Hey there, it's the MPR Politics Podcast on Susan Davis. I cover Congress. I'm Tamer

Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Franco Ordonia as I also cover the White House.

And I'm Mara Lianson, National and Political Correspondent.

And it is 12.26 a.m. on Friday, August 28th. And the Republican National Convention

has officially come to a close. President Trump closed the night with a lengthy acceptance

speech. My fellow Americans tonight with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism.

I profoundly accept this nomination for President of the United States.

Tam, you're still there at the White House. You were there for the speech. What was it like?

Well I haven't been around this many people in a long time. I'm really long time. It

made me sweat a little bit watching it on TV. Yeah. Yeah.

It was even more fun there. I mean, I had my N95 mask and kept my social distance. But

the people that were actually there to attend the event and were active participants in it

were seated in rows and rows of white chairs separated by maybe 12 inches if you're lucky.

I mean, there were about 1500 people there. This did not look like a COVID-19 setup. It

looked like a very large event on the South Lawn of the White House, which in and of itself

is unprecedented for a convention speech. I mean, it was converted into a convention set.

Yeah. It really was kind of like a Trump campaign on the South Lawn of the White House.

I was really floored, especially at the end when they started shooting up the fireworks and

seeing those big from behind those overhead shots, wide shots and seeing everybody on

the White House, all the colors, and then seeing in fireworks, Trump 2020. It was startling

up. And you know, some of the hairs, you know, probably went up on the back of my neck,

just thinking about the idea of separation between government and campaign.

...