Acceptance Speeches: Trump v. Biden

President Trump and Joe Biden both delivered inspiring acceptance speeches last week, with the incumbent having the major advantage of going second.

Trump had the opportunity to respond directly to Biden’s speech, though to be honest there wasn’t much content to which he could respond. Biden’s speech was full of flowery language, but virtually devoid of policy specifics. As Trump noted in his speech, it seems Biden is unwilling or unable to defend his Bernie Sanders-inspired agenda. 

Discussing policy should have been a priority for Biden, as Americans already know what Trump wants and what he is capable of. Biden’s speech was supposed to give Americans concrete reasons to vote for him, and yet he spent much of it discussing ‘light and love’ and criticizing Trump. When speaking about the things he wants to accomplish – green energy, more jobs, reduced tuition, etc. – his words were vague at best.

Ironically (and perhaps on purpose), both candidates presented their opponents’ vision of America as ‘dark’ and their own vision as ‘light.’

When speaking of COVID, Biden painted a grim picture of death, infection, and unemployment and claimed that America would never be the same. He promised to enact a nationwide face mask mandate and did not blame China for the pandemic. 

When Trump spoke of COVID, he celebrated our progress in testing, vaccine research, and recovered jobs. He touted Operation Warp Speed and the Paycheck Protection Program and reiterated his promise to have a vaccine by the end of the year.

“China would own our country if Joe Biden got elected,” said Trump. “Unlike Biden, I will hold them fully accountable for the tragedy they caused.”

Both candidates highlighted the accomplishments of past presidents, with Biden citing FDR’s New Deal and Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Strangely enough, Biden said nothing about his long career in Congress.

President Trump, on the other hand, presented a long list of the promises he kept during his first four years in office:

• Withdrawal from TPP, Paris Accord, and JCPOA
• Renegotiation of NAFTA
• Enhanced border security and progress on the border wall 
• Approval of Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines
• Record-breaking economic growth 
• Passed Right to Try legislation, VA Accountability, and VA Choice
• Approved 300+ judges and 2 Supreme Court justices 
• Moved US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
• Defeated ISIS and eliminated Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Qasem Soleimani
• Pulled American soldiers home
• Created the Space Force

Trump then went on to make promises for his next term, including winning the 5G race, maintaining Americans’ right to bear arms, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions, achieving energy independence, fostering free speech on college campuses, planting a woman on the moon, and sending an American to Mars.

As Trump’s first term has shown us, he will do his best to keep these promises and uphold the values upon which this country was founded. If America elects Sleepy Joe, we can expect his puppetmasters to shove him in a corner and move forward with extreme policies that will send the US down the path of socialism, economic collapse, and anarchy.

Who will you vote for??