New Delhi: Donald Trump on Thursday officially accepted his re-nomination as the Presidential Candidate for the Ruling Party as the curtains came down on the Republican National Convention. Daughter Ivanka Trump introduced her father at the White House Lawns where delegates sat without physical distancing or mostly maskless amid a pandemic which has claimed more than 180,000 lives in America and still counting.
Ivanka in her speech projected her father as the 'People's President' who may be politically incorrect but works hard to 'Make America Great Again'.
"My father has strong convictions. He knows what he believes, and says what he thinks. Whether you agree with him or not, you always know where he stands. I recognize that my dad's communication style is not to everyone's taste. And I know his tweets can feel a bit -- unfiltered. But the results speak for themselves," said Ivanka Trump.
While Trump himself focused his speech on targeting his opponent Joe Biden and his past legislative record of 47 years. He painted the Democrats as the 'ultra radical left' and questioned why violence and arson broke out in Democrat-controlled cities of Minneapolis or Kenosha on issues of racism and black lives.
"This is the most important election in the history of our country. At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two 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," said Trump.
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"And this election will decide whether we will defend the American Way of Life, or whether we allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it. 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 very simple question: How can the Democrat Party ask to lead our country when it spends so much time tearing down our country?" he added in his 71-minute-long speech.
So how did the physical Republican National Convention score over the virtual Democratic Convention held last week? Many are criticising the use of the historic White House, home to serving American Presidents, as a political prop for one party convention. Was there an attempt at trying to humanise Trump and make him look more compassionate and caring through the choice of delegates who spoke? What will be the main issues that will decide the outcomes of the November Presidential Polls? Senior Journalist Smita Sharma in this episode of the exclusive series #BattlegroundUSA2020 discussed the key takeaways from RNC and Trump's official acceptance speech.
Speaking from Washington DC, Senior Journalist and Columnist Seema Sirohi said, "There were around 1,500 people in the White House lawns, hardly any of them wore masks. That was very noticeable. The chairs were very close to each other. As if the pandemic was not on. One of the speakers spoke about the pandemic in the past tense. So it was as like a different reality, an alternate universe. On one of the entrance to the White House there were protesters and police who were guarding the gates. Tomorrow is a big march in Washington. I felt like it was two different countries. That has been the case for a while but today it was in such stark terms it was put in words."
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"You heard a story today about what America is and what it should be from a Trumpian perspective and we heard about what America is and should be from the Biden campaign a few days ago. At one level both stories are equally valid or invalid. The success of who actually gets the majority support for their story is what determines an election," argued Varghese K George, Associate Editor of the Hindu. Varghese is the author of 'Open Embrace: Indo-US Ties In The Age of Modi and Trump'.
"So in this contest between these two stories as presented by Trump and Biden - Trump's story as it was put out today including the fact that 'we don't care for the virus , we are a civilisation that does not surrender to the virus but fights back and will conquer and crush the virus', that is a linear narrative of American history as it is presented to its own people and to the world. That is a country that actually believes that Americans went to Iraq to fight and establish democracy in the Middle East," added Varghese George who was previously posted in Washington DC during the 2016 elections.
Drawing parallels between the political ideological campaigns of Republicans and the BJP, he underlined that as PM Modi transcended the caste barriers to promote a larger Hindu-Hindutva agenda, similarly Trump on the issue of Black Lives Matter is appealing to the larger Catholic faith that binds even the Afro-American community through his conservative evangelical narrative amid protests against systemic racism.
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In his acceptance speech, Trump accused Biden of being soft on Beijing saying 'China would own our country if Joe Biden got elected'. He also highlighted the shifting of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the US led peace agreement between UAE and Israel.
"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," said Trump.
"We also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and this month we achieved the first Middle East peace deal in 25 years. In addition, we obliterated 100 per cent 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, Qasem Soleimani. Unlike previous administrations, I have kept America OUT of new wars – and our troops are coming home," he added.
Smita Sharma asked Priyank Mathur, CEO of Mythos Labs that focuses on countering violent extremisms, whether Trump's peace plan for the Middle East and security issues like the killing of Baghdadi or Sulemaini will resonate as an election issue. "Normally foreign policy is not a resonating factor with American elections. But it can be in two scenarios. This is a special case because Israel is a special sub category of foreign policy. Faith is a big part of the right wing. Israel is very closely associated with evangelical right wing faith," said Priyank Mathur arguing that it is signalling to the religious base regardless of the merits or the demerits of the peace deal.
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"Qasem Sulemaini or Baghdadi are not as big names as Osama Bin Laden. You can tell they are trying to recreate that magic. They are trying to say this was our Bin Laden and we killed him. Fact of the matter is most of the Americans do not know who Qasem Suleimani is," said Priyank Mathur as he recalled the jubilant celebrations on the streets of America following the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US Navy Seals in the Obama regime.
The discussion also focused on the controversy surrounding postal ballots in the US because of Coronavirus and if the concerns of voters are genuine. The panelists agreed that it could lead to messier election outcomes as the results are not going to declare on 4th November after polls as was the case in the past but could be delayed by up to a week
