Biden accepts Democratic nomination, vows to ‘end season of darkness’

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for president promising to end the “darkness” of Donald Trump’s presidency with an impassioned call for unity and a return to optimism.

“The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger, too much fear, too much division,” Biden said.

“If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” he said. “It’s time for us, for we the people, to come together.”

Speaking in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, to an online or on television audience, Biden’s acceptance speech reflected the enormity of the shutdown that has upended life across the United States in the battle against the deadly coronavirus.

Biden urged Americans to punish Trump for the chaos that has seen more than 170,000 deaths and economic calamity. Biden said he would implement a national COVID-19 plan and mandate wearing masks on the first day of his presidency.

Biden is on his third White House bid after failing to win the nomination in 1988 and 2008. Biden leads in every national opinion poll and also in the crucial swing states. Trump is fighting hard in an election of unprecedented ferocity and division.

READ MORE: Democrats formally nominate Joe Biden as US presidential candidate

Trump also tried to overshadow Biden’s thunder with a visit just outside his challenger’s birthplace in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Trump claimed that Biden had abandoned the town and warned that Democrats would usher in an era of “violent mobs” and “blood-stained sidewalks.”

Trump’s shock win in 2016 over Hillary Clinton was partly helped by divisions within the Democrats. The party emphasising unity with many of Biden’s primary rivals appearing in a friendly joint video call during the convention.

At the Democrat convention, guests ranging from comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus and prominent party leaders slammed Trump, while praising Biden’s ability to connect with people who are suffering at a time when the country is going through a health and economic crises.

Former New York mayor and billionaire entrepreneur Mike Bloomberg landed one of the sharpest punches against Trump. “Would you rehire or work for someone who ran your business into the ground?” Bloomberg asked, addressing small business owners around the country.