Senator Rand Paul is ‘attacked’ by protesters leaving RNC at the White House
‘They would have killed us had the police not been there’: Senator Rand Paul speaks out after BLM mob attacked him and his wife as they left the White House following Trump’s speech at RNC conference
- Kentucky senator Rand Paul and his wife were attacked by protesters as they left the White House Thursday
- Video shows him being nearly knocked down, before being escorted away from the scene by police
- Paul said on Friday morning that he feared protesters were trying to get the couple to the ground and kill them
- Elsewhere, protesters were filmed punching a man and knocking him over, leaving his face bloodied
By Chris Pleasance for MailOnline and Marlene Lenthang For Dailymail.com
Published: 00:06 EDT, 28 August 2020 | Updated: 12:20 EDT, 28 August 2020
Kentucky senator Rand Paul this morning said he that feared he and his wife would be killed by a mob of Black Lives Matter protesters who attacked them after the RNC conference last night – shoving the police escorting him and knocking one of the officers into the Senator.
Paul said the demonstrators – who had gathered around the White House in an attempt to drown out Trump’s speech – were shouting threats to kill at him and wife Kelley as police tried to protect them.
Describing the moment, Paul told Fox News: ‘They would have killed us had the police not been there.’
‘The threats were to f— you up, to you know, to kill you. The threats were if they could get ahold of you, and I truly believe with every fiber of my being, had they gotten at us, they would have gotten us to the ground.
‘We might not have been killed. We might just have been injured by being kicked in the head or kicked in the stomach until we were senseless. You’ve seen the pictures. Most of the networks will not show the pictures of this. This is happening in all of our cities. Its got to stop and thank God for the police.
‘Had we not gotten to the police, I truly believe that the police saved our lives, and we would not be here today, or we’d be in a hospital today had the police not been there.’
Video shows the couple being surrounded by dozens of activists who began shouting at the pair as they tried to reach their hotel. At one point a protester shoves an officer into Paul, who stumbles and nearly falls down.
Video shows Paul and wife Kelley being surrounded by dozens of activists and aggressively accosted as they leave the Republican National Convention, where Trump had just accepted the party’s nomination, as police officers try to hold the crowd back.
At one point an officer holding a bicycle to shield the couple from the demonstrators was shoved backwards, stumbling into Paul and almost knocking the Kentucky senator to the ground.
Elsewhere that night, video showed activists aggressively harassing people including one man who was punched in the back of the head and knocked down, leaving him bloody.
Meanwhile RNC committeeman Chris Ager and his wife were repeatedly abused by a balaclava-wearing protester who threatened to ‘f*** you up’ as they tried to get into the doors of their hotel.
Protesters surround Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and his wife as they left the Republican National Convention late Thursday. He said he was attacked by an ‘angry mob of over 100 people’
Kentucky senator Rand Paul pictured surrounded by Black Lives Matter protesters
Rand Paul told Fox News that protesters ‘wanted to kill us’ and that, if it hadn’t been for police, he fears he and his wife would have been knocked to the ground and beaten senseless
Police officers surrounded Rand and his wife and escorted them out of the crowd after people started to push
At one point a protester pushed a police officer carrying a bicycle (front right) who stumbled backwards into Paul (centre left), almost causing the Senator to fall to the ground
Rand tweeted after the incident: ‘Just got attacked by an angry mob of over 100, one block away from the White House. Thank you to @DCPoliceDept for literally saving our lives from a crazed mob.’
Describing how the incident came about, Paul said he and his wife had left the convention – held at the White House after being moved from North Carolina due to coronavirus – when they saw a large group of demonstrators blocking the route back to their hotel.
The couple boarded a bus taking them to the nearby Trump hotel, before deciding to turn back and reach the place they had originally agreed to stay.
It was on the way back that protesters happened to spot Paul, and descended on him, he claims.
‘They all of a sudden saw me, right as we got to a policeman fortunately or I don’t think we would have survived,’ he explained.
‘We got to the policeman, and the policeman I don’t think recognized me and as they came closer they were shouting my name and the crowd doubled to 60 and then it doubled again to 120.
‘As they were surrounding us and it got closer and closer and everybody kept pushing back, the policemen were forming a barricade with their bodies and I whispered, they know who I am you’ve got to get reinforcements it’s going to get worse.’
Paul said the protesters were also shouting the name Breonna Taylor at him, an EMT who was shot dead in his state of Kentucky after police raided her apartment using a no-knock warrant.
Describing the protesters as ‘idiots’, Paul said he has introduced legislation called the Justice for Breonna Taylor act that would ban the use of such warrants across the US.
Paul also questioned whether the demonstrators had been brought in from out of state, and said he fears the whole of the US will become like Portland – where protesters set up an autonomous zone before
Rand was just one of many guests accosted by protesters as they left the White House.
As guests dressed in suits and dresses left the convention, they were bombarded by protesters in the streets who booed them, shouting ‘You racist a**’ and ‘Jacob Blake’.
The heckled guests kept walking even as demonstrators gave them the middle finger and insulted them.
Earlier in the evening protesters blared bullhorns, rang bells, and chanted ‘No justice, no peace!’ and ‘Black Lives Matter‘ when Ivanka Trump introduced her father shortly before 10.30pm.
When Trump started his speech, dissidents set off firecrackers and amplified their chants in unison, all of which was audible from the South Lawn.
Blow horns could be heard in the televised broadcast of Trump’s speech.
RNC attendees were assaulted and accosted outside the event in Washington DC on Thursday night, with one man punched in the back of the head (pictured)
The man was seen with a bloody chin and water splashed down the front of his shirt after being attacked by demonstrators
As Ager tried to get into the front doors of his hotel, which were locked, the woman threatened to ‘f*** you up’ after he apparently touched her
Rand Paul was just one of several guests who were accosted by the protesters, who had gathered outside the White House in order to drown out Trump’s speech
The Kentucky senator credited police with ‘literally saving our lives from a crazed mob’ after the incident late Thursday
Raucous protesters accosted Republican National Convention guests leaving the White House Thursday evening, hurling expletives and calling them racist
These protesters ran up to RNC guests and flipped their middle fingers as they walked away from the White House late Thursday
As guests dressed in suits and dresses left the convention, they were bombarded by protesters in the streets who booed them, shouting ‘You racist a**’ and chanting ‘Jacob Blake’
RNC guests pictured being accosted as they left the White House by protesters Thursday
When Trump started his speech dissidents set off firecrackers and amplified their chants in unison, all of which was audible from the South Lawn. Some horns were also audible in his televised speech broadcast
Video taken from the streets surrounding the White House showed multiple altercations. At least one showed protesters scuffling with police – throwing punches and pushing officers as they drew batons in response.
Other videos appeared to show activists stopping an RNC bus and trying to get on board the vehicle, while other guests who left on foot were sworn at and had offensive hand gestures made at them.
One showed a white-haired man being punched in the back of the head and later knocked to the ground by a mob of activists who also threw water over him.
Meanwhile RNC committeeman Chris Ager and his wife were repeatedly abused by a balaclava-wearing protester who threatened to ‘f*** you up’ as they tried to get into the doors of their hotel.
Hundreds of activists had gathered outside the White House to protest Trump’s nomination acceptance speech, trying to drown it out with air horns and fireworks.
While demonstrations started peacefully things grew progressively ugly as the night wore on, with attendees forced to run a gauntlet of angry activists as they tried to leave the event.
Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered near the White House for a party aimed at drowning out Trump’s speech, but scenes turned progressively ugly as the night wore on
Activists clashed with police at multiple cordons that had been set up around the White House, but in other areas officers seemed to be completely absent as RNC attendees walked away
Activists carried banners depicting Trump as Hitler, while some set up mock guillotines on the streets of the Capitol
Protests had begun at midday in Washington DC, with a rally outside Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’s mansion demanding a $30 per hour minimum wage.
Demonstrations then moved to the streets around the White House from 7pm, with DJs and bands playing in an attempt to drown out the RNC.
During the convention itself, which lasted from 9pm until 11pm, protesters let off fireworks and blared air horns which could be heard in the background of Trump’s speech as it was broadcast on TV.
Scuffles initially began between the activists and a smaller number of counter-demonstrators leading to two arrests, according to DCist.
But as the convention finished the disturbances became more widespread. It is unclear if there were any further arrests.
Trump shared his speech late Thursday before a crowd of more than 1,500 on the South Lawn as MAGA supporters cheered ‘USA!’ and ‘Four More Years!’
There was no indication that Trump heard the protesters but speech spectators were seen turning around to see where the sounds of sirens, music and blow horns was coming from.
Protesters gathered between the White House and the National Mall and in Black Lives Matter Plaza.
‘Make some noise if you want to drown out Trump,’ protest organizer Justin Johnson said.
One group of activists were heard chanting ‘Black Women Matter, because we get stuff done.’
Melania gives Ivanka a VERY frosty stare as the two come face-to-face after Trump’s daughter spoke at RNC
First Lady Melania Trump exchanged a frosty greeting with Ivanka Trump on the stage of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, hours after details of their fraught relationship were released in an excerpt of a new book.
After Ivanka shared an introductory remarks for her father’s acceptance speech, she shared a brief glance with Melania while walking across the stage.
Melania was captured on video giving the First Daughter a smile and a nod before bulging her eyes and making a cold, sour expression.
Earlier on Thursday an excerpt of an upcoming book penned by Melania’s former best friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was released, revealing that the First Lady plotted ‘Operation Block Ivanka’ to prevent Ivanka from appearing in Trump’s inauguration photos.
Melania was all smiles when Ivanka wrapped up her speech at the convention and made her way towards the First couple
But after passing by Melania’s face expression turned sour. It comes after Melania’s former best friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff published an excerpt of her upcoming book Thursday revealing the First Lady plotted ‘Operation Block Ivanka’ to prevent Ivanka from appearing in Trump’s inauguration photos
Social media users were quick to pick up on the tension and posted close-up videos of Melania’s reaction.
‘Melania Trump gives Ivanka Trump that look that “I like you only because I have to,”‘ one Twitter user noted.
‘Call it a hunch, but I don’t think Melania likes Ivanka very much. On that, we can agree,’ another Twitter user commented.
‘Did Melania just roll her eyes at Ivanka,’ another Twitter user asked.
In ‘Operation Block Ivanka’ Melania approved seating arrangements for the inauguration platform that would keep Ivanka out of the camera shot when her father was sworn in as president.
Wolkoff, who oversaw big events like the Met Gala, helped organize events around Trump’s inauguration.
Together they worked out where the cameras would be set on inauguration day and how the chairs for family members should be positioned to get the images they wanted.
Twitter users had a field day with the icy exchange. This Twitter user captioned the moment saying: ‘Melania Trump gives Ivanka Trump that look that “I like you only because I have to”‘
In the end Ivanka was placed behind Melania, in some images lost from view.
‘We were all exhausted and stressed out. Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was petty. Melania was in on this mission. But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn’t have made herself the center of attention in her father’s inauguration,’ Wolkoff wrote.
She notes their operation was a result of the first daughter trying to control the schedule for inauguration day and make sure her family – husband Jared Kushner and their three children – had prominent positions on the big day.
‘It was Donald’s inauguration, not Ivanka’s. But no one was brave enough to tell her that. Melania was not thrilled about Ivanka’s steering the schedule and would not allow it. Neither was she happy to hear that Ivanka insisted on walking in the Pennsylvania Avenue parade with her children,’ she noted.
Protesters held up a lit sign that said ‘Trump Failed, 180,000+ died’ citing the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US
Hundreds of raucous protesters clamored outside the White House chanting and banging drums in an effort to drown out the President’s presidential nomination acceptance speech
Large swathes of demonstrators gathered in front of the White House on Thursday ahead of Trump’s acceptance speech, hurling angry slogans and demanding he resign immediately
A Go-Go band blasts music in an effort to drown out the sound of Trump’s accpetance speech
The demonstrations were peaceful at the start of the evening, but clashes with police officers ensued when the convention wrapped up. Officers pictured subduing a protester on the ground Thursday night
In one crowd of protesters a dance party broke out with EDM remixes of Go-Go and Mo-Town music bumping from speakers.
The demonstrations were peaceful at the start of the evening, but clashes with police officers ensued when the convention wrapped up.
There were several organized protests surrounding the White House on Thursday night.
Refuse Facism held a #TrumpPenceOutNow rally and The Party Majority PAC organized a #ThePeoplesHouse demonstration nearby.
The groups ShutdownDC and Long-Live Go-Go had put out word in advance about the planned ‘noise demonstration and dance party’ to coincide with Trump’s speech.
The White House is seen in the background as Black Lives Matter supporters demonstrate at Black Lives Matter Plaza during the final night of the Republican National Convention Thursday night
Protesters dance as music blares from speakers to overpower the sound of Trump’s acceptance speech late Thursday
Protesters broke into dance at a Go-Go concert organized to make as much noise possible during Trump’s speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention Thursday
This demonstrator wore a Trump mask and held a sign that said ‘Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue’
A protester yells next to police officers wearing protective masks at a demonstration near Black Lives Matter Plaza seeking to drown out the sound of Trump’s presidential nominal acceptance speech
Police pictured facing off with protesters on Thursday night near the White House
‘You guys gotta get some rhythm,’ a protester told Secret Service officers.
‘Would you have rhythm if you were wearing 30 pounds of gear,’ one responded.
‘These presidents are not gonna do anything ’cause they are not the people of color in the streets being shot,’ a black student who travelled from Houston, Texas to take part in the protests said to AFP.
‘There are more people who are ready for Trump to leave office,’ Michael Legend, a 33-year-old black man from Washington said.
Nearby protesters set up a small guillotine, with the District of Columbia flag as the blade.
A massive group of protesters with Refuse Facism hold a rally and carry a banner that says ‘Trump/Pence #OutNow!’ near the White House on Thursday evening
Washington DC police pictured pushing back Black Lives Matter supporters on Thurday evening
A police officer (standing) removes a protester on the road as Black Lives Matter supporters demonstrate near Black Lives Matter Plaza during Thursday
Protesters pictured clamoring around police during a protest when officers blocked their path on Constitution Avenue late Thursday
Police officers wearing protective masks stand in front of a criminal justice reform sign during the Republican National Convention in Washington DC on Thursday
Earlier in the day a banner saying ‘Trump Lies All The Time’ was laid on the ground at Black Lives Matter plaza ahead of the president’s speech
A protester holds a Biden 2020 flag at the protest Thursday night
Lafayette Park, a traditional site of demonstrations across from the White House, was sealed off and there were some street closures.
National Black Lives Matter protests erupted in all 50 states in May following the police killing of black man George Floyd in Minnesota.
The outrage with the White House has only inflamed with the police shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, in Kenosha, Wisconsin in front of his three children on Sunday.
Blake survived the attack but has been left paralyzed from the waist down, according to his family’s lawyer.
Donald Trump’s RNC acceptance speech in full
Friends, delegates and distinguished guests, please, I stand before you tonight honored by your support, proud of the extraordinary progress we have made together over the last four incredible years and brimming with confidence in the bright future we will build for America over the next four years.
We begin this evening, our thoughts are with the wonderful people who have just come through the wrath of Hurricane Laura. We are working closely with state and local officials in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, sparing no effort to save lives. While the hurricane was fierce, one of the strongest to make landfall in 150 years, the casualties and damage were far less than thought possible, only 24 hours ago.
And this is due to the great work of FEMA, law enforcement, and the individual states. I will be going this weekend. And congratulations, thank you for that great job out there. We really appreciate it.
We are one national family. And we will always protect, love and care for each other. Here tonight are the people who have made my journey possible and filled my life with so much joy. For her incredible service to our nation and its children, I want to thank our magnificent First Lady.
Portico: The president gave himself all the trappings of the presidency for his speech – angering Democrats and blowing throw precedent by delivering it in front of the White House’s grandest elevation
I also want to thank my amazing daughter, Ivanka, for that introduction — and to all of my wonderful children — Ivanka, please stand up.
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.
Let us also take a moment to show our profound appreciation for a man who has always fought by our side and stood up for our values, a man of deep faith and steadfast conviction, our Vice President Mike Pence.
And Mike is joined by his beloved wife, a teacher and military mom, Karen Pence. Thank you, Karen.
My fellow Americans, tonight with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly accept this nomination for President of the United States.
The Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, goes forward united, determined and ready to welcome millions of Democrats, Independents and anyone who believes in the greatness of America and the righteous heart of the American people.
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.
We will defend America against all threats and protect America against all dangers. 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 great country.
Because we understand that America is not a land cloaked in darkness. America is the torch that enlightens the entire world.
Gathered here at our beautiful and majestic White House, known all over the world as the People’s House, we cannot help but marvel at the miracle that is our great American story.
This has been the home of larger-than-life figures like Teddy Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson, who rallied Americans to bold visions of a bigger and brighter future.
Within these walls lived tenacious generals, like President Grant and Eisenhower, who led our soldiers in the cause of freedom. From these grounds, Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on a daring expedition to cross a wild and unchartered continent.
In the depths of a bloody civil war, President Abraham Lincoln looked out these very windows upon a half-completed Washington Monument, and asked God, in his providence to save our nation.
Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt welcomed Winston Churchill. And just inside they set our people on a course to victory in the Second World War.
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 life-saving therapies and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner.
We will defeat the virus and the pandemic and emerge stronger than ever before.
What united generations past was an unshakeable confidence in America’s destiny and an unbreakable faith in the American people. They knew that our country’s blessed by God and has a special purpose in this world.
It is that conviction that inspired the formation of our union, our westward expansion, the abolition of slavery, the passage of civil rights, the space program, and the overthrow of fascism, tyranny and communism.
This towering American spirit has prevailed over every challenge, and lifted us to the summit of human endeavor. And yet despite all of our greatness as a nation, everything we have achieved is now in danger.
This is the most important election in the history of our country.
Thank you. At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between the 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.
It will decide whether we rapidly create millions of high-paying jobs or whether we crush our industries and send millions of these jobs overseas as has foolishly been done for many decades.
Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists and agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.
And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we will allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it. That won’t happen.
At the Democrat National Convention, Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic and social injustice. So tonight I ask you a 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.
Our opponents say that redemption for you can only come from giving power to them. This is a tired anthem spoken by every repressive movement throughout history. But in this country, we don’t look to career politicians for salvation. In America, we don’t turn to government to restore our souls; we put our faith in almighty God.
Joe Biden is not a 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. 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 our jobs to China and many other distant lands.
Joe Biden spent his entire career outsourcing their dreams and the dreams of American workers, offshoring their jobs, opening their borders and sending their sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars, wars that never ended.
Four years ago I ran for president because I could not watch this betrayal of our country any longer. I could not sit by as career politicians let other countries take advantage of us on trade, borders, foreign policy and national defense. Our NATO partners, as an example, were very far behind in their defense payments. But at my strong urging, they agreed to pay $130 billion more a year the first time in over 20 years that they upped their payments.
And this $130 billion will ultimately go to $400 billion a year. And Secretary General Stoltenberg who heads NATO was amazed after watching for so many years, and said that President Trump did what no one else was able to do.
Thank you. From the moment I left my former life behind – and it was a good life – I have done nothing but fight for you. I did what our political establishment never expected and could never forgive. Breaking the cardinal rule of Washington politics: I kept my promise.
Together we have ended the rule of the failed political class, and they are desperate to get their power back by any means necessary. You’ve seen that. They are angry at me because, instead of putting them first, I very simply said America first.
Days after taking office, we shocked the Washington establishment and withdrew from the last administration’s job-killing Trans Pacific Partnership.
I then immediately approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. Ended the unfair and very costly Paris Climate Accord.
And secured for the first time American energy independence.
We passed record-setting tax and regulation cuts at a rate nobody had ever seen before.
Within three short years, we built the strongest economy in the history of the world.
Washington insiders asked me not to stand up to China. They pleaded with me to let China continue stealing our jobs, ripping us off, and robbing our country blind.
But I kept my word to the American people. We took the toughest, boldest, strongest and hardest-hitting action against China in American history by far.
They said that it would be impossible to terminate and replace NAFTA. But again, they were wrong. Earlier this year, I ended the NAFTA nightmare and signed the brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement into law.
And right now, auto companies and others are building their plants and factories in America, not firing their employees, and not deserting us for other countries.
And 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.
We are joined this evening by members of the Border Patrol Union representing our country’s courageous border agents. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you. Brave, brave people.
You see, this country loves our law enforcement. They do.
President Donald Trump accepted his party’s nomination for a second term
They do. They really do. Love and respect. When I learned that the Tennessee Valley Authority laid off hundreds of American workers and forced them to train their lower paid foreign replacement, I promptly removed the chairman of the board and now those talented American workers have been rehired and are back providing power to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.
They have their old jobs back, and some are here with us this evening. Please stand. You went through a lot. Please stand. Thank you. Thank you very much.
You’ve been through a lot. Thank you very much.
Last month, I took on Big Pharma. You think that’s easy? It’s not. And signed orders that will massively lower the cost of your prescription drugs and give critically ill patients access to life-saving cures. We passed the decades-long awaited right-to-try. Right-to-try.
We also passed VA Accountability and VA Choice. Our great veterans, we’re taking care of our veterans.
91 percent approval rating this month, the VA, given by our veterans. First time anything like that’s ever happened.
By the end of my first term, we will have approved more than 300 federal judges, including two great, new Supreme Court justices.
And to bring prosperity to our forgotten inner cities, we worked hard to pass historic criminal justice reform, prison reform, opportunity zones and long-term funding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and before the China virus came in, produced the best unemployment numbers for African-Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans ever recorded.
And I say very modestly that I have done more for the African-American community than any president since Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican president.
And I have done more in three years for the Black community than Joe Biden has done in 47 years.
And when I’m re-elected, the best is yet to come.
When I took office, the Middle East was in total chaos. ISIS was rampaging. Iran was on the rise. And the war in Afghanistan had no end in sight. I withdrew from the terrible one-sided Iran nuclear deal.
Unlike many presidents before me, I kept my promise, recognized Israel’s true capital and moved our embassy to Jerusalem.
But not only did we talk about it as a future site, we got it built. Rather than spending $1 billion on a new building as planned, we took an already-owned existing building in a better location, real estate deal, right?
And opened it at a cost of less than $500,000.
Many things like that that government is doing right now. We also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
And this month we achieved the first Middle East peace deal in 25 years.
Thank you to UAE. Thank you to Israel.
In addition, we obliterated 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate and killed its founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Then in a separate operation, we eliminated the world’s number one terrorist by far, Qassem Solemeini.
Unlike previous administrations I have kept America out of new wars, and our troops are coming home. We have spent nearly $2.5 trillion on completely rebuilding our military, which was very badly depleted when I took office, as you know. This includes three separate pay raises for our great warriors.
We also launched the Space Force, the first new branch of the United States military since the Air Force was created almost 75 years ago.
We have spent the last four years reversing the damage Joe Biden inflicted over the last 47 years.
Biden’s record is a shameful roll call of the most catastrophic betrayals and blunders in our lifetime. He has spent his entire career on the wrong side of history. Biden voted for the NAFTA disaster, the single-worst trade deal ever enacted. He supported China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, one of the greatest economic disasters of all time.
After those Biden calamities the United States lost one in four manufacturing jobs. We laid off workers in Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and many other states. They didn’t want to hear Biden’s hollow words of empathy. They wanted their jobs back.
As vice president, he supported the Trans Pacific Partnership which would have been a death sentence for the U.S. auto industry.
He backed the horrendous South Korea trade deal, which took many jobs from our country, and which I’ve reversed and made a great deal for our country. He repeatedly supported mass amnesty for illegal immigrants. He voted for the Iraq War. He opposed the mission to take out Osama Bin Laden. He opposed killing Soleimani. He oversaw the rise of ISIS and cheered the rise of China as a positive development for America and the world. Some positive development. That’s why China supports Joe Biden and desperately wants him to win. I can tell you that, upon very good information.
China would own our country if Joe Biden got elected. Unlike Biden, I will hold them fully accountable for the tragedy that they caused, all over the world, they caused.
In recent months, our nation and the world has been hit by the once in a century pandemic that China allowed to spread around the globe. They could have stopped it but they allowed it to come out.
We are grateful to be joined tonight by several of our incredible nurses and first responders. Please stand and accept our profound thanks and gratitude.
Many Americans, including me, 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 that have been so tragically taken. So unnecessary. In their honor we will unite, in their memory we will overcome.
And 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. Not a single American who has needed a ventilator has been denied a ventilator, which is a miracle.
Good job heading the task force by our great vice president. Thank you very much, Mike, please stand up. Please.
We shipped hundreds of millions of masks, gloves and gowns to our front-line healthcare workers. To protect our nation’s seniors we rushed supplies, testing kits and personal … to nursing homes, we gave everything you can possibly give and we’re still giving it because we’re taking care of our senior citizens.
The Army Corps of Engineers built field hospitals. And the Navy deployed our great hospital ships. We developed from scratch the largest and most advanced testing system anywhere in the world.
America has tested more than every country in Europe put together, and more than every nation in the Western Hemisphere combined. Think of that.
We have conducted 40 million more tests than the next closest nation, which is India. We developed a wide array of effective treatments including a powerful antibody treatment known as convalescent plasma. You saw that on Sunday night when we announced it. That will save thousands and thousands of lives.
Thanks to advances, we have pioneered the fatality rate and you look at it, and you look at the numbers, it has been reduced by 80 percent since April. 80 percent.
The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country anywhere in the world. The European Union’s case fatality rate is nearly three times higher than ours, but you don’t hear that. They don’t write about that. They don’t want to write about that. They don’t want you to know those things.
All together, the nations of Europe have experienced a 30 percent greater increase in excess mortality than the United States. Think of that.
We enacted the largest package of financial relief in American history. Thanks to our Paycheck Protection Program, we have saved or supported more than 50 million American jobs. That’s one of the reasons that we’re advancing so rapidly with our economy.
Great job. As a result, we have seen the smallest economic contraction of any major Western nation. And we are recovering at a much faster rate than anybody. Over the past three months, we have gained over 9 million jobs, and that’s a record in the history of our country.
Unfortunately, from the beginning our opponents have shown themselves capable of nothing but a partisan ability to criticize. When I took bold action to issue a travel ban on China, very early indeed, Joe Biden called it hysterical and xenophobic. And then I introduced a ban on Europe very early again. If we had listened to Joe, hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died.
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’s, families and citizens of all backgrounds.
In an interview with ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir last week, Joe Biden was asked if he would advocate for shutting down the country if there were a second wave of COVID-19, combined with the flu, and scientists advised that’s what he ought to do.
‘I would shut it down; I would listen to the scientists,’ Biden answered.
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.
My administration has a very different approach. To save as many lives as possible, we are focusing on the science, the facts and the data. We are aggressively sheltering those at highest risk, especially the elderly, while allowing lower risk Americans to safely return to work and to school and we want to see so many of those great states be opened by Democrats. We want them to be open. They have to be open. They have to get back to work.
They have to get back to work, and they have to get back to school.
Most importantly, we are marshalling America’s scientific genius to produce a vaccine in record time.
President Donald Trump and his family after he accepted the Republican nomination for president for a second term
Under Operation Warp Speed, we have three different vaccines in the final stage of trials, right now, years ahead of what has been achieved before. Nobody thought it could ever be done this fast. Normally it would be years and we did it in a matter of a few months.
We’re producing them in advance so that hundreds of millions of doses will be quickly available. We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year. And together we will crush the virus.
At the Democrat convention, you barely heard a word about their agenda. But that’s not because they don’t have one; it’s because their agenda is the most extreme set of proposals ever put forward by a major party nominee.
Joe Biden may claim he is an ‘ally of the light,’ but when it comes to his agenda, Biden wants to keep us completely in the dark.
He doesn’t have a clue. He has pledged a $4 trillion tax hike on almost all American families, which will totally collapse our rapidly improving economy.
And once again, record stock markets that we have right now will also collapse. That means your 401(k)s, that means all of the stocks you have.
On the other hand, just as I did in my first term, I will cut taxes even further for hard-working moms and dads. I will not raise taxes. I will cut them, and very substantially.
And we will also provide tax credits to bring jobs out of China back to America, and we will impose tariffs on any company that leaves America to produce jobs overseas.
We will make sure our companies and jobs stay in our country as I’ve already been doing for quite some time, if you’ve noticed. Joe Biden’s agenda is ‘Made in China.’ My agenda is ‘Made in the USA.’
Biden has promised to abolish the production of American oil, coal, shale and natural gas, laying waste to the economies of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico, destroying those states. Absolutely destroying those states, and others.
Millions of jobs will be lost. And energy prices will soar. These same policies led to crippling power outages in California just last week, everybody saw that. Tremendous power outage. Nobody has seen anything like it. But we saw that last week in California.
How can Joe Biden claim to be an ‘ally of the light,’ when his own party can’t even keep the lights on.
Joe Biden’s campaign has even published a 110 page policy platform, you can’t get away from this. Coauthored with far left senator, crazy Bernie Sanders.
The Biden Bernie Manifesto calls for suspending all removals of illegal aliens, implementing nationwide catch and release and providing illegal aliens with free, taxpayer-funded lawyers. Everybody gets a lawyer. Come on over to our country, everybody has a lawyer, we have a lawyer for you. That’s what we need is more lawyers.
Joe Biden recently raised his hand on the debate stage and promised, here give away — he was going to give it away, your healthcare dollars to illegal immigrants, which is going to bring healthmassive number of immigrants into our country. Massive numbers will pour into our country in order to get all of the goodies that they want to get, education, healthcare, everything.
He also supports deadly sanctuary cities that protect criminal aliens. He promised to end national security travel bans from Jihadist nations, and he pledged to increase refugee admissions by 700 percent. This is in the manifesto.
The Biden plan would eliminate America’s borders in the middle of a global pandemic. And he’s even talking about taking the wall down. How about that?
In a recent interview with a group of Black and Hispanic journalists, Biden said he would cease additional construction of the border wall, but he did not suggest he would tear down the existing wall along the southern border built during the Trump administration.
‘There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration,’ Biden told NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
Biden also vowed to oppose school choice and close all charter schools, ripping away the ladder of opportunity for Black and Hispanic children. In a second term I will expand charter schools and provide school choice to every family in America.
And we will always treat our teachers with the tremendous respect that they deserve.
Great people. Great, great people. Joe Biden claims he has empathy for the vulnerable. Yet the party he leads supports the extreme late-term abortion of defenseless babies right up until the moment of birth.
Democrat leaders talk about moral decency, but they have no problem with stopping a baby’s beating heart in the ninth month of pregnancy. Democrat politicians refuse to protect innocent life and then they lecture us about morality and saving America’s soul.
Tonight we proudly declare that all children born and unborn have a God-given right to life.
During the Democrat Convention, the words ‘under God’ were removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, not once, but twice. We will never do that.
But the fact is, this is where they’re coming from. Like it or not. This is where they’re coming from. If the left gains power they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms.
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, and there are many, there are many, many, we see them all the time, it’s incredible, actually, then how is he ever going to stand up for you? He’s not.
The most dangerous aspect of the Biden platform is the attack on public safety. The Biden-Bernie manifesto calls for abolishing cash bail, immediately releasing 400,000 criminals onto the streets and into your neighborhoods.
When asked if he supports cutting police funding, Joe Biden replied, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ When Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called the Minneapolis Police Department a cancer that is rotten to the root, Biden wouldn’t disavow her support and reject her endorsement. He proudly displayed it shortly later on his website. Displayed it in big letters.
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. My administration will always stand with the men and women of law enforcement.
Every day police officers risk their lives to keep us safe. And every year many sacrifice their lives in the line of duty.
One of these incredible Americans was Detective Miosotis Familia. She was part of a team of American Heroes called the NYPD, or New York’s finest, who I was very, very proud to get their endorsement just the other day. Great people. Great, great people.
If they were allowed to do their job. You’d have no crime in New York. Rudy Giuliani knows that better than anybody. Thank you, Rudy.
Three years ago on the 4th of July weekend, Detective Familia was on duty in her vehicle when she was ambushed just after midnight and murdered by a monster who hated her purely for wearing the badge. Detective Familia was a single mom. She recently asked for the night shift so she could spend more time with her kids.
Two years ago, I stood in front of the U.S. capitol alongside those beautiful children and held their grandmother’s hand as they mourned their terrible loss. And we honored detective Familia’s extraordinary life. It was extraordinary.
Detective Familia’s three children are with us this evening, Genesis, Peter, Delilah, we are so grateful to have you here tonight. Thank you very much.
I promise you that we will treasure your mom in our memories forever. 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.
They are afraid to act. They are afraid to lose their pension. They are afraid to lose their jobs. And by being afraid, they are not able to do the job that they so desperately want to do for you.
And those who suffer most are the great people who they protect and who they want to protect at an even higher level.
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 on as they are today, we must never allow mob rule. We can never allow mob rule.
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, many others, Democrat-run.
There’s 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. We’ll take care of your problem in a matter of hours. Just call. We have to wait for the call. It’s too bad we have to, but we have to wait for the call.
We must always have law and order. All federal crimes are being investigated, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. When the anarchists started ripping down our statues and monuments, right outside, I signed an order immediately. 10 years in prison, and it was a miracle, it all stopped. No more statues.
They said, that’s just too long, as they looked at a statue. I think we’ll rip it down. Then they said 10 years in prison I think that’s too long, let’s go home.
During their convention Joe Biden and his supporters remained completely silent about the rioters and criminals spreading mayhem in Democrat-run cities. They never even mentioned it during their entire convention. Never once mentioned.
Now they’re starting to mention it because their poll numbers are going down like a rock in water.
It’s too late, Joe. In the face of left-wing anarchy and mayhem in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities, Joe Biden’s campaign did not condemn it. They donated to it.
At least 13 members of Joe Biden’s campaign staff donated to a fund to bail out vandals, arsonists, anarchists, looters and rioters from jail.
Here tonight is the grieving family of retired police captain David Dorn, a 38-year veteran of the St. Louis Police Department, a great man and a highly respected man by all. In June, Captain Dorn was shot and killed as he tried to protect a store from rioters and looters, or as the Democrats would call them, peaceful protesters. They call them peaceful protesters.
We’re honored to be joined tonight by his wonderful wife Ann and beloved family members Brian and Kielen. To each of you, we will never forget the heroic legacy of Captain David Dorn. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Great man. Great man. As long as I am president, we will defend the absolute right of every American citizen to live in security, dignity and peace.
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 year over 1,000 African-Americans were murdered as a result of violent crime in just four Democrat-run cities. The top 10 most dangerous cities in the country are run by Democrats and have been for many decades. Thousands more African-Americans are victim and victims of violent crime in these communities.
Joe Biden and the Left ignore these American victims. I never will. If the Radical Left takes power, they will apply their disastrous policies to every city, town and suburb in America. Just imagine if the so-called peaceful demonstrators in the streets were in charge of every lever of power in the U.S. government, just think of that.
Liberal politicians claim to be concerned about the strength of American institutions. But who exactly is attacking them? Who is hiring the radical professors, judges and prosecutors? Who is trying to abolish immigration enforcement and establish speech codes designed to muzzle dissent.
In every case attacks on American institutions are being waged by radical left.
Always remember they’re coming after me because I am fighting for you. That’s what’s happening.
And it’s been going on from before I even got elected.
And remember this, they spied on my campaign and they got caught. Let’s see now what happens. We must reclaim our independence from the Left’s repressive mandates. Americans are exhausted trying to keep up with the latest lists of approved words and phrases. And the ever-more restrictive political decrees.
Many things have a different name now. And the rules are constantly changing. The goal of cancel culture is to make decent Americans live in fear of being fired, expelled, shamed, humiliated and driven from society as we know it.
The far Left wants to coerce you into saying what you know to be false and scare you out of saying what you know to be true. Very sad.
But on November 3rd, you can send them a very thundering message they will never forget.
Joe Biden is weak. He takes his marching orders from liberal hypocrites who drive their cities into the ground while fleeing far from the scene of the wreckage. These same liberals want to eliminate school choice while they enroll their children in the finest private schools in the land.
They want to open our borders while living in walled-off compounds in communities in the best neighborhoods in the world.
They want to defund the police while they have armed guards for themselves. This November we must turn the page forever on this failed political class. The fact is I’m here — what’s the name of that building?
But I’ll say it differently. The fact is we’re here and they’re not.
To me one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere in the world, it’s not a building, it’s a home, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not even a house, it’s a home. It’s a wonderful place, with an incredible history.
But it’s all because of you. Together we will write the next chapter of the great American story. Over the next four years we will make America into the manufacturing superpower of the world. We will expand opportunity zones.
Thank you, Tim Scott. Bring home our medical supply chains, and we will end our resilience for bad things, we will go right after China. We will not rely on them one bit. We’re taking our business out of China. We are bringing it home. We want our business to come home.
We will continue to reduce taxes and regulations at levels not seen before. We will create 10 million jobs in the next ten months, and it will be higher than that. We will hire more police, increase penalties for assaults on law enforcement, and surge federal prosecutors into high-crime communities. We will ban deadly sanctuary cities and ensure that federal healthcare is protected for American citizens, not for illegal aliens.
We will have strong borders. And I’ve said for years, without borders we don’t have a country. Don’t have a country. Strike down terrorists who threaten our people, and keep America out of endless and costly foreign wars.
We will appoint prosecutors, judges, justices who believe in enforcing the law, not enforcing their own political agenda — which is illegal. We’ll ensure equal justice for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. We will uphold your religious liberty and defend your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
And if we don’t win, your Second Amendment doesn’t have a chance. I can tell you that. I have totally protected it.
We will protect Medicare and Social Security.
We will always and very strongly protect patients with pre-existing conditions. And that is a pledge from the entire Republican Party. Thank you, Kevin.
We will end surprise medical billing; require price transparency, and further reduce the costs of prescription drugs and health insurance premiums. They’re coming way down. We will greatly expand energy development, continuing to remain the number one in the world and keep America energy-independent.
And for those of you that still drive a car, look how low your gasoline bill is. You haven’t seen that in a long time.
We will win the race to 5G and build the world’s best cyber and missile defense, already under construction. We will fully restore patriotic education to our schools and always protect — we will always, always protect free speech on college campuses.
‘Teach American Exceptionalism’ is one of two bullet points under ‘Education’ listed in a White House press release covering ‘Trump’s 2nd Term Agenda.’ The other is ‘Provide School Choice To Every Child In America.’
And we put a very big penalty in — if they do anything having to do with your free speech, colleges have to pay a tremendous, tremendous financial penalty. And again it’s amazing how open they’ve been lately.
We will launch a new age of American ambition in space. America will land the first woman on the moon, and the United States will be the first nation to plant its beautiful flag on Mars.
This is the unifying national agenda that will bring our country together. So tonight I say 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.
Our opponents believe that America is a depraved nation. We want our sons and daughters to know the truth. America is the greatest and most exceptional nation in the history of the world.
Our country wasn’t built by cancel culture, speech codes and soul-crushing conformity. We are not a nation of timid spirits. We are a nation of fierce, proud and independent American patriots.
We’re a nation of pilgrims, pioneers, adventurers, explorers and trailblazers who refuse to be tied down, held back, or in any way reined in. And we have steel in our spines and grit in their souls and fire in their hearts. There is no one like us on earth.
I want every child in America to know that you are part of the most exciting and incredible adventure in human history. No matter where your family comes from, no matter your background in America, anyone can rise, with hard work, devotion and drive, you can reach any goal and achieve every ambition.
Our American ancestors sailed across the perilous ocean to build a new life on a new continent. They braved the freezing winters, crossed the raging rivers, scaled the rocky peaks, trekked the dangerous forests, and worked from dawn until dusk. These pioneers didn’t have money. They didn’t have fame. But they had each other. They loved their families. They loved their country, and they loved their God.
When opportunity beckoned they picked up their bibles, packed up their belongings, climbed into their covered wagons and set out west for the next adventure.
Ranchers and miners, cowboys and sheriffs, farmers and settlers, they pressed on past the Mississippi to stake a claim in the wild frontier.
Legends were born. Wyatt Earp, Annie Oakley, Davy Crocket and Buffalo Bill. Americans built their beautiful homesteads on the open range. Soon they had churches and communities. Then towns. And with time, great centers of industry and commerce.
That is who they were. Americans build their future. We don’t tear down our past. We are the nation that won a revolution, toppled tyranny and fascism, and delivered millions into freedom. We laid down the railroads, built the great ships, raised up the skyscrapers, revolutionized industry and sparked a new age of scientific discovery. We set the trends in art and music, radio and film, sport and literature.
And we did it all with style and confidence and flair because that is who we are. Whenever our way of life was threatened, our heroes answered the call. From Yorktown to Gettysburg, from Normandy to Iwo Jima, American patriots raced into cannon blasts, bullets and bayonets to rescue American liberty.
They had no fear, but America didn’t stop there. We looked into the sky and kept pressing onward. We built a 6 million pound rocket and launched it thousands of miles into space. We did it so that two brave patriots could stand tall and salute our wondrous American flag, planted on the face of the moon.
For America, nothing is impossible. Over the next four years, we will prove worthy of this magnificent legacy. We will reach stunning new heights. And we will show that the world, for America, there is a dream. And it is not beyond your reach.
Together we are unstoppable. Together, we are unbeatable, because together we are the proud citizens of the United States of America.
And on November 3rd, we will make America safer. We will make America stronger. We will make America prouder. And we will make America greater than ever before.
I’m very, very proud to be the nominee of the Republican Party. I love you all. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you very much.