those the White House expected to be in “close proximity” to the president and vice president had been tested for COVID-19. (Colvin, 8/28)

President Donald Trump on Thursday presented a picture of America recognized mostly by his fiercest supporters. He boasted that a coronavirus vaccine would be ready by year’s end “or maybe even sooner,” even though scientists are uncertain about that pledge. He pushed businesses and schools to open, even though many still cannot do so safely. He promoted yet another “powerful” treatment — convalescent plasma — even though doctors caution the evidence is still developing. He boasted about low fatality rates, even though roughly 1,000 people are still dying of Covid-19 each day. (Kumar, 8/28)

UFC President Dana White praised President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic during his address at the Republican National Convention on Thursday. White started his speech by blasting calls to defund the police and voicing support for first responders. "Come on America! Defunding these vital positions is not the answer," he said. "The first responders have always taken care of us and now more than ever we need to take care of them." (Seipel, 8/27)

Kaiser Health News and PolitiFact: Pence Praises Trump’s ‘Seamless’ COVID Response, Leaves Out His State Feuds  

Vice President Mike Pence portrayed his boss, President Donald Trump, as a leader who has reached out across the aisle to help during the coronavirus pandemic. “President Trump marshaled the full resources of the federal government and directed us to forge a seamless partnership with governors across America in both parties,” Pence said during his speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention. (Greenberg, Sherman and Knight, 8/27)

Kaiser Health News and PolitiFact: Republican Convention, Day 3: Revisionist History 

In accepting the Republican Party nomination Wednesday night, Vice President Mike Pence accurately recounted the history of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, and how a failed British bombardment in 1814 helped inspire Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Pence’s claims about the Trump administration as well as his attacks on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, on the other hand, were sometimes misleading, incomplete or wrong. (8/27)

President Trump celebrated his renomination Thursday with a crowded party at the White House that offered a jarring contrast with a nation that is still widely shut down over fears of the coronavirus pandemic whose spread remains uncontrolled. More than 1,500 supporters poured onto the South Lawn for his formal acceptance speech to cap the Republican National Convention, and most were not wearing masks, even though they were seated closely together in white folding chairs. (Nakamura and Dawsey, 8/27)

Hundreds of people packed the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday for President Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, flouting federal and local health guidance on the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly 1,500 guests are expected to attend, a Trump campaign official said, with lawmakers, congressional candidates, administration officials and first responders among them. Seats were mere inches apart, and few guests were spotted wearing masks in the hours before Trump took the stage. (Samuels, 8/27)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris lambasted President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in a speech Thursday designed to prebut Trump's own appearance at the Republican National Convention hours later. Ticking through what she characterized as Trump's early missteps, she said: "Donald Trump froze. He was scared. And he was petty and vindictive. "She said Trump was "fixated on the stock market" and "caved" to the Chinese government. (Merica, Lee, Bradner and Diaz, 8/27)