Good morning, Minnesota. President Trump rallied supporters at the Twin Cities and Mankato airports yesterday ahead of the first night of the virtual Democratic National Convention.

“It’s up to us to carry on the fight for justice”: A moment of silence for George Floyd at DNC. Floyd’s brothers, Philonise and Rodney Floyd, led the silent tribute at the convention last night. “George should be alive today. Breonna Taylor should be alive today. Ahmaud Arbery should be alive today. … They should all be alive today,” said Philonise Floyd. 

Several Republicans made “rare” appearances on DNC last night, too. That includes  Ohio’s former Republican Gov. John Kasich, among other notable GOP figures like Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and Susan Molinari, a former GOP congresswoman who spoke at the 1996 Republican convention. “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. ... In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times,” said Kasich of why he decided to take part in the convention. 

More highlights of the first night of the Democratic convention:

• Michelle Obama: The former first lady closed out the night, denouncing President Trump’s lack of “empathy.”

• Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator called for an “ unprecedented response” to defeat Trump in November

• Kristin Urquiza, Arizona woman whose dad died of COVID-19: “His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.”

• Voting by mail is “our only realistic option”: The DNC sought to ally itself with seniors, showing a video montage of grandparents who said they are alarmed that their prescription medicines and benefit checks could be held up by the changes. 

You can watch last night’s DNC here. Tonight, the presidential roll call vote will take place, and the second night of the convention will also feature speeches from Jill Biden, Bill Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Watch or listen live to tonight’s DNC on MPR News. 

Meanwhile in Minnesota, Trump touted his trade policy, invited business owners hit by riots.During his campaign stops at the Twin Cities and Mankato airports  Monday, the president credited his tariff and trade policies with aiding Minnesota farmers, manufacturers and miners on the state’s Iron Range, and also heard from business owners in the Twin Cities about the aftermath and the need for federal help to rebuild businesses. Trump called his rival Biden a “puppet of left-wing extremists trying to erase our borders, eliminate our police,” urging Minnesota voters to “not let this happen.” 

Is our economy really the greatest in history, as Trump claims? We did a fact-check on his remarks yesterday. Among other talking points from the president’s speech  on Monday: Did his tariffs help the Iron Range “come roaring back to life?” Is our economy really recovering from the pandemic-driven recession? Our political editor Mike Mulcahy, reporter Brian Bakst and economics correspondent Chris Farrell fact-checked and analyzed some of what the president had to say in Minnesota.