President Trump accepts Republican nomination, attacks Biden on foreign policy, trade and economy
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump formally accepted his party’s nomination for a second term Thursday in a scorching address from the White House in which he sought to defend his record on the pandemic while tearing down Democrat Joe Biden – sometimes inaccurately – as a “weak” instrument of his party’s left-wing.
"Joe Biden is not a savior of America's soul," Trump asserted during roughly 70 minutes of remarks. "He is the destroyer of America's jobs."
Mostly sticking to prepared remarks, Trump’s unusual acceptance speech at the White House at times had the feel of one of his campaign rallies: A crowd of some 1,500 gathered to hear him speak. But the president resisted his urge to veer off message, moving linearly as he framed his agenda – and tried to define Biden’s.
In a blistering series of attacks, Trump accused Biden of being a "Trojan horse for socialism," and reiterated claims that Democrats, if brought to power, would "demolish the suburbs" and "wipe away your Second Amendment."
While Democrats have moved to the left, Biden won his party’s nomination by staking out a centrist platform on health care, taxes and other issues.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
Read live RNC coverage:Trump formally accepts nomination during convention speech
“We understand that America is not a land that’s cloaked in darkness. America is the torch that lights the entire world,” Trump said. "This towering America spirit has prevailed over every challenge and lifted us to the summit of human endeavors."
'The results speak for themselves':What Ivanka Trump and her siblings said about their father at the RNC
Among the most noted lines of Biden’s own acceptance speech last week came when he promised to deliver the nation out of division, arguing that Trump “has cloaked America in darkness for much too long.”
"If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst," Biden said. "I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness."
Trump went after that line twice on Thursday. He accused Democrats of having an agenda so radical that they couldn’t talk about it at their convention.
"Joe Biden may claim he is an ally of the light," he said. "But when it comes to his agenda, Biden wants to keep us completely in the dark."
Biden aides dismissed the address as divorced from the reality of Trump's administration.
“Instead of a strategy to overcome the pandemic, or any concern for the unbearable suffering in our country right now as a result of his ongoing failures, what we heard was a delusional vision completely divorced from the crushing reality that ordinary Americans face," Biden campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said in a statement.
Americans, Bedingfield said, "know the truth about Trump’s crisis-plagued presidency because they are living it every single day."
'All lives matter to us':Rudy Giuliani slams anti-police brutality protests in RNC speech
Trump also attacked a centerpiece of Biden’s convention last week : The effort made by several speakers to convince voters of the candidate's his empathy.
Trump criticized Biden for voting for the North American Free Trade Agreement and for supporting China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Those "Biden calamities," he said, cost the nation manufacturing jobs.
"The laid off workers in Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and many other states didn't want to hear Biden's hollow words of empathy,” he said, “they wanted their jobs back."
Those who like Trump's speech said it had strong lines defending his record and warning undecided voters of the consequences of a Biden victory.
Pollster Frank Luntz, who attended the speech on the South Lawn, cited Trump's line questioning "how can the Democrat party lead our country when they spend so much time tearing down our country.” It was the kind of catchy phrase that not only drew applause but that had also been largely absent from both conventions.
"That's memorable," Luntz said. "That’s powerful."
Critics found Trump's delivery slow and plodding.
"It's disjointed and long," said Tim Miller, political director of a group called Republican Voters Against Trump. "And aimed at winning back people that he's lost – not winning over anyone new. "
.