‘Biden’s record is a shameful roll call of the most catastrophic betrayals and blunders’

US president Donald Trump launched a direct attack on his Democratic rival Joe Biden last night, as he formally accepted the Republican nomination for president.
In a lengthy speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention at the White House, Mr Trump said that Novembers presidential election is the most important election in the history of our country.
At no point before have voters faced a clearer choice between two visions, two philosophies or two agendaswhether we save the American dream or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.
Much of the speech was an explicit assault on the former vice-president who he will face in Novembers election.
Joe Biden is weak. He takes his marching orders from liberal critics, he declared to the assembled crowd of approximately 1,500 invited guests.
Bidens record is a shameful roll call of the most catastrophic betrayals and blunders in our lifetime, he said.
He has been the destroyer of Americas jobs, and if given the chance he will be the destroyer of Americas greatness.
Joe Bidens agenda is Made in China; my agenda is Made in the USA, he said.
President Donald Trump is displayed on a screen while speaking during the Republican National Convention. Photograph: Bloomberg
On the issue of coronavirus, which has claimed more than 180,000 lives in the United States, Mr Trump claimed that many more Americans would have died if Joe Bidens proposals had been adopted.
Mr Bidens response is not a solution to the virus, rather it is a surrender to the virus, he said to applause.
Amid heightened tensions in the United States over race following the shooting of 28 year-old Jacob Blake last weekend in Wisconsin, Mr Trump also asserted that he has done more for the African-American community than any president since Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican president.
I have done more in three years for the black community than Joe Biden has done in forty-seven years.
But he also criticised the Democrats policy on crime a key theme of this weeks convention. If you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will defund police departments, he said.
US President Donald Trump looks on after delivering his acceptance speech for the Republican Party nomination for reelection during the final day of the Republican National Convention. Photograph: Getty
No one will be safe in Bidens America. My administration will always stand with the men and women of law enforcement. We can never allow mob rule, he said, denouncing the anarchy in Democratically-run cities.
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 and salute the American flag.
Last nights event capped a four-day convention, culminating in Mr Trumps nomination as president.
A fireworks display goes off behind the Washington Monument as president Donald Trump is joined on stage by his family during the final night of the Republican National Convention. Photograph: New York Times
Accepting the nomination, he said: My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for president of the United States, prompting shouts of USA, USA! from the crowd.
In an unprecedented move, the South Lawn of the White House was transformed into the site for a national political convention a move that was widely criticised by Democrats who accused him of using the White House as a backdrop for a partisan event.
The event concluded with a lavish firework display, with the phrase TRUMP 2020 sketched in the sky over Washington in red, white and blue.
Mr Trump was introduced by his daughter and advisor, Ivanka, who described her father as the peoples president.
Donald Trump did not come to Washington to win praise from the beltway elite, she said. Donald Trump came to Washington for one reason and one reason alone to make America great again, describing him as the voice for the forgotten men and women of our country.
Whether you agree with him or not, you always knows where he stands, she said. His tweets can seem a bit unfiltered, but the results speak for themselves. Washington has not changed Donald Trump, Donald Trump has changed Washington.
US president Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on stage during the closing night of the Republican National Convention, on the South Lawn of the White House. Photograph: EPA
A central theme of the final night of the Republican convention was law and order. Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps personal lawyer, spoke about crime in New York city as he highlighted his time as mayor.
How did we get overwhelmed by crime? he said. Dont let Democrats do to America what they have done to New York. Describing Joe Biden as obviously a defective candidate, he described Biden as a Trojan horse for Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders, and their pro-criminal, anti-police, socialist policies.
Fireworks light up the sky over Washington and the White House, after president Donald Trump delivered his acceptance speech at the White House. Photograph: AP
These continuous riots in Democratic cities gives you a good view of the future under Biden, he said, describing the recent Black Lives Matter protests across the country. This awesome job of restoring safety for your people can be done from your basement, Joe, he said, as he addressed the former vice president directly.
The widow of David Dorn, a retired African-American police officer, who was killed while a store was looted during the George Floyd protests in St Louis in June. In an emotional appearance she described how her husband was shot and killed and the scene livestreamed on the internet.
She said that she hoped telling her story will help shake this country from this nightmare in our country. Patrick Lynch, the Irish-American president of New Yorks largest police union, also endorsed Mr Trump, claiming that Democrats message is that police officers are the enemy.
Democratic politicians have surrendered our streets and our institutions in city after city, they have slashed police budgets.. passed laws that have made it impossible for police officers to do their job effectively.
The radical left doesnt really want better policing.. what they want is, no policing. What they want is a justice system that just stops working altogether. Echoing Mike Pences comments on Wednesday, he said: you wont be safe in Joe Bidens America.
Alice Johnson, who was pardoned by Mr Trump and released from prison early, after an intervention by Kim Kardashian West, also spoke at the convention. We all make mistakes, she said, noting that there are thousands of people like her serving life sentences in American prisons who have reformed.
Ahead of an appearance by Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey congressman who switched from Democrat to Republican, the evening heard from a range of former Democratic voters who say they are now supporting Mr Trump. Senate majority leader Mitch Mc Connell and Tom Cotton of Arkansas also addressed the final night of the convention.