Four years ago, Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president by offering himself as the only figure capable of fixing a broken, demoralized country.
On Thursday night, in front of about 1,500 supporters at the White House, he offered himself as the bulwark against the chaos and disorder threatening his vision of America.
“Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators, and criminals who threaten our citizens,” he said. “And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it.”
He delivered his remarks from a flag-festooned stage on the South Lawn of the White House. The floodlit building behind him made for a majestic setting, but it brought accusations that he was exploiting the “People’s House” for political purposes in a breach of ethics regulations.
The tension was audible around the edges of the lawn, where protesters’ chants, their foghorns, and police sirens could be heard, providing an audible reminder of the challenges Trump faces if he is to overturn a deep poll deficit. A country still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic was on Thursday facing a hurricane that slammed into the Gulf Coast, following fresh bouts of street violence after a black man was shot by police in Wisconsin.
Opponents say Trump is uniquely unsuited to uniting the country in times of uncertainty. But the president tried to turn the argument around by accusing Joe Biden of being a tool of the Left.
“Joe Biden is not the savior of America’s soul — he is the destroyer of America’s jobs, and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness,” he said.
Republicans had billed the convention as an opportunity to present voters with a choice between a president who had delivered on his promises and a challenger who threatened to undermine law and order, concede standing and power to China, and fail to protect American history.
Yet they could not contend with a mercurial president who put himself at the center of each night’s programming. He began the week with a surprise visit to delegates conducting party business in Charlotte, North Carolina, upending coverage with a speech accusing Democrats of trying to steal the election. And on Wednesday, he dropped in on Fort McHenry, where the vice president delivered his acceptance speech.
The risk is that voters are left with the impression that the election is a referendum on Trump and his handling of a pandemic that has killed 175,000 people.
Five hours before the president was due to take the stage, the White House announced the purchase of 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests, to be distributed around the country.
The president promised to have a vaccine ready this year and contrasted his administration’s approach with Biden’s demand for more shutdowns.
“The cost of the Biden shutdown would be measured in increased drug overdoses, depression, alcohol addiction, suicides, heart attacks, economic devastation, job loss, and much more. Joe Biden’s plan is not a solution to the virus, but rather, it’s a surrender to the virus,” he said.
He spoke for about 70 minutes in front of a largely maskless audience.
But it was the specter of disorder that fueled Trump’s strongest passages and that brought the audience to its feet. He introduced “brave” border agents, the children of a fallen police officer, and the family of a retired officer killed by looters.
“If the radical Left takes power, they will apply their disastrous policies to every city, town, and suburb in America,” he said in a disciplined performance that stuck largely to script. “Just imagine if the so-called peaceful demonstrators in the streets were in charge of every lever of power in the U.S. government.”
Democrats got their retaliation in early. Hours before the speech, Biden and his vice presidential pick Kamala Harris accused Trump of rooting for more violence in Wisconsin, following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
“He just keeps pouring fuel on the fire. He’s encouraging this. He’s not diminishing it at all. This is his America now,” Biden said. “If you want to end where we are now, we’ve got to end his tenure as president.”
