Donald Trump’s nomination acceptance speech, while long on words and time, was short on substantial policy or social initiatives; it was long on platitudes and short on facts, designed to feed his base.
In a shocking slap in the face to the population of the United States in front of “The People’s House,” Trump stopped his speech in the middle of a sentence saying “The fact is, I’m here…”, pointed to the White House behind him, and asked the crowd, “What’s the name of that building?” He then turned back to his hooting partisan crowd and said, “But I’ll say it differently: the fact is, we’re here, and they’re not,” as if he owned the White House.
Unlike Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s acceptance speech, which was done direct-to-camera to adhere to coronavirus safety protocols, Trump had the South Lawn filled with about 1,000 people sitting shoulder to shoulder as political banners hung on fences, making the White House a political prop.
On the night when the United States crossed 180,000 fatalities due to the coronavirus, Trump glossed over the personal trauma felt by Americans, instead referring to the virus as something that he addressed and beat, a belief far from the truth.
Introduced to Lee Greenwood’s only song, “Proud to be an American,” Donald Trump took the stage, his hair bouncing in the breeze, Trump accepted his Party’s nomination for president.
Trump said that Hurricane Laura hit the shores with less power than expected, with Trump claiming “this is due to the great work of FEMA, law enforcement and the individual states.” [Fact Check: FEMA et al had nothing to do with weakening the storm.]
Trump spoke in very broad terms about restoring the economy and improving American standing while patting himself on the back for things that happened prior to February 2020–and even many of the accomplish of his predecessor.
Trump highlighted his venue, the White House–a choice of scene that is the cause of controversy because Trump chose a government space for an overtly political event.
Speaking of the coronavirus, Trump promised that “we’ll deliver a vaccine by the end of the year… maybe even sooner.”
[Fact Check: Medical and public health professionals state that a vaccine will not be available until early 2021, with widespread distribution in Summer 2021.]
Trump’s dystopian view of America continued, painting Democrats, saying “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.”
[Fact Check: Personally, I’ve never heard that “tired anthem” before; it doesn’t even make sense. And in July 2016, Trump declared, “I alone can fix it,” holding himself up as the savior of the nation.]
Trump said, “Our NATO partners were 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.”
[Fact Check: This is an outright lie. NATO members do not make payments to NATO. NATO members pledged in 2014, while Barack Obama was president, to spend 2% of their GDP on national defense spending. They’ve increased allocations since, until the coronavirus recession struck.]
Trump bragged that he withdrew from the TransPacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Accords, and approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. He also said he “secured for the first time, American energy independence.”
[Fact check: America is not “energy independent.” We are a net exporter of energy, which we achieved in 2014 under President Obama, but we are still dependent on importing fossil fuels to power our nation.]
“We have already built 300 miles of border wall, and we are adding ten new miles every single week,” Trump claimed. “The wall will soon be complete, and it is working beyond our wildest expectations.”
[Fact Check: As of June 24th, only three new miles were built; the rest was replacement. And it’s not a wall; it’s a fence. And we never got a check from Mexico.]
Trump said, “We also passed VA accountability and VA choice. Our great veterans. We’re taking care of our veterans. 91% approval rating given by our veterans, first time it’s ever happened.”
[Fact Check: The VA Accountability Act was passed in 2017, with Trump promising to get rid of ineffective medical professionals and administrators. A year later, military and health care experts challenge the effectiveness of the act, saying that it led to administrative nightmares as personnel were forced out or resigned. For the umpteenth time, Veterans Choice was passed by President Obama in 2014. And Trump’s claim that the 91% approval rating was the first time that ever happened is a lie: it happened as recently as 2013; in fact, the 2019 survey showed that the approval rating fell to 80%. Please remember as well that Trump put Jared Kushner in charge of revamping the VA; that never happened.]
“Unlike previous administrations,” Trump claimed, “I have kept America out of new wars, and our troops are coming home. … This includes three separate pay raises for our great warriors.”
[Fact Check: Troops are not coming home; they’re being redeployed to other duty stations overseas. Trump has increased the number of troops in the Middle East. And pay raises have happened annually, with larger raises put in place by Obama in 2009 and 2010.]
“We developed a wide array of effective treatments [for coronavirus] including a powerful antibody treatment know as ‘convalescent plasma’–you saw that on Sunday night when we announced it–that will save thousand and thousand of lives. We have pioneered the fatality rate, and you look at it and you look at the numbers,” Trump stated. “It has been reduced by 80% since April. The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country of anywhere in the world. The European Union’s case fatality rate is nearly three times higher than ours, but you don’t hear that.”
[Fact Check: Convalescent plasma is still a questionable treatment. There are no known treatments for coronavirus. The case fatality rate has shrunk in the United States because testing became more available in the spring: more cases of asymptomatic patients means a lower fatality rate. And with a 3.1% case fatality rate the US ranks in the bottom half of case fatality rate of all countries.]
“We will make sure our companies and jobs stay in our country, as I’ve been doing for quite some time if you’ve noticed,” Trump said. “Joe Biden’s agenda is ‘Made in China’; my agenda is ‘Made in the USA.'”
[Fact Check: Biden’s platform specifically says that he will implement economic plans to bring jobs to the US and limit overseas outsources; the republicans have no party platform, so you cannot check their policy. Trump also made many of his Trump-branded products overseas–particularly the clothing lines that bore his and his daughter’s names. And the United States has lost a net 6.2 million jobs since Trump took office. Yes, we’ve noticed.]
Trump claimed, “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.”
[Fact Check: Biden made no such “promise.” He has pushed for renewable energy growth, which would transition jobs and economic growth to these new sectors. Oh, and coal jobs under Trump have decreased by 6,400 since Trump took office.]
“[Biden] promised to end national security travel bans from jihadist nations,” Trump claimed, “and he pledged to increase refugee admissions by 700%. 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. Biden also vowed to oppose school choice and all charter schools, ripping away the ladder of opportunity for Black and Hispanic children.”
[Fact Check: It’s not a manifesto; it’s a 92-page Party Platform that Democrats released outlining their policies, beliefs and goals. By contrast, the republican “manifesto” is one page which basically says they’ll do anything Trump says. The platform does not put a goal on refugee entries, but Trump’s limit was just 18,000 per year; during the Obama administration, it was 110,000. Biden has not proposed eliminating our borders; that’s absurd. Biden will not eliminate charter schools, but will put them under tighter scrutiny so they live up to standards the same or higher than other public schools. And Biden will not do away with vouchers, but limit vouchers to be used only when those vouchers do not impact the monies funding public schools.]
Trump: “During the Democrat [sic] Convention the words “under God” were removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, not once, but twice.
[Fact Check: Sorta true. It happened during two caucus meetings.]
Trump: “If the Left gains power they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns, and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and Constitutional freedoms.”
[Fact Check: Lie. Lie. Aaaaaannnnd lie–because by definition and Constitutional law, a Supreme Court justice cannot rewrite the Constitution. Oh, and the only president to call for gun confiscation without due process was Donald Trump.]
Trump: “Biden wants to do away with cash bail and let 400,000 criminals out on the streets.”
[Fact check: Bail is a financial incentive to make sure someone appears in court. It is not a punishment, nor is it imposed on “criminals.” By definition, a suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a trial in court, therefore those people under bail are not criminals. And cash bail has proven to be ineffective in ensuring someone shows up for trial, nor is it needed for non-violent suspects.]
Trump made a statement that his administration is working to protect people with pre-existing conditions.
[Fact Check: The Trump Administration is fighting a court battle to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Trump has no plans to replace it.]