Donald Trump accepts Republican nomination for a second term

President Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for a second term on Thursday and painted a stark choice for voters this November: a second term for himself or voting for Joe Biden, a man who would ‘demolish’ the nation.

‘Despite all of our greatness as a nation, everything we have achieved is now endangered,’ the president warned in his acceptance speech, given on the South Lawn of the White House. ‘This is the most important election in the history of our country. At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas.’

‘This election will decide whether we save the American Dream, or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny,’ he said. 

And he ended his remarks with the same message. 

‘I say again to all Americans: This is the most important election in the history of our country. There has never been such a difference between two parties, or two individuals, in ideology, philosophy, or vision than there is right now,’ he said.

His speech ended two weeks of conventions – first Democratic, then Republican – which presented two diametrically opposed versions of a country gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, racked by a reckoning on racial justice, and hit by mass unemployment on a scale unknown since the 1930s.

Democrats called Trump’s administration a time of ‘American darkness,’ while Republicans said Biden would bring anarchy; Democrats focused on the virus and unemployment, and Republicans on ‘crime and violence.’

The end of the conventions marks the dash to the finish line, with the first head-to-head debate on September 29, giving Trump and Biden a month to focus their message and deal with the challenge of campaigning in a pandemic.

But there was little to remind viewers of Trump’s speech that there is a pandemic: on the South Lawn, almost 2,000 guests – some in their 80s, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross – sat tightly-packed, hardly any wearing masks, and crowded together at the end as a spectacular fireworks display lit up the Washington sky. 

The split screen America was on display at and around the White House, with protesters outside who blasted airhorns during the speech, at times audible on the South Lawn, and shouted at departing RNC guests.  

Biden was a mainstay of the president’s remarks, getting mentioned more than 40 times in the 71 minutes he spoke. Trump’s speech, given with the White House lit up behind him and members of his administration, his family, and adoring supporters spread out in front of him on the South Lawn, was introduced by his daughter Ivanka.

During his speech, he veered back and forth between touting his accomplishments and attacking his Democratic rival.

‘We’re here and they’re not,’ he said at one point, pointing to the White House behind him. 

His speech caps a Republican National Convention dedicated to all things Trump – his record, his work, his power as president. Thursday’s final night offered a new view of Trump – with staff testifying to his empathy and compassion – along with an appeal to Democrats to change sides and give him a second term.

It also featured speeches by some of his most faithful supporters, including long time staffers, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and a series of filmed sections designed to paint him as compassionate and an ally of African Americans, both of which polls suggest he has struggled to be seen as throughout his time in office. 

But the closing argument was on Trump’s shoulders, his speech the event the week had been building up to. 

The South Lawn location was controversial for its selection – and possible violation of the Hatch Act – but, with the coronavirus pandemic hitting the country, the hub of the convention moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Washington D.C.

In his remarks, Trump continued an argument he has been making to voters for months, painting a bleak picture of what the country would look like under a President Joe Biden. He made it clear to voters the choice was in their hands.

‘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 said.

He attacked Biden’s record on jobs and hit his Democratic opponent in one of his strongest areas – his appeal to blue collar workers, the same group that put Trump in the White House four years ago.

‘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,’ Trump said, with many of the lines in his speech couched in similar, dramatic language.

Mixed in with the remarks were moments that are vintage Trump – a whimsical attack line delivered with a wink and a nod that had his audience in stitches.  

Thursday night had a ‘hugs and kisses’ line that had the audience doubled over in laughter.

‘For 47 years, Joe Biden took the donations of blue collar workers, gave them hugs and even kisses,’ Trump said, pausing as the audience roared with laughter. The president grinned after he delivered it, as if knowing the effect it would have.

‘And told them he felt their pain – and then he flew back to Washington and voted to ship their jobs to China and many other distant lands. Joe Biden spent his entire career outsourcing the dreams of American Workers, offshoring their jobs, opening their borders, and sending their sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars.’

He also attacked Biden’s ties to China at multiple times in his speech. As vice president, Biden visited China as part of his diplomatic duties. But the Trump campaign has tried to turn Biden’s foreign policy experience into a negative, arguing he was working against the United States instead of promoting American interests overseas. 

‘Joe Biden’s agenda is Made in China. My agenda is made in the USA,’ he said. 

And he conducted the official business at hand early on, formally accepting the party’s nomination for a second term – a line that always gets a candidate applause. 

‘My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I proudly accept this nomination for President of the United States,’ he said.

The 1,500 strong crowd burst into cheers, jumping to their feet and shouting ‘four more years.’ But also audible throughout the president’s remarks were the air horns and sirens from the protesters outside the White House, protesting the president’s use of the executive mansion for his speech to a political convention.

Trump outlined his plans for his second term, including rebuilding the economy decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, and reaching for ‘new heights of national achievement.’

‘In a new term as President, we will again build the greatest economy in history – quickly returning to full employment, soaring incomes, and RECORD prosperity,’ he said.

‘We will lead America into new frontiers of ambition and discovery, and we will reach for new heights of national achievement. We will rekindle new faith in our values, new pride in our history, and a new spirit of unity that can only be realized through love for our country. Because we understand that America is not a land cloaked in darkness, America is the torch that enlightens the entire world,’ he added.

He also acknowledged the coronavirus pandemic that has decimated the United States, infecting more than 5.88 million Americans and killed more than 181,000.

Although he did not refer to it by its proper names – coronavirus or COVID – nor did he use the moniker ‘China virus,’ which has been criticized as a racist term. Instead he called it the ‘invisible enemy’ and the ‘virus.’

‘In recent months, our nation, and the entire planet, has been struck by a new and powerful invisible enemy. Like those brave Americans before us, we are meeting this challenge. We are delivering lifesaving therapies, and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner! We will defeat the virus, end the pandemic, and emerge stronger than ever before,’ he said.

But later in his remarks he did refer to the ‘China virus’ when he talked about his administration’s work to counter the pandemic.

He acknowledged the first responders and health care workers in the crowd.

‘We are grateful to be joined tonight by several of our incredible nurses and first responders – please stand and accept our profound thanks. Many Americans have sadly lost friends and cherished loved ones to this horrible disease. As one nation, we mourn, we grieve, and we hold in our hearts forever the memories of all of those lives so tragically taken. In their honor, we will unite. In their memory, we will overcome,’ he vowed.

And then he went on to blame China for the virus.

‘When the China Virus hit, we launched the largest national mobilization since World War II. Invoking the Defense Production Act, we produced the world’s largest supply of ventilators,’ he said.

‘We developed, from scratch, the largest and most advanced testing system in the world,’ he added.

He argued Biden would have ‘surrendered’ to the virus instead of fighting it, referring to a comment Biden made in an interview where he said he would shut down the country if scientists recommended it.

‘Instead of following the science, Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country. His shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation’s children, families, and citizens of all backgrounds,’ Trump claimed.

‘The cost of the Biden shutdown would be measured in increased drug overdoses, depression, alcohol addiction, suicides, heart attacks, economic devastation and more. Joe Biden’s plan is not a solution to the virus, but rather a surrender,’ he said.

‘We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year, and together we will crush the virus,’ he said. 

Biden was the focal point of many of Trump’s attacks. 

He also attempted to tie Biden to the left wing of the party, which has pushed for stronger environmental protections and defunding the police – areas Biden has said he does not agree with.

‘Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism. If Joe Biden doesn’t have the strength to stand up to wild-eyed Marxists like Bernie Sanders and his fellow radicals, then how is he ever going to stand up for you?,’ he said.

‘Make no mistake, if you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will Defund Police Departments all across America. They will pass federal legislation to reduce law enforcement nationwide. They will make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon. No one will be safe in Biden’s America,’ he added.

He continued his image as the ‘law and order’ president.

‘As long as I am President, I will defend the absolute right of every American citizen to live in security, dignity, and peace,’ he said.

‘If the Democrat Party wants to stand with anarchists, agitators, rioters, looters, and flag-burners, that is up to them, but I, as your President, will not be a part of it. The Republican Party will remain the voice of the patriotic heroes who keep America Safe,’ he said.

‘What we can never have in America – and must never allow – is mob rule. In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities like Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago, and New York,’ he said.

‘There is violence and danger in the streets of many Democrat-run cities throughout America. This problem could easily be fixed if they wanted to. We must always have law and order. All federal crimes are being investigated, prosecuted, and punished to the fullest extent of the law,’ he said.

The president began his remarks with those who had been affected by Hurricane Laura, which was a category four hurricane when it made landfall in Louisiana and Texas in the early hours of Thursday morning.

‘We are one national family, and we will always protect, love, and care for each other,’ he said.

He acknowledged his wife, first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and then ‘all of my other children.’

‘And to all of my children and grandchildren, I love you more than words can express. I know my brother Robert is looking down on us right now from heaven. He was a great brother, and was very proud of the job we are all doing. Thank you. We love you, Robert,’ he said.

In his remarks, Trump, despite four years in Washington, painted himself as an outsider, an image that helped him win in 2016.

‘I did what our political establishment never expected and could never forgive, breaking the cardinal rule of Washington Politics. I kept my promises,’ he said.

‘Together, we have ended the rule of the failed political class – and they are desperate to get their power back by any means necessary. They are angry at me because instead of putting them first, I put America first,’ he added.

He also mentioned his biggest campaign promise from 2016 – his border wall, which has yet to be complete.

‘In perhaps no area did the Washington special interests try harder to stop us than on my policy of pro-American immigration. But I refused to back down – and today America’s borders are more secure than ever before. We ended catch-and-release, stopped asylum fraud, took down human traffickers who prey on women and children, and we have deported 20,000 Gang Members and 500,000 Criminal Aliens. We have already built 300 miles of Border Wall – and we are adding 10 new miles every single week. The Wall will soon be complete, and it is working beyond our wildest expectations,’ he said.

The rest of his remarks were a laundry list of the achievements in his administration: taking on Big Pharma, appointing two justices to the Supreme Court, moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and his recent Israel-UAE deal.

He then pivoted back to attacking Biden.

He attacked Biden for his work with China when he was Barack Obama’s vice president and repeated his attack line that: ‘China would own our country if Joe Biden got elected. Unlike Biden, I will hold them fully accountable for the tragedy they caused.’

He complained Biden’s work with China and his role in the NAFTA deal caused the loss of thousands of American jobs. And he got in a jab at one of Biden’s greatest strengths, a trait he has shown repeatedly on the campaign trail, his empathy.

‘After those Biden calamities, the United States lost 1 in 4 manufacturing jobs. The laid off workers in Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and many other states didn’t want Joe Biden’s hollow words of empathy, they wanted their jobs back,’ he said.

During his speech, there was a remarkable lack of obedience to CDC recommendations on the coronavirus: the guests did not social distance, few wore masks and only a few of them tested for COVID ahead of time.

Row after row of white folding chairs were set up on the lawn, a bottle of water with a red elephant logo on the seats. The chairs are only inches apart. Most of the guests were not wearing masks. 

The president came out to check out the stage ahead of his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination – the end of a week-long convention dedicated to the Trump presidency.

He was seen doing a mic test as guests were starting to arrive. He bent down to speak to a few people in the crowd. 

Most Republican members of Congress were invited to attend – although it’s unclear how many were present. First lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and the adult children of the president also attended along with many high-ranking Republican officials, such as RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said a ‘number’ of people at the invitation-only event would be tested, which he said was ‘pretty safe’ given the ‘circumstances.’

‘There are a number of folks that’ll be tested. A number of folks that’ll be encouraged to wear masks. And to that extent, I think it’s a pretty safe environment given the circumstances,’ he told reporters at the White House on Thursday evening before the speeches started.

Asked whether that means some, but not all, attendees will be tested, Meadows replied: ‘I didn’t say that. … I chose my words carefully.’

Washington D.C. limits gatherings to 50 people but, because the White House is the property of the federal government, it is not subject to those restrictions. 

About five empty rows of chairs in the back were being removed as convention programming prepared to start. 

The evening began with a dual set of messages – speakers who praised the intelligence and empathy of President Trump and those who attacked Democrats for going after people’s personal liberties.

The opening video of the night, featuring a voice over by actor Jon Voight, railed against Democrats ‘telling you what to wear.’ 

But Ja’Ron Smith, the highest-ranking African American in the White House staff, offered a different portrait than usually seen by people who follow the president on Twitter or watch his TV interviews, here he can come across as angry.

Smith talked about the compassion he saw from President Trump in the wake of the death of black Americans Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and LeGend Taliferro.

‘I have seen his true conscience. I just wish every American could see the deep empathy he showed to families whose loved ones were killed in senseless violence,’ he said.

It was a different point of view than the one most Americans saw – of President Trump defending the use of the confederate flag and blasting Black Lives Matters’ protesters for tearing down statutes with ties to the Confederacy.

Dan Scavino, the deputy White House chief of staff and the only person with President Trump’s Twitter password, talked about how Trump saw the potential in him when he was his golf caddy.

‘He saw potential in me. A spark. The possibility that I could be more, do more, and achieve more than even I thought was possible,’ Scavino said in his pre-taped remarks.

‘We all just need somebody to believe in our capacity to do great things. Donald Trump believed in me when I was a teenage golf caddie and he was already one of the wealthiest, most famous people on the planet. He saw my potential, even when I couldn’t,’ he added.

‘He sees greatness in our country, too. And in each of you. He believes the world you dream about at night can be yours,’ he added.

Most of the speeches of the night were focused on President Trump and his bid for a second term.

But Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, the only black member of the president’s Cabinet, started his speech by mentioning Jacob Blake, the black, 29-year-old father of four who was shot seven times in front of his children by police.

‘Before I begin, I’d like to say that our hearts go out to the Blake family and the other families who have been impacted by the tragic events in Kenosha,’ he said.

Protests have sparked up around the city and there has been violence in the wake of Blake’s shooting, which he survived but is in critical condition.

President Trump has touted himself as the ‘law and order’ president and threatened to send in federal officials to Kenosha and other cities with Black Lives Matters demonstrations.

Meanwhile, protests took place outside of the White House ahead of the president’s speech.

The sounds of blowing horns, playing music and making noise could be heard, according to reports from the South Lawn.

The demonstrations were taking place on Black Lives Matter Plaza, a few blocks from the White House.

Another large protest is planned for Friday outside of the White House in response to the majority of the Republican National Convention taking place in the city this week.

Other speakers encouraged voters – even Democratic ones – to support President Trump this fall.

Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, a Democrat who became a Republican during the impeachment process, praised President Trump’s for welcoming him to the GOP.

‘I met with President Trump and he made me feel more welcome in the Oval Office than Nancy Pelosi ever made me feel in her caucus… and a few days later, I officially changed parties and became a Republican,’ he said.

‘Republicans, Independents, and even Democrats, they all know that in President Trump’s America, we have a strong military, strong support for our police, strong support for our Veterans and Seniors,’ he added.

And Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the highest-ranking Republican on Capitol Hill, complained Democrats wanted to tell people how many hamburgers they can eat.

‘They want to tell you what kind of car you can drive. What sources of information are credible. And even how many hamburgers you can eat,’ he said in his pre-taped remarks, given from his home state of Kentucky.

‘He is the people’s president!’ Ivanka Trump introduces her father at RNC saying his ‘tweets can feel unfiltered but the results speak for themselves’ and claims workers ‘come to him with a tear in their eye for going to the mat for them’

First daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump introduced her father as ‘the People’s President’ during her Thursday night speech at the Republican National Convention, delivering her remarks from the White House’s South Lawn. 

‘I recognize that my dad’s communication style is not to everyone’s taste. And I know his tweets can feel a bit unfiltered,’ she said with a pause. ‘But the results speak for themselves.’ 

She talked of the admiration she’s seen from working Americans for her father, ‘to see these stoic machinists and steelworkers come to him with tears in their eyes and thank him for being the only person willing to go to the mat for them.’ 

She called that a ‘new and profound experience for him, and for me’ despite Trump having ‘admired and befriended construction workers on countless jobsites,’ a reference to her father’s real estate tycoon past. 

The first daughter, wearing a black Gabriela Hearst number, began her remarks discussing her move to Washington in 2017. 

‘We didn’t exactly know waht we were in for, but our kids loved it from the start,’ she said.  

‘My son Joseph promptly built grandpa a Lego replica of the White House,’ she continued. ‘The President still displays it on the mantel in the Oval Office and shows it to world leaders, just so they know he has the greatest grandchildren on earth.’  

In Washington, Ivanka Trump said, she found that politicans would ‘silence their convictions and skip the hard fights’ in order to survive.   

‘I couldn’t believe that so many politicians actually prefer to complain about a problem, rather than fix it,’ she said. ‘I was shocked to see people leave major challenges unsolved, so they can blame the other side and campaign on the same issue in the next election.’        

‘But Donald Trump did not come to Washington to win praise from the beltway elites,’ she said. 

Her father’s unpopularity among certain groups became a theme of her speech. 

‘For the first time in a long time, we have a President who has called out Washington’s hypocrisy – and they hate him for it,’ she said. 

‘Dad, people attack you for being unconventional, but I love you for being real, and I respect you for being effective,’ she added. 

She also took time to soften her father’s image, playing tour guide for the audience during pivotal points of his administration. 

Ivanka Trump described him as a president ‘who is fighting for you from dawn to midnight, when the cameras have left, the microphones are off, and the decisions really count.’ 

 She talked of standing at his side when he went to Dover Air Force Base to receive remains of a fallen soldier. 

‘And each time it steeled his resolve to finally stop the endless foreign wars,’ she said.   

She spoke of seeing her father’s more personal reaction to the deaths from COVID-19. 

‘I’ve been with my father and seen the pain in his eyes when he receives updates on the lives that have been stolen by this plague,’ she said. ‘I have witnessed him make some of the most difficult decisions of his life.’  

She said, among those, was closing the U.S. border to Europeans. 

Ivanka Trump brought up some of her pet projects as well, including the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which she and the president promoted on their Monday trip to North Carolina, where the RNC was supposed to be held.  

Ivanka Trump’s speech was the curtainraiser for her father’s on the White House lawn, where 1,500 people were gathered in a not-so-socially distanced way. Many didn’t wear masks. 

Air horns from protesters outside the White House gates could be heard during Ivanka Trump’s address.  

 

 

 

 

 

Donald Trump calls Joe Biden’s plan to beat coronavirus a ‘surrender’ claiming the Democrat wants to ‘inflict a shutdown’ which would cause ‘suicides, heart attacks, economic devastation and more’

 President Donald Trump said it was Joe Biden who was surrendering to the coronavirus, claiming the Democrat is backing another ‘painful shutdown,’ which is not what the former vice president has proposed.  

‘The cost of the Biden shutdown would be measured in increased drug overdoses, depression, alcohol addiction, suicides, heart attacks, economic devastation and more,’ Trump said during his Republican National Convention speech Thursday night from the White House’s South Lawn. ‘Joe Biden’s plan is not a solution to the virus, but rather a surrender.’ 

Biden has rolled out a number of plans to deal with getting the pandemic under control, most notably he’d like to see Americans wear masks for three months. 

Other parts of his plan include fixing the testing and tracing problem, which has allowed COVID-19 to continue to spread around the U.S. unchecked and ensure medical professionals have enough personal protective equipment.  

In June, Biden slammed the president for being a ‘wartime president,’ as Trump once boasted, and then surrendering to the virus. 

Trump spent the bulk of his RNC address, where he officially accepted the Republican nomination for a second time, throwing insults at Biden – and seeing which ones would stick. 

On the coronavirus, which Trump’s handling of has seen his poll numbers suffer, the president claimed that Biden had called his decision to limit travel from China ‘hysterical and xenophobic,’ which FactCheck.org had previously rated ‘misleading.’  

‘If we had listened to Joe, hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died,’ Trump claimed. 

The president also suggested it was Biden who wasn’t listening to science. 

‘Instead of following the science, Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country,’ Trump claimed. ‘His shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation’s children, families and citizens of all backgrounds.’ 

The president made his remarks in front of a crowd of 1,500 people, who were not adhering to social distancing guidelines. 

Most in the crowd were not wearing masks. 

The White House’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows indicated that some in the crowd would be tested prior to the event. 

‘There are a number of folks that’ll be tested. A number of folks that’ll be encouraged to wear masks. And to that extent, I think it’s a pretty safe environment given the circumstances,’ he said. 

The Trump campaign, in general, hasn’t been transparent about coronavirus protocols for speakers and attendees during the RNC.

The president boasted during his speech that his administration has taken a ‘different approach’ to dealing with the virus. 

‘To save as many lives as possible, we are focusing on the science, the facts and the data. To save as many lives as possible, we are focusing on the science, the facts and the data,’ he said. ‘Most importantly, we are marshalling America’s scientific genius to produce a vaccine in record time.’ 

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the coronavirus taskforce, have both suggested a coronavirus vaccine could be a reality by the end of 2020. 

‘We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year, and together we will crush the virus,’ Trump boasted Thursday night.  

Donald Trump makes targeting China center of his election campaign blaming it for COVID ‘spreading around the globe,’ calling it ‘the China virus repeatedly’ and claims Joe Biden would be ‘owned by China’

President Donald Trump made attacks on China an organizing principle of his Republican convention speech Thursday – accusing the country of allowing the coronavirus to spread around the world and claiming Joe Biden would be beholden to the rising power. 

Trump repeatedly referenced the ‘China virus’ when talking about the disease, laced references to China throughout his hour-long address at the White House, and blasted Biden for supporting trade legislation that he characterized as a giveaway of American jobs. Many people consider the term a slur.

‘In recent months, our nation, and the rest of the world, has been hit with a once-in-a-century pandemic that China allowed to spread around the globe,’ Trump said, in one of several references to the pandemic in Thursday’s programming.

‘When the China Virus hit, we launched the largest national mobilization since World War II,’ Trump said, touting his handling of the pandemic as have a skein of convention speakers, even as the number of infected Americans approached 6 million. 

He told 1,500 cheering supporters at the White House: ‘We will go right after China.  We will not rely on them one bit.’

Trump claimed that Biden’s ‘agenda is Made in China,’ adding: ‘My agenda is Made in the USA.’  

Underlining the focus on the issue, the word ‘China’ appeared 15 times in his remarks. 

Trump intoned: ‘He oversaw the rise of ISIS, and cheered the rise of China as “a positive development” for America and the world. That’s why China supports Joe Biden and desperately wants him to win,’ Trump said.

‘I can tell you that upon very good information,’ Trump appeared to ad-lib.

Biden did make the comment, at a summit in 2011 at the White House opening ‘U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue.’

It was part of an administration effort to find areas cooperation with China, even as the emerging power an the U.S. faced off on areas of trade, espionage, and regional power plays, and try to prod it more into the community of major powers. 

‘As a young member of a Foreign Relations Committee, I wrote and I said and I believed then what I believe now: That a rising China is a positive, positive development, not only for China but for America and the world writ large,’ Biden said. 

Trump’s reference to China wanting a Biden win is drawn from a recent U.S. intelligence assessment. The assessment stated: ‘We assess that China prefers that President Trump — whom Beijing sees as unpredictable — does not win reelection.”

The same intel statement said Russia was actively working to ‘denigrate’ Biden. 

‘China would own our country if Joe Biden got elected,’ Trump claimed. 

Trump’s China pitch was reinforced by an earlier speech by ultra loyalist Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who said in his convention speech China was ‘rooting for Joe Biden.” 

Trump called Biden’s 47-year record a ‘shameful roll call of the most catastrophic betrayals and blunders in our lifetime.’

He touted his support for NAFTA, and bringing China into the World Trade Organization, which he called a disaster.  

 At one point, Trump tied his China theme to incidents of Biden touching or people people in public who later said it made them feel uncomfortable. 

‘For 47 years, Joe Biden took the donations of blue collar workers, gave them hugs and even kisses, and told them he felt their pain – and then he flew back to Washington and voted to ship their jobs to China and many other distant lands,’ Trump said, trying to take the shine off some of the Biden empathy built up at his own convention.

‘Joe Biden spent his entire career outsourcing the dreams of American Workers, offshoring their jobs, opening their borders, and sending their sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars,’ he said. 

Biden hit back with a series of tweets, including one on the coronavirus. ‘From the moment COVID-19 emerged, President Trump downplayed the threat it posed, refused to listen to the experts, and failed to take action to contain its spread. Now, we’re paying the price,’ he wrote. 

Trump also blasted China during the 2016 presidential campaign. then maneuvered the U.S. into a prolonged trade war. The U.S. and China ultimately agreed to a ‘Phase One’ deal where China agreed to buy billions in U.S. ag products.  

Donald Trump hints at ‘creepy Joe’ allegations as he mocks Biden for ‘taking blue collar worker’s donations giving them hugs and even KISSES’ – to delight of South Lawn crowd

Donald Trump alluded to allegations that Joe Biden is sometimes ‘handsy’ and physically inappropriate with women as he issued several insults against the Democratic nominee during his Republican Convention acceptance speech Thursday evening.

‘For 47 years, Joe Biden took the donations of blue collar workers, gave them hugs and even kisses –’ Trump then paused mid-sentence as the 1,500-person audience laughed and cheered.

Trump concluded his thought with: ‘ – and told them he felt their pain.’

‘And then he flew back to Washington and voted to ship their jobs to China and many other distant lands,’ he accused. ‘Joe Biden spent his entire career outsourcing the dreams of American Workers, offshoring their jobs, opening their borders, and sending their sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars.’ 

The president added: ‘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.’ 

Trump’s joke landed strong with his South Lawn crowd of ultra-loyalists, administration and campaign aides, advisers and staffers and his family sitting at the right of the stage. 

The 77-year-old Democratic candidate has come under fire for being too touchy-feely with women.

Many accusations against Biden stem from awkward photographs, including one in 2015 when he is shown grabbing the shoulders of Stephanie Carter from behind and whispering in her ear as her husband Ash Carter was delivering his Secretary of Defense acceptance speech.

Other photos show him awkwardly groping Amie Parnes, a reporter with The Hill, during a 2013 holiday party. And another image captured the then-vice president getting so close with a woman during a 2012 campaign stop in Ohio that his forehead touched the side of her head.

But the most serious accusations came in March 2019, when Nevada lawmaker Lucy Flores revealed in New York Magazine that Biden grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her hair during a campaign event in Las Vegas in 2014 – she was 35 at the time.

‘I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair’ then ‘proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head,’ Flores wrote.

Biden critics pounced on the revelations and the hashtag ‘Creepy Joe’ quickly began trending on Twitter.

Trump has often dubbed Biden as ‘Creepy Joe’ in Twitter attacks – he has also called his Democratic rival ‘Sleepy Joe.’