Liz Peek: Trump makes riveting case for reelection, shows America what it is in for if Biden wins

If the point of a political convention is to get your party’s message out, win over voters and boost your candidate’s prospects, then make no mistake about the 2020 conventions, Republicans absolutely buried Democrats.
The polling tells us so.
Joe Biden got zero boost from the Democrats’ grievance-fueled slog-fest last week. The Democratic presidential nominee's polls did not move higher; in fact, they dropped, and especially in the critical swing states.
Though it is too soon to determine how the GOP convention shifted President Trump’s standing, we do know that over the past week, his approval ratings have moved higher in those battleground states, and especially on his handling of COVID-19. This is a blow to his opponents.
During their virtual confab, Democrats repeatedly savaged the president for failing to protect Americans from the virus; that message, according to a CNBC poll take after their convention, appears to have fallen flat.
Not only did Republicans swat down Democratic Party talking points during their convention, but they also put on a much, much better show.
Struggling against the confines of social distancing, Republicans presented most of their speakers in the handsome Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, and in historical sites like Fort McHenry, where Vice President Mike Pence accepted his nomination.
It was a subtle and effective dig at those trying to erase U.S. history and tear down our monuments.
Democrats, by contrast, held most of their event in the anodyne Wisconsin Center which is, well, a convention center.
More importantly, Republicans made a convincing case that voters have a very clear choice in November. They can reelect Donald Trump and vote for policies that will protect and benefit all Americans, or they can elect Joe Biden to sacrifice our freedoms, fatten the federal government and squander the gains of the past three years.
Democrats spent their convention denouncing America as a hotbed of “systemic racism” and profound inequality. Republicans celebrated the United States as a land of immense opportunity, a nation of promise to all who were willing to work hard and obey our laws.
While Democrats praised Biden as a good guy whose personal tragedies had given him enormous empathy, they all but ignored both his policies and achievements.

Democrats spent their convention denouncing America as a hotbed of “systemic racism” and profound inequality. Republicans celebrated the United States as a land of immense opportunity, a nation of promise to all who were willing to work hard and obey our laws.

By contrast, Republicans reviewed Trump’s many accomplishments of the past three-plus years; the list includes bringing home hostages held overseas, revamping our trade deals to better serve American workers, rebuilding our depleted military, staunching the flow of people illegally crossing our southern border, broadening school choice, standing up to China, creating 7 million new jobs, rolling back cumbersome and costly regulations, installing three hundred conservative judges to the federal bench, battling human trafficking, reducing prescription drug prices, getting NATO nations to up their defense spending and cutting taxes for working-class families and so much more.
Republicans showcased a slew of fresh, energized and appealing young faces like New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, and Texas’ Rep. Dan Crenshaw, among others.
By contrast, Democrats heard from old-timers Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry and – ye gods -- Jimmy Carter. In fairness, former first lady Michelle and her husband President Barack Obama also spoke, which gave the gathering a pulse.

Trump made a compelling case for his reelection, emphasizing his promise to restore order to our cities, keep America safe, stand up for our cops, and rebuild our economy.

Countering Democrats’ charge that President Trump lacks compassion, is a racist and misogynist, were several women and African-American speakers who testified to the president’s character.
Perhaps most compelling were the words of revered former football star Hershel Walker, who said he was insulted by those who insinuated that he could have been friends for 37 years with someone who is a racist.
For sure, however, nothing presented a more vivid contrast than the candidates themselves.
Biden appeared only once at his party’s convention last week, delivering a speech via TelePrompter on the final night – a presentation that attracted only 350,000 more viewers than watched on the previous evening. Traditionally, the candidate’s address boosts audiences by 4 to 10 million viewers.
President Trump, by comparison, was the Energizer Bunny of his party’s event, popping up several times throughout the four days.
He hosted inspiring chats with hostages whom he had helped return to the U.S., delivered a surprise pardon for a convicted bank robber who has since become an advocate for criminal justice and showcased a naturalization ceremony – all in prime time.
During the final night of the GOP convention, President Trump formally accepted his nomination on the South Lawn of the White House, before about 1,000 people, adding to the excitement of the occasion.
Democrats will squawk that the gathering was dangerous but all had doubtless been tested beforehand; many wore masks.
Trump made a compelling case for his reelection, emphasizing his promise to restore order to our cities, keep America safe, stand up for our cops, and rebuild our economy.
He forcefully condemned Biden's far-left platform, warning that his promised $4 trillion tax hike would stifle our nation’s growth and that his Socialist agenda would crimp America’s freedoms.
Throughout the convention, however, it was the stories of ordinary people surviving extraordinary circumstances that stole the show.
People like Alice Johnson, who was given a second chance when Trump commuted her life sentence on nonviolent drug charges in 2018.
Or the parents of Kayla Mueller, an American humanitarian worker killed by ISIS, who spoke so movingly about the president’s efforts on their behalf.
Or, Ann Dorn, widow of African-American St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn who tragically shot and killed in St. Louis while reportedly trying to protect his friend's small business from rioters.
These folks and scores of others brought to life the many ways that President Trump’s policies have helped Americans in every walk of life – policies he will pursue if given another four years. Policies that, in some instances, have rattled the Establishment.
As Ivanka Trump said as she introduced her father, “Washington has not changed Donald Trump; Donald Trump has changed Washington.”
For many Americans, that is his greatest selling point.

Sen. Rand Paul thanks DC cops for saving him from 'crazed mob' after RNC

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he was attacked by a "crazed mob" of more than 100 people after leaving the White House following President Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican Convention.
"Just got attacked by an angry mob of over 100, one block away from the White House, he wrote on Twitter early Friday. "Thank you to @DCPoliceDept for literally saving our lives from a crazed mob."
Video on social media appeared to show a crowd chasing and jeering Paul, who was escorted by D.C. police as he returned to his hotel. An officer was captured on video being shoved by a protester and was nearly knocked over. Paul appeared to help steady the officer.
Police formed a wall around Paul and his wife, Kelley Paul as protesters chanted, "Breonna Taylor" and "no justice, no peace!"
Paul had introduced the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act in June to prohibit no-knock warrants, which allow law enforcement officials to forcibly enter a home without announcing their authority or purpose.
The bill was named in honor of Taylor, a Louisville resident who was killed during a police raid on her home in March, under the authority of a no-knock warrant.
Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the White House on Thursday evening as President Trump prepared to give his speech from the South Lawn.
Fencing was set up along the perimeter of the White House to keep protesters away, but shouts could be heard from the South Lawn.
Protesters yelled, “No justice, no peace!” and “Join us!” while holding anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs, beating drums and playing other music.
The demonstration was complete with a band, what appeared to be a “party” school bus and a character dressed as the infamous Baby Trump holding a cell phone. Images showed attendees taking photos of a guillotine with an effigy of Trump.
Once Trump's speech was over, the unrest seemed to intensify. Videos emerged on social media that appeared to show city police clashing with protesters who called them names like "pig." There were unconfirmed reports of arrests.
Video emerged that claimed to show a bus carrying RNC attendees being targeted by protesters, some of whom jumped on and tried to gain entry. Others appeared to try and prevent the bus from backing up.
"Hey, ya'll ... want to hang out and play?" one protester could be heard yelling to those inside as he appeared to bang on the vehicle. "Hey, excuse me ... I'm just trying to hang out," he continued.
Video posted by the Daily Caller purportedly showed protesters hurling expletives at attendees leaving Trump's speech. Police officers appeared to provide security for the guests.
"Go to hell," one person could be heard shouting.

Rioters rally along 16th Street, Northwest, renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington. (Associated Press)

An elderly couple was confronted as they crossed the street by at least one protester who screamed at them while making an obscene gesture, according to a video.
The demonstration outside the White House had three stages and five DJs for the “Drown Out Trump Live GoGo Show and Noise Demo” planned to coincide with Trump’s speech, Washington's FOX 5 reported.
Rioters also reportedly planned a yoga session, vigil for Black lives killed by police and a “paint and protest.”
There were small arguments between anti-Trump protesters and those supporting the president, The Washington Post reported.

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Pence accepts VP nomination, warns voters 'you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America'

On a rare evening when he took top billing over his boss, Vice President Pence spotlighted President Trump’s accomplishments over the past four years and made the case for another term in the White House as he delivered his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

But the vice president also painted a dark picture Wednesday of what the nation would look like if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins November’s general election, warning that “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”
Pence said Biden "didn't say one word" last week at the Democratic National Convention about the violence in American cities and then declared: “We will have law and order on the streets of this country."
The Trump re-election campaign previewed that the vice president would deliver an address with an "optimistic tone,” but Pence spent parts of his speech taking aim at the Democratic challenger and his party.
Hammering home a theme the Trump campaign’s been voicing all summer, the vice president charged that “Joe Biden would be nothing more than a trojan horse for a radical left” and he emphasized that “the choice in this election has never been clearer and the stakes have never been higher.”
Pence warned that “our economic recovery is on the ballot, law and order is on the ballot. But so are things far more fundamental and foundational to our country.”
"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. But we’re not going to let it happen."

And looking back to last week's Democratic convention, Pence argued that "Democrats spent four days attacking America."
Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield, reacting to Pence's speech, charged that the vice president "offered up debunked scare tactics and gaslighting in an attempt to further divide us."
As the vice president delivered his address, unrest continued to rock Kenosha, Wisconsin following the police shooting of a Black man. The latest protests come amid a summer of demonstrations over police brutality against minorities and racial injustice.
Pence emphasized that “President Trump and I know the men and women that put on the uniform of law enforcement are the best of us. They put their lives on the line every day.”
And he said that “the American people know we don't have to choose between supporting law enforcement, and standing with African-American neighbors to improve the quality of life in our cities and towns.”

Slamming Biden, Pence charged that the former vice president “says America is systemically racist. And that law enforcement in America has a quote, "implicit bias" against minorities.”

Pence spotlighted that when Biden was asked “whether he'd support cutting funding to law enforcement, and he replied, ‘Yes, absolutely.’" And he stressed that “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.”
Biden’s “yes, absolutely” comments – which have also been showcased in Trump campaign ads – appear to be taken out of context. Biden’s response came after he was asked about calls by some protestors to redirect some police funding to social services in order to reduce fatal police encounters. And Biden has repeatedly made clear this summer that “I don’t support defunding the police.”
The emphasis by Pence, the president, and his campaign, on law and order comes as Trump tries to win back suburban voters who supported him in 2016 but fled the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections.
According to a Fox News national poll conducted earlier this month, Biden leads the president among registered voters in the suburbs by 16 percentage points.
And the survey indicates registered voters nationwide by a 48%-42% margin trust Biden over Trump to do a better job handling policing and criminal justice.
On a convention night themed “land of heroes,” the vice president appropriately enough delivered his address from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md. The historic landmark was the site of a War of 1812 battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner." In attendance, the president, first lady Melania Trump, second lady Karen Pence, Medal of Honor recipients, veterans from various wars, and first responders.
Spotlighting the administration’s accomplishments, Pence touted that “despite unrelenting opposition and obstruction from the Swamp in Washington, we built the greatest economy in the world. We made America great again!”

And he shared a portrait of the president that most Americans never see, sharing that “I've worked closely with our president. I've seen him when the cameras are off. Americans see President Trump in lots of different ways, but there's no doubt how President Trump sees America. He sees America for what it is...a Nation that has done more good in this world than any other...a Nation that deserves far more gratitude than grievance.”
And he argued that “every day, President Trump has been fighting to protect the promise of America. Every day, our President has been fighting to expand the reach of the American Dream. And on every day, President Donald Trump has been fighting for you.”
Looking to November’s general election, Pence urged voters to “ask yourself: Who do you trust to rebuild this economy? A career politician who presided over the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression? Or a proven leader who created the greatest economy in the world?”
"We will make America great again -- again," Pence said.
Ahead of his formal nomination acceptance speech, the vice president took a jabs from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris.
Pointing to Pence’s role leading the White House coronavirus task force, Pelosi argued that “there's nothing for him to be proud of in terms of his role in fighting this virus. In fact there's evidence to support the fact that he was very slow on the draw, pulled his punch when he should have been leading with it. And he's part of the indictment on the coronavirus.”
Harris, in a fundraising email to supporters, spotlighted that “American families are reeling from the worst public health crisis in a century, and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Trump and Pence have responded with incompetence.”

She also tweeted: "Let’s be clear where Trump and Pence got us: millions out of work, students across our nation who cannot go back to school, and 180,000 lives cut short by coronavirus."
Biden and his campaign have repeatedly slammed the President, claiming that he initially downplayed the severity of the pandemic and then that he and his administration botched the federal government’s response to the outbreak.
In his speech, Pence pushed back, calling Trump’s efforts “the greatest national mobilization since World War II…. We built hospitals, we surged military medical personnel and enacted an economic rescue package that saved 50 million American jobs.”
And speaking a night after the first lady gave sympathetic remarks to those suffering amid the coronavirus, the vice president stressed that “tonight, our hearts are with all the families who have lost loved ones. We mourn with those who mourn, and we grieve with those who grieve. And this night I know millions of Americans will pause and pray for God’s comfort to each of you.”
Pence also predicted that “we’re on track to have the world’s first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year.”
But following the vice preisdent's address, the Biden campaign's Bedingfield argued that Pence's speech contained "no real discussion of the crushing financial hardship countless families are facing as a result, and no plan to get us out of the ditch that Donald Trump has driven us into."
For Pence, reelection in November could set him up as a leading contender for what will likely be a free-wheeling 2024 Republican presidential nomination race as the party moves into a post-Trump world. But a veteran Republican strategist, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely, highlighted that talk of the next White House race, “I don’t think enters the vice president’s mind right now.”

The strategist said that Pence and his team appear to be “remarkably focused on 2020 and are not letting 2024 conversations creep into anything.”
The vice president wasn’t the only Pence in the spotlight. Second lady Karen Pence also spoke earlier in the evening. She noted that as “Second Lady of the United States for the past 3 and a half years, I have had the honor of meeting many heroes across this great country. The Pences are a military family. Our son, Michael, serves in the US Marines, and our son in law, Henry, serves in the US Navy. And one of my key initiatives is to elevate and encourage military spouses.”
And she spotlighted that “President Trump and Vice President Pence have been supporting our United States Armed Forces, including our military families, on a significant scale.
The president and the first lady joined the Pence and the second lady on the podium following the vice president's address.
Pence’s speech capped the third night of the convention. On Thursday’s night’s final session, Trump gets his turn to make his case.

Grenell in RNC speech slams Dems' claims of Russian collusion: ‘What I saw made me sick to my stomach’

Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell slammed the Obama-Biden administration for “secretly” launching a “surveillance operation” on the Trump campaign in 2016, while saying that American citizens are “in charge” under a Trump presidency.
Earlier this year, while serving as acting DNI, Grenell declassified a slew of documents related to the Russia investigation — and he shared his experience with voters on the third night of the GOP convention.
“As acting director of national intelligence, I saw the Democrats’ entire case for Russia collusion, and what I saw made me sick to my stomach,” Grenell said during a GOP convention speech Wednesday night.
“The Obama-Biden administration secretly launched a surveillance operation on the Trump campaign, and silenced the many brave intelligence officials who spoke up against it,” Grenell continued. “They presented bogus information as facts. They lied to judges. Then they classified anything that undermined their case.”
Grenell claimed that when Trump won the election in 2016, instead of continuing “the American tradition of helping the president-elect transition into the White House,” the Obama-Biden administration “tried instead to undercut him even more.”
“Former Vice President Joe Biden asked intelligence officials to uncover the hidden information on President Trump’s incoming national security adviser three weeks before the inauguration,” Grenell said.
Grenell was referring to the process of unmasking, which occurs after U.S. citizens' conversations with foreign officials are incidentally picked up while they are being monitored by the intelligence community. The U.S. citizens' identities are supposed to be protected if their participation is incidental and no wrongdoing is suspected. However, officials can determine the U.S. citizens' names through a process that is supposed to safeguard their rights. In the typical process, when officials are requesting the unmasking of an American, they do not necessarily know the identity of the person in advance.
Grenell, earlier this year, declassified a list of Obama officials who purportedly requested to “unmask” the identity of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The roster featured top-ranking figures including then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Obama’s then-chief of staff Denis McDonough.
However, data obtained by Fox News shows that thousands of unmasking requests have been fulfilled every year across both the Obama and Trump administrations, reflecting the often routine nature of these requests in intelligence work. The practice is regarded as an important national security tool, a view reflected by these numbers.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported that, in 2019, the Trump administration had 10,012 unmasking requests fulfilled; 16,721 requests fulfilled in 2018, and 9,529 requests fulfilled in 2017.
During 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, 9,217 unmasking requests were fulfilled.
Meanwhile, during his address Wednesday night, Grenell said that Democrats “never want the American people to know who’s actually calling the shots.”
“But with Donald Trump, you always know exactly who is in charge,” Grenell said. “Because the answer is you.”
“You’re in charge. Not lobbyists. Not special interests. Not warmongers, or China sympathizers, or globalization fanatics,” Grenell said. “With Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the White House, the boss is the American people.”
Prior to serving as acting director of national intelligence, Grenell served as U.S. ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020, as the presidential envoy for Kosovo-Serbia Negotiations.
Grenell now serves as a senior adviser with the Republican National Committee, specifically focused on political outreach for LGBT voters, which Fox News first reported last week.

PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor blasted for tweet knocking Cawthorn for standing during RNC remarks

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"PBS NewsHour" correspondent Yamiche Alcindor was heavily criticized late Wednesday over a tweet describing GOP House candidate Madison Cawthorn standing at the conclusion of his Republican National Convention remarks as a "direct rebuke" to those protesting social injustice.

Cawthorn, who was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car accident and uses a wheelchair, closed his speech by urging Americans not to "cower to a mob," and to "kneel before God but stand for our flag.
"Be a radical for liberty and be a radical for our republic for which I stand, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all," Cawthorn said as he rose from his wheelchair and stood behind a walker.
Alcindor, who is also a contributor to NBC News and MSNBC, responded by tweeting: "Madison Cawthorn made it a point to stand, suggesting that all Americans to should stand during the pledge of allegiance & national anthem. It was a direct rebuke of actions by ppl -- including black [sic] athletes who are currently sitting out games -- protesting police brutality."
"How on earth could you possibly turn the rather moving act of a FREAKIN' PARAPLEGIC rising for the national anthem into some weird BLM trip?" Attorney and National Review contributor Jeff Blehar tweeted. "When someone holds the door open for you, is that a rebuke of BLM too? My patience for takes like this has reached its limit."
"The activist below found a way to turn a paraplegic standing up in his wheelchair an act of white supremacy," Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross tweeted.

"Nowhere did Cawthorn state his standing was a “direct rebuke of actions by ppl -- including black athletes who are currently sitting out games -- protesting police brutality. And Yamiche Alcindor is not a journalist," conservative commentator Stephen Miller said.
"If you thought, 'certainly nobody could attack this man in a wheelchair for standing up at the end of his speech,' you haven't met our completely insane White House press corps, currently viciously attacking a paralyzed man for not sharing their far-left political views," The Federalist senior editor and Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway tweeted.
Earlier this summer, Alcindor was criticized for attempting to refute President Trump's claim that protesters who had been destroying statues have no knowledge about the statues they're destroying.
"Protesters say they understand who the statues commemorate," she wrote, "and that images of those people--many who owed enslaved people--should be gone."

RNC has set the table for Trump. Here’s how he can finish the job, reshape the race

For the first time in three days, the biggest political news of the day didn’t come out of the Republican convention. It came out of a basement in Delaware.
Joe Biden finally raised an objection to the riots, arson, murder and looting tearing apart American cities. To be sure, his wasn’t a strong voice, but at least he finally broke his silence.
It’s very little, and very late, maybe even too late to save his campaign.
Dems made what I believe to be a historic error in failing to say a single word — a single word — about the national urban crisis during their convention last week.

What the nation is witnessing is not protest and it is certainly not heroic. It is a generational assault on America’s founding principles and our modern way of life.

They said nothing about the violence and the tent cities of homeless popping up everywhere, yet embraced the Black Lives Matter movement, frequently criticized the police and romanced protestors as a new wave of selfless heroes.
But what the nation is witnessing is not protest and it is certainly not heroic. It is a generational assault on America’s founding principles and our modern way of life. Murder and arson do not bring about social justice.
The country has noticed. Slowly but surely, the nation is awakening to the horror unfolding on television screens night after night and the fact that the Dems have been MIA in the battle for safety.
The polls are starting to shift — two now have President Trump’s approval rating over 50 percent — and other Dems, including the mayor of Washington, suddenly are calling for an end to the violence.
The impact is so serious that even CNN anchor Don Lemon is worried about Biden’s chances, leading him to say “the rioting has to stop.”
That’s the left-wing media in a nutshell. They supported the “protestors” until it started to backfire on their candidate. Now it has to stop or Trump will be re-elected.
Not that it has to stop because it’s destructive and leading to deaths. Only because it’s bad for their candidate.
The movement in public sentiment is also owing to Trump’s clear support for the police and his continued push for local officials in Portland, Seattle and elsewhere to regain control of their streets. Combined with the Dems’ tacit support, Trump’s stance has created a new dynamic in the campaign, one that could replace his handling of the coronavirus as the top issue among voters.
The president has staked out a position as the defender of America, while Biden and his party appear to be on the side of the attackers. The result is a kind of fusion of Trump with the nation and the Dems with those who are hostile to it.
Politically, it is a gigantic gift to the president.
A candidate who can fairly be characterized as opposing peace and public safety at home is in a precarious position. That’s where Biden has put himself.
Getting out of this hole won’t be easy. He would have to begin to call for the police to make arrests, which will upset many of the far-left activists driving the party’s bus. Some would no doubt abandon his campaign, one that has never excited them in any event.
And Biden shouldn’t look for any help from the GOP. Speaker after speaker during Day 3 of the convention blasted Dems for being soft on crime and violence.
“Reject the mob mentality,” said Burgess Owens, one of two black ex-NFL players to speak on Trump’s behalf.
The other, Jack Brewer, said Trump had done enormous things for African Americans and blasted Black Lives Matter leaders for wanting to do away with the nuclear family.
Lara Trump, the president’s daughter in law, was especially blunt, declaring: “Joe Biden will not keep our children safe.”
Vice president Mike Pence, normally soft-spoken and reserved, delivered huge slabs of red meat on topic after topic. After saying that “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” he vowed that under the Trump administration, “we will have law and order on the streets of America.”
The table is set then for the president’s acceptance speech Thursday. So far, his convention has been a skillful presentation of his achievements, mounted a strong defense against the main charges of his opponents and even managed to soften his rough edges.
Now it’s up to Trump to finish the job. If he delivers a compelling defense of our cities, our history and the American way of life, he will have reshaped the race to his advantage and made himself the front runner for the fall finale.

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