Top takeaways as Trump talks Biden, coronavirus and race relations at Republican National Convention
Donald Trump took aim at Joe Biden, played down coronavirus and spoke about race relations during the last night of the Republican National Convention.
Accepting his party’s nomination for president, the US President warned voters the country would face economic ruin if the Democratic nomination, Mr Biden, was elected in November.
Here are some of the top takeaways from Mr Trump’s speech from the outside the White House.
Trump strikes a familiar tone with attacks on Biden
Mr Trump warned that the American way life would be under threat if Joe Biden and the Democrats seize control of the White House in the upcoming election.
He said the Second Amendment, which gives Americans the right to bear arms, would be taken away and that Mr Biden would wreak havoc in leafy suburbs.
“If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other Constitutional freedoms,” Trump said.
He has been intent on labelling Biden, who is considered a moderate Democrat, as an extreme leftist, warning that socialist policies would ruin the country.
Trump said: “Joe Biden may claim he is an ally of the light, but when it comes to his agenda, Biden wants to keep you completely in the dark.”
Trump defies his own administration’s guidelines on coronavirus
While Covid-19 kills more than 1,000 Americans a day, that did not stop around 1,500 people piling onto the South Lawn of the White House to watch Trump’s address to the nation.
Trump spoke to supporters for more than an hour to a tightly packed, largely maskless crowd.
The US has been the hardest hit nation in the world by coronavirus, with more than 6 million infections and 184,000 deaths.
The GOP and Trump’s campaign transformed the White House grounds of the South Lawn into an outdoor convention hall, complete with a grand stage, massive Trump signs, rows of white chairs and a blur of American flags, notwithstanding the federal law that prohibits the use of taxpayer resources for partisan politics.
To top it off, masks were not required, chairs were placed close together, with no room for social distancing, and many attendees had not been tested for Covid-19.
‘I’ve done more for the African-American community than any President since Abraham Lincoln’
Race relations in the US continues to be a hot topic across the political aisle.
The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and most recently Jacob Blake have once again shone a light on an uncomfortable problem within US society, with the Democrats and the Republicans each blaming one another.
Trump and the Republicans frequently denounce Black Lives Matter as an organisation designed to sow disharmony amongst American society, while Biden and the Democrats cite Trump’s rhetoric for increased tensions between different ethnic communities.
At Thursday’s Republican National Convention, it was Trump’s turn yet again to extol the virtues of his record as President.
“I’ve done more for the African-American community than any President since Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican President,” Trump boasted to large cheers from those in attendance outside the White House lawn.
“And I have done more in three years for the black community than Joe Biden has done in 47 years.
“When I’m reelected, the best is yet to come.”
Trump vows to rebuild US economy and Make America Great Again. Again
Coronavirus has had a profound impact on the US, not only on human life, but also the economy.
Millions have been left unemployed by the crisis but Trump offered an optimistic outlook for the future if he wins another four years.
He mocked his opponent’s record and famous empathy, suggesting that “laid off workers in Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania” don’t want Joe Biden’s "hollow words of empathy, they wanted their jobs back”.
In 2016, Trump famously vowed to Make America Great Again following eight years under Barack Obama and the Democrats.
And while he’s been in office for four years now, the coronavirus pandemic has put the US economy in reverse, but Trump’s message remains the same as 2016.