President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president on Aug. 27 as part of the culminating speech at the Republican National Convention.
The acceptance is a formality since Trump has been the presumptive Republican nominee since his inauguration in January 2017. Vice President Mike Pence accepted his nomination in a speech at Fort McHenry in Maryland the day before.
“I stand before you tonight honored by your support, proud of the extraordinary progress we’ve made together over the last four incredible years and brimming with confidence in the bright future we will build for America over the next four years,” Trump said before an audience outside the White House.
“My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States.”
The incumbent president delivered a scathing critique of the far-left policies Democrat nominee Joe Biden has embraced during the 2020 campaign. In the weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention, the former vice president formally merged his campaign platform with that of Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
“At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas,” Trump is expected to say later in the speech, according to his campaign.
“We have spent the last four years reversing the damage Joe Biden inflicted over the last 47 years. At the Democrat convention, you barely heard a word about their agenda. But that’s not because they don’t have one. It’s because their agenda is the most extreme set of proposals ever put forward by a major party nominee.”
With the exception of the live-audience speeches by Trump, Pence, and First Lady Melania Trump, the rest of the Republican National Convention was held in form of remote speeches or remarks before an empty audience in Washington due to concerns about the spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.
Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to the speech by blaming the CCP virus pandemic on Trump.
“As the worst public health crisis in 100 years spread like wildfire, he disregarded warnings from his own experts and cited Chinese government propaganda to justify his inaction. Even after his botched response has cost over 180,000 Americans their lives, he still has no plan to overcome the coronavirus and he has doubled down on trying to take healthcare coverage away from tens of millions of people,” Bates said, according to Politico.
In addition to highlighting his accomplishments, Trump struck an inspirational note at a time when the United States is recovering from the economic plunge prompted by the lockdown meant to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“The Republican Party goes forward united, determined, and ready to welcome millions of Democrats, independents, and anyone who believes in the Greatness of America and the righteous heart of the American people,” the president is expected to say later in the speech.
“This towering American spirit has prevailed over every challenge, and lifted us to the summit of human endeavor.”
With the Republican and Democratic conventions concluded, Trump and Biden will next face each other in a series of three debates. The first debate is scheduled for Sept. 29 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Debates on Oct. 15 and 22 will follow in Miami and Nashville respectively.
