US President Donald Trump, who on Thursday accepted his nomination by the Republican party to stand for a re-election this November, warned his Democratic rival, Joe Biden will “demolish” the American dream if he wins the White House.
Speaking on the final night of the Republican convention, the president depicted his opponent as “the destroyer of American greatness”.
He said the Democrats would unleash “violent anarchists” upon US cities.
Biden has a steady single-digit lead over Trump with 68 days until voters return their verdict, according to the BBC.
The end of the Republican convention heralds a 10-week sprint to election day, and the coming campaign is widely expected to be one of the ugliest in living memory.
On Thursday night, the president asked voters for another four years in office, vowing to dispel the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged the US economy and quell civil strife ignited by police killings of African Americans.
Trump accepted his party’s renomination on Thursday night from the South Lawn of the White House.
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“This election will decide whether we save the American dream,” he said, “or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.”
He added: “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.”
Trump’s reference to the sometimes violent racial justice protests that have swept the nation in recent months came as hundreds of Black Lives Matter demonstrators gathered outside the White House gates.
Some of their shouts and car horns could be heard on the South Lawn despite new fencing being erected this week along the White House perimeter to keep protesters at a distance, the BBC reported.
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He said the Democrats at their party convention last week had painted America as a place of racial, social and economic injustice.
“So tonight,” he said, “I ask you a very simple question – how can the Democrat party ask to lead our country when it spends so much time tearing down our country?
“In the left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on earth. Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.”
Washington media outlets noted disapprovingly that his audience of more than 1,500 people were seated closely together and face masks were not required.
Responding to the attacks by Trump, Biden – who was vice-president under Barack Obama – struck back on Twitter, posting: “When Donald Trump says tonight you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America, look around and ask yourself: How safe do you feel in Donald Trump’s America?”
