WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) – Using the White House as a backdrop, President Trump made his case for another four more years in office.
After his speech, the focus switched to the Lincoln Memorial where protesters marched on Washington. Crowds gathered in front of the memorial, many wearing masks and waving signs to demand racial equality, criminal justice reform and voter action.
The Lincoln Memorial is the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech was made 57 years ago. “We need to vote as if our lives, and our livelihoods, and our liberties depend on it,” he said on August 28, 1963.
Around 12 hours before this year’s march, more than a thousand people gathered on the White House South Lawn to celebrate President Trump. “I profoundly accept this nomination for President of the United States,” he said.
Activist Reverend Al Sharpton said, “Mr. Trump, look right down the block from the White House, we come to Washington by the thousands, we’re going to call their names.”
The president did not mention Jacob Blake, who was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin earlier this week Instead, President Trump warned a Joe Biden presidency would lead to an attack on public safety.
Trump said, “The Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities like Kenosha, Portland, Democrats run.”
But where the president and the protesters agree this election could have historic consequences.
Trump said, “No time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies or two agendas.”
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