US Vice President Mike Pence has officially accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for a second term in office.
His acceptance on Wednesday night came during a speech from the historic Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland as part of the ongoing Republican National Convention (RNC), reports Xinhua news agency.
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Fort McHenry is a national monument where Americans defended Baltimore Harbor from the British in the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the country’s national anthem.
He began his address by noting how the fort withstood a British onslaught 206 years ago, and criticising Democrats for “attacking America” at their party convention last week.
Flanked by over a dozen US flags and chants of “four more years” from a small crowd which included President Donald Trump, Pence said: “Four years ago I answered the call to join this ticket because I knew that Donald Trump had the leadership and the vision to make America great again.
“And for the last four years I’ve watched this President endure unrelenting attacks but get up every day and fight to keep the promises that he made to the American people.
“So with gratitude for the confidence President Donald Trump has placed in me, the support of our Republican Party and the grace of god, I humbly accept your nomination to run and serve as Vice President of the US.”
According to Pence, Trump has “stood up to our enemies and we’ve stood with our allies”, the BBC reported.
Under Trump’s leadership, he said: “American armed forces took the last inch of IS territory, crushed their caliphate and took down their leader without one American casualty.”
He further said that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades”.
Besides the Vice President, Wednesday’s speaker lineup also includes second lady Karen Pence, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the President’s daughter-in-law and campaign adviser Lara Trump, former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, and several Republican lawmakers and state officials.
