U.S. Vice President Mike Pence used his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention to make a stance supporting law enforcement and vowing law-and-order on the streets.
His pledge is coming amid fresh protests against police brutality and racism.
The speech by Pence on Wednesday came just hours after the NBA, the U.S. soccer league and two baseball teams decided to boycott games to join the protest movement, after police in Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake, a black man, multiple times in the back over the weekend.
The anger in Wisconsin has boiled over, with protests sometimes breaking down into instances of violence and looting.
The case is the latest in the country, which saw nationwide protests over the summer after George Floyd was killed by police in Minnesota.
“We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every American of every race and creed and colour,” Pence said.
He insisted President Donald Trump supports peaceful protests and would back both law enforcement and African-American communities demanding change.
The third night of the convention featured relatively little about the coronavirus pandemic, though what did emerge was all in praise of the Trump administration.
The country is nearing some 180,000 deaths from the virus, more than any other nation and one of the worst tolls in the world on a per capita basis.
“America is a nation of miracles,” Pence said in his speech accepting the nomination to run for vice president for a second term, as he turned to the virus and pledged there would be a vaccine before the end of the year.
His remark appeared to be a jab at the Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who last week used his keynote speech at the centre-left party’s convention, to blast the White House’s response to the virus, and accused Trump of dithering.
“He keeps waiting for a miracle. Well, I have news for him, no miracle is coming,” Biden had said.
The Republican repeatedly sought to tar Biden, 77, as a radical socialist, continuing a theme of the previous nights. The former vice president to Barack Obama has a long record in the Senate as a moderate.
“Joe Biden would set America on a path of socialism and decline. But we are not going to let it happen,” Pence said.
The centre-right bloc went after Biden for having suggested the country may need to go back into lockdowns to prevent the coronavirus’ spread, as he promised to follow scientific advice.
“If the Democrats had their way, they would keep you locked in your house until you become dependent on the government for everything. That sounds a lot like communist China to me,” said Senator Marsha Blackburn, a staunch supporter of Trump.
The Republicans have been hailing Trump on his China policy, while alleging Biden would be soft on Beijing.
Former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, openly supported an “America first” foreign policy and seemed to embrace the term nationalism, in his speech, while bashing liberal globalization policies.
“In four years, Donald Trump didn’t start any new wars,” Grenell said.
The previous evening saw the party seek to soften up Trump’s image, including on immigration and race.
On Wednesday, Lara Trump, a daughter-in-law, praised her husband’s family, describing the real estate moguls as down-to-earth and average, despite years of a playboy lifestyle by the now-president.
Kellyanne Conway, the outgoing presidential adviser, hailed her boss as a champion of women’s rights, in what seemed designed to reach out to suburban voters and combat an image of sexism and chauvanism that haunted Trump’s life before he came to the White House.
Conway appeared despite having a job in the White House, in a break with tradition.
There have been several instances of norm-bashing by the Republican convention, including using the Rose Garden and federal property for speeches. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is being investigated by lawmakers for delivering his address while on a trip to Israel.
The convention has repeatedly aimed to focus on the economy, an area of relative strength for Trump, 74, at least until the pandemic struck. The country is in a recession and unemployment is in double digits, making this an uphill battle for the incumbent.
Trump gives his main speech on Thursday, the final night of the convention.(NAN)