Mike Pence accuses Biden of 'attacking America' in Republican convention speech – live

Lara Trump earlier misquoted Abraham Lincoln:

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter & lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves,” Trump said.

From PolitiFact:

On Jan. 27, 1838, Lincoln spoke before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, about “the perpetuation of our political institutions.” During that address, he said: “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

Michael Burlingame, a chair in Lincoln studies at the University of Illinois Springfield, told us Lincoln “was denouncing mob violence which would lead to chaos, provoking the public to demand law and order, which would be provided by an ambitious leader who would rule tyrannically.”

– MS

Mike Pence said Trump suspended “tall travel from China”. He did not – he restricted travel from China. After the restrictions went into place, nearly 40,000 Americans and other exempted travelers made their way to the US from China.

Also, the travel restrictions limiting trips from China and Europe were enacted after the virus was already circulating within the US. Public health experts told me they were an ineffective measure against the virus.

– Maanvi Singh

At the end of his speech, Vice President Mike Pence was joined onstage by the president and the first lady, as well as his wife, second lady Karen Pence.

Mike Pence honored Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal officer who was shot during the “riots in Oakland California”. What Pence’s vague phrasing omits: An air force sergeant with links to the far-right “boogaloo” movement, was charged with killing Underwood.

Pence’s mention of Underwood came with a tirade against rioters and looters amid protests against police brutality, misleadingly implying that largely peaceful demonstrators in Oakland (where – not-so-coincidentally, Kamala Harris was born) were somehow involved.

Here’s more about the Underwood case, from my colleague Lois Beckett:

– Maanvi Singh

Echoing the dark theme of the Republican convention, Vice President Mike Pence painted a dire picture of the alleged dangers of electing Joe Biden.

“President Trump set our nation on a path to freedom and opportunity from the very first day of this administration,” Pence said. “But Joe Biden would set America on a path of socialism and decline.”

Biden does not identify as a socialist, and under the current Trump administration, the US unemployment rate stands at 10.2%.

Sounding like a Trump campaign ad, Vice-President Mike Pence said, “The hard truth is you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”

Pence continued, “Under President Trump, we will stand with those who stand on the thin blue line, and we’re not going to defund the police – not now, not ever.”

Despite the claims of many convention speakers this week, Biden does not support defunding the police and has repeatedly said so.

Like other convention speakers, Vice-President Mike Pence tried to direct focus to the pre-pandemic economy.

“In our first three years, we built the greatest economy in the world,” Pence said. “We made America great again. And then the coronavirus struck from China.”

The US unemployment rate is currently at 10.2%, and tens of millions of Americans remain jobless.

Pence also took issue with Joe Biden’s comment last week that “no miracle is coming” to save the US from the pandemic.

“What Joe doesn’t seem to understand is that America is a nation of miracles and we’re on track to have the world’s first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year.”

As Mike Pence was speaking at the RNC, Joe Biden countered with this:

The Milwaukee Bucks boycotted their game today as a protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Milwaukee’s baseball team, the Brewers, have also boycotted their upcoming game.

– Maanvi Singh

In his convention speech, Mike Pence reflected on Trump’s leadership style since taking office.

“He does things his own way, on his own terms. Not much gets past him and when he has an opinion, he’s liable to share it,” Pence said.

“He’s certainly kept things interesting,” Pence added. “But more importantly, President Donald Trump has kept his word to the American people.”

According to Politifact, Trump has actually broken about half of the promises he has made to the American people.

Madison Cawthorn, the 25-year-old congressional candidate in North Carolina said, “James Madison was just 25 years old when he signed the Declaration of Independence.”

James Madison did not sign the Declaration of Independence, though he was 25 when other people signed it.

– Maanvi Singh

In his convention speech, Vice-President Mike Pence provided an update on the response to Hurricane Laura and offered a message of support to those affected by the storm.

“Stay safe, and know that we’ll be with you every step of the way,” Pence said.

Ric Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany and the former acting director of national intelligence, said he saw how Trump “charmed the chancellor of Germany”.

Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, has expressed that she is decidedly not charmed by how Donald Trump runs the country. Speaking about the global response to coronavirus pandemic in July, Merkel had this thinly veiled rebuke: “As we are experiencing first-hand, you cannot fight the pandemic with lies and disinformation any more than you can fight it with hate or incitement to hatred.”

Speaking at a Harvard graduation ceremony in 2019 she said: “More than ever our actions have to be multilateral rather than unilateral … Don’t disguise lies as truth, and truth as lies … Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness,” mounting an argument against Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy.

She did not visit the White House during a visit to the country. And then there’s this:

– Maanvi Singh