Trump blisters Biden in divisive speech aimed at Republicans

Speaking to a non-distanced crowd at the White House, Trump defines the election choice facing Americans in stark terms.President Donald Trump criticised his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, as "weak" and drew sharp divisions between what Republicans envision for the United States and what he said Democrats advocate, as he rounded up his party's national convention and staked his claim for a second term in office."Our opponents believe America is a depraved nation. They argued vehemently that riots in US cities run by Democrats foreshadow a lawless future for the nation if Trump is not re-elected.Keith Whittington, professor of politics at Princeton University, said Trump was trying to shift blame for the pandemic and the protests to others, a challenging political task but one that could yield gains as his re-election campaign kicks into gear over the next 10 weeks."The Trump administration is tied-up in some of the policy responses to the economy and the pandemic such that he cannot very easily distance himself from that and say this is somebody else's fault," Whittington said. But, "in the context of the rioting in the cities, he has a little bit more credibility in being able to say other government officials have primary responsibility for this, they have not been doing a good enough job," Whittington told Al Jazeera.Several Republican speakers in Thursday's largely virtual convention programme defended Trump's hostile approach towards the Black Lives Matter protests."President Trump does not dabble in identity politics," said Ben Carson, Trump's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development."He wants everyone to succeed and believes in the adage, 'a rising tide lifts all boats'.