…As Trump is nominated for second term, at 2020 Republican National Convention***
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mrs Nikki Haley, has said the UN “is a place where dictators, murderers and thieves denounce America”.
Haley stated this in a live speech from Washington DC to the largely virtual Republican National Convention, which began on Monday night.
She said after attacking the U.S., the same enemies would stretch out their hands and “demand that we pay their bills”.
The former envoy said President Donald Trump stopped all of that and did what his predecessor, Barack Obama, and his Vice, Joe Biden, failed to do on the world stage.
Biden is the candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party for the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Haley, a former Governor of South Carolina on the Republican Party platform, used her speech to attack Biden and the Democratic Party, while showering praises on Trump.
“It was an honor of a lifetime to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Nations.
“Now, the UN is not for the frail of heart. It’s a place where dictators, murderers and thieves denounce America, and then put their hands out and demand that we pay their bills.
“But President Trump put an end to all of that. With his leadership, we did what Barack Obama and Joe Biden refused to do,” she said.
Outlining what she said were Trump’s foreign policy accomplishments, Haley said the current administration stood up for America and stood against its enemies.
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She said while Obama and Biden allowed North Korea to threaten the U.S., Trump rejected that weakness and passed the toughest sanctions on North Korea in history.
“Obama and Biden let Iran get away with murder, and literally sent them a plane full of cash, President Trump did the right thing and ripped up the Iran nuclear deal.
“Obama and Biden led the United Nations to denounce our friend and ally, Israel, President Trump moved our embassy to Jerusalem, and when the UN tried to condemn us, I was proud to cast the American veto.
“This president has a record of strength and success. The former Vice President has a record of weakness and failure,” she added.
She said while Biden and other Democrats were still blaming America first, Trump was putting America first.
According to her, Biden and the “socialist left” will be a disaster for the U.S. our economy, but Trump is leading a “new era of opportunity.”
Although the former ambassador criticized Trump’s response to the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, she defended the president’s record on race.
She said it was now fashionable for the Democrats to say the U.S. was racist under Trump, but that was not the case.
When it comes to fighting racial injustice, Haley said “this president, and this party, are committed to that noble task”.
In another development, the U.S. President Donald Trump was nominated for a second term on Monday at the 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has been scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump arrived at the Charlotte Convention Centre on Monday afternoon, where more than 300 delegates met in person for a roll call vote to formally nominate him and Vice President Mike Pence for the 2020 Republican presidential ticket.
“I felt an obligation to come to North Carolina,” Trump told the delegates inside a ballroom during the unannounced trip.
“It’s a place that has been very good to me.”
In rally-style remarks, the president touted achievements of his first term, focused on his administration’s response to the pandemic, again attacked mail-in voting, and lashed out at Democrats who held their national convention virtually last week and some media outlets’ coverage of the RNC.
He also touched upon a series of policy priorities for the next four years if he is re-elected, including creating jobs, cutting taxes, lowering drug prices, and continuing the military buildup.
The nomination was part of the four-day RNC themed “Honoring the Great American Story,” with each night having a sub-theme.
On Monday, it is “Land of Promise,” which a Trump campaign official said honors “the promises President Donald J. Trump has kept since his first presidential campaign.”
Speakers for the RNC’s opening night will include former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Trump, who is expected to make an appearance on each of the four nights at the RNC, will deliver an acceptance speech on Thursday night from the White House South Lawn.
On Monday, a group of Republicans opposing Trump is holding “Convention on Founding Principles” in Charlotte, a gathering that organisers claimed would be an alternative to the RNC.
More than two dozen former Republican members of Congress, including former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, endorsed former U.S. Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for president on Monday.
“Today, given what we have experienced over the past four years, it’s not enough just to register our disapproval of the president,” Flake said in a live video on several social media platforms explaining his decision.
“We need to elect someone else in his place – someone who will stop the chaos and reverse the damage.”
Biden, who formally accepted the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination on the final night of its convention last week, leads Trump by 7.6 percentage points nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Trump, however, has repeatedly dismissed polls showing him falling behind.
Additional reports from Xinhua
