Trump caps norm-shattering convention

4 years ago 357
3 min ago

Trump closes out the RNC with fireworks display

President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and other family members watch fireworks following the President's acceptance speech for the Republican Party nomination for reelection at the White House on Thursday in Washington.President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and other family members watch fireworks following the President's acceptance speech for the Republican Party nomination for reelection at the White House on Thursday in Washington. Doug Mills/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump closed out the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention with a promise to make America "safer" and "stronger."

"We will make America prouder and we will make America greater than ever before. I am very, very proud to be the nominee of the Republican party. I love you all, God bless you and God bless America," Trump said to a standing ovation at the White House.

Following Trump's closing remarks, Trump was joined on stage by his family as fireworks went off over the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Watch the moment:

13 min ago

Trump hammers "law and order" messaging and says he stands with police officers

From CNN's Jason Hoffman 

President Trump spoke at length about his law and order message during his Republican National Convention acceptance speech, claiming Joe Biden’s platform is an “attack on public safety.”

“The most dangerous aspect of the Biden platform is the attack on public safety,” Trump said Thursday night before claiming that Biden will “defund police departments all across America.”

“Make no mistake, if you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will defund police departments all across America,” Trump said. “They will make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon. No one will be safe in Biden's America.”

Biden has said that he does not support calls to defund police.

The President also said he stands with the men and women of law enforcement, saying “the overwhelming majority of police officers in this country are noble, courageous and honorable.” 

1 min ago

Fact check: Trump's claims on Biden's support for Iraq War

From CNN's Andrew Kaczynski

President Donald Trump noted Joe Biden voted for the Iraq War in an attack on Biden’s record.

Facts First: This omits important context. While Trump is correct that Biden voted for the war, Trump didn’t mention that he himself expressed tentative support for the 2003 invasion in a 2002 interview with Howard Stern.

Trump did not become an explicit opponent of the war until 2004, more than a year after the invasion. His running mate, Mike Pence, also voted for the war as a member of Congress.

You can read a longer fact check here.

14 min ago

Fact check: Trump's claims that China wants Biden to win

From CNN's Daniel Dale and Holmes Lybrand

President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday in Washington.President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images

During his speech, President Donald Trump claimed that he has "very good information" that China wants Biden to win because Biden cheers for China.

Facts First: While we don’t know what information Trump may have, a recent assessment from the intelligence community reported that China preferred Trump lose the election because he was "unpredictable" and because of the many actions he has taken against China.  

William R. Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, in a statement on August 7 updating the election threat landscape heading into the election, noted that "China prefers that President Trump -- whom Beijing sees as unpredictable — does not win reelection. The statement went on to note that China has been critical of Trump's "COVID-19 response, closure of China's Houston Consulate" and "actions on Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South China Sea, and China's efforts to dominate the 5G market." 

Evanina's report makes no mention of China preferring Biden because he would weaken the US economy.

17 min ago

Fact check: Trump's misleading claim about the US economy and jobs gained

From CNN's Daniel Dale

Trump claimed the US economy has gained a record nine million jobs over the past three months. 

Facts First: This is highly misleading. The economy did add about 9.3 million jobs combined in May, June and July -- but that record increase immediately followed a much bigger record loss of about 22.2 million jobs in March and April.  

 In other words, the economy is still down nearly 13 million jobs because of the coronavirus crisis. (Also, many of the jobs added were simply people returning to work after temporary layoffs.)  

You can read a longer fact check here

23 min ago

Trump says he wants more police and to "increase penalties for assaults on law enforcement"

President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington.President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP

President Donald Trump doubled down on his support of law enforcement tonight during the Republican National Convention with promises to grow their ranks if elected to a second term.

"We will hire more police, increase penalties for assaults on law enforcement, and surge federal prosecutors into high crime communities," Trump said.

Trump's remarks come as protests continue after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.

Two Kenosha officers were placed on administrative leave, state officials said.

Officials identified Officer Rusten Sheskey as the person who shot Blake when he tried to enter his vehicle. The officer, who has been employed by Kenosha police for seven years, was placed on administrative leave, DCI said.

The local police union has urged the public to withhold judgment until a state investigation is complete.

31 min ago

Fact check: Trump claims he's done for more African American community than any other president since Lincoln

From CNN's Daniel Dale and Holmes Lybrand

President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington.President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP

President Trump claimed that he has done more for the African American community than any other president since Abraham Lincoln.

Facts First: While we give Trump lots of latitude to express opinions, this one is simply ridiculous even if he is comparing himself only to previous presidents and excluding other Black heroes. It's absurd to say Lincoln is a "possible" exception; emancipating the slaves was obviously more important for Black Americans than anything Trump has done. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, monumental bills whose impact dwarfed the impact of any legislation Trump has signed.

You can make an argument that numerous additional presidents did more for Black Americans than Trump, but we'll stop there. It's worth noting, though, that Black people themselves do not, on the whole, agree with Trump's self-assessment. Trump has had a consistently abysmal approval rating with Black citizens -- just 4% in one recent Quinnipiac University poll, for example, versus 93% disapproval.

32 min ago

Fact check: Trump falsely claims he passed  Veterans Choice

From CNN's Daniel Dale

President Trump falsely claimed he passed the Veterans Choice program.

Facts First: The Veterans Choice bill, a bipartisan initiative led by Sens. Bernie Sanders and the late John McCain was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014. In 2018, Trump signed the VA Mission Act, which expanded and changed the Choice program.

Trump has told this lie more than 150 times.

26 min ago

Trump glosses over why Kenosha is protesting

President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Aug. 27, in Washington.President Donald Trump speaks from the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Aug. 27, in Washington. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Like Vice President Mike Pence a night before him, President Donald Trump restated his commitment to law enforcement and condemned the "rioting, looting, arson and violence" occurring in "Democrat-run cities."

He included Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the list of those cities. Kenosha has been gripped with protests and ongoing unrest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake — a 29-year-old Black man that was shot seven times in the back Sunday by an officer as he tried to enter an SUV where three of his children were waiting. 

"When there is police misconduct, the justice system must hold wrongdoers fully and completely accountable, and it will. But we can never have a situation where things are going as they are today, we must never allow mob rule. We can never allow mob rule," Trump said. "In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities all, like Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago, and New York, and many others Democrat-run. "

The President was expected, in some form, to address the unrest in Kenosha in his speech tonight. It was unclear if he would make any statement of sympathy to Blake's family or Black Americans once again angered by police brutality. So far Trump has refused to answer questions about the incidents in Wisconsin or to say whether he watched the video of Blake being shot by police.

"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. Just call, we're ready to go in, and we will take care of you, in a matter of hours. We have to wait for the call. It's too bad we have to, but we have to wait for the call," Trump said. "We must always have law and order. All federal crimes are being investigated, prosecuted, and punished to the fullest extent of the law," he continued.

Trump slammed Joe Biden, saying that last week during the Democratic National Convention, he and his supporters "remained completely silent about the rioters and criminals spreading mayhem in Democrat-run cities."

Trump used a portion of his speech to tout the work of law enforcement.

"We must remember that the overwhelming majority of police officers in this country, and that's the overwhelming majority, are noble, courageous, and honorable. We have to give law enforcement, our police, back their power," Trump said.

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