Bleak vision aired at Republican convention

WASHINGTON－US Republicans launched the 2020 Republican National Convention on Monday with a full-throated endorsement of President Donald Trump's record and laid out a bleak vision of how life in the US would change for the worse under a Joe Biden administration.

Trump, having claimed the party's unanimous nomination earlier in the day as he opened his bid for a second term, was portrayed as a president whose response to the coronavirus pandemic saved thousands of lives and ensured an economic recovery.

The latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, however, showed that public approval of Trump's handling of the pandemic has dropped to 31 percent.

The pandemic has infected more than 5.7 million people in the country, with roughly 177,000 deaths, and has erased millions of jobs. And the US is the worst-affected country.

Trump's son Donald Trump Jr－and nearly all other convention speakers－made no mention of those killed by COVID-19, saying his father "quickly took action" to thwart the pandemic's spread.

"There is more work to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Biden, also the Democratic nominee for president, in a tweet on Monday night said that Trump is the only person responsible for the failed COVID-19 response, as the former US vice-president's campaign has made it a central argument for his White House bid.

"I don't blame him for the COVID crisis. I blame him for walking away and not dealing with the solutions," said Biden, referring to Trump, in his first joint interview with his running mate Senator Kamala Harris of California. The interview with ABC News was aired on Sunday.

"The idea of saying that this is going to go away, that some miracle is going to happen, there's all talk about the crazy things about bleach and using, I mean it's just, he hasn't listened to the scientists," Biden added.

Public appearances

Trump, who was not scheduled to deliver his keynote convention address until later in the week, made multiple public appearances throughout the first day of the four-day convention.

Meanwhile, Trump and his fellow Republicans also painted a dire portrait of the US if Biden wins the White House in November, arguing he will usher in an era of radical socialism and chaos.

Trump set the tone early in the day when he addressed delegates in Charlotte, North Carolina, after formally securing their nomination for another term.

He repeated his assertion that voting by mail, which is expected to be far more common during the pandemic, will lead to widespread fraud. Independent election security experts say voter fraud is extraordinarily rare in the United States.

Xinhua - Agencies