WASHINGTON | “You will not be safe in Joe Biden’s America”: Vice President Mike Pence presented Wednesday Donald Trump as the only one capable of resisting the assaults of the “radical left”.
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On the third day of the Republican convention, which ends Thursday with the speech of the American president from the gardens of the White House, the threat of “socialism” was brandished relentlessly.
In a speech against the backdrop of violence on the sidelines of anti-racist protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the “VP” painted a grim picture of an election where “law and order are at stake”.
In difficulty in the polls ten weeks before the US presidential election, Donald Trump is counting on his vice-president to ensure, as in 2016, the mobilization of the religious right.
“It’s not really a question of … whether America will be more Republican or Democrat. The question posed in this election is whether America will remain America, ”said Mike Pence.
Discreet, austere, always very deferential – sycophant say his detractors – vis-à-vis the Republican billionaire with a style in all points opposed to his, Mike Pence, 61, knows he is playing big.
For the November 3 deadline, but also possibly the next one, in 2024, where he could, if Trump is re-elected for a second term, be tempted to take his turn.
Very active in the countryside, especially in the Midwest, the former governor of Indiana, who described himself in 2016 as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order”, was eagerly awaited on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Appointed by the president and chief of the “Task force” on the coronavirus, he kept to measured words, far from the slippages, approximations and provocations of the tenant of the White House. While always taking care never to contradict the latter head-on.
But the toll is heavy: the United States is preparing to cross the milestone of 180,000 deaths from COVID-19. And Americans do not appreciate the way Donald Trump is handling this unprecedented health crisis.
According to the average polls established by the FiveThirtyEight site, 58.2% disapprove of its response to the pandemic (38.7% approve).
Support of White Evangelicals
Paying tribute to the “courage” and “compassion” of Americans, he denounced the vision in his eyes too dark put forward by the Democrats.
“Joe Biden said ‘no miracle is in sight’. What Joe doesn’t seem to understand is that America is a land of miracles and that we are on the verge of having the world’s first safe and effective vaccine by the end of the year. ‘year”.
Washington has a time riddled with rumors about the president’s desire to change running mate to give his campaign a boost. The name of Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, has often been mentioned.
But Donald Trump rewarded Pence’s loyalty, and his close ties to the older white Christians, who played a key role in his 2016 victory.
The Republican billionaire, married three times and little known for his religious fervor, knows that he needs support to keep this important part of his electorate.
Asked two weeks ago about the choice of Senator Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate, Donald Trump joked about the latter and took the opportunity to weave laurels to “Mike”.
“He’s solid as a rock. He was a fantastic vice-president, ”he said. “He is respected by all religious groups. Whether they are evangelicals or others ”.
One in four Americans is evangelical, according to the Pew Institute. It is the dominant form of American Protestantism, and the first religious family in the country, ahead of Catholics and traditional Protestants.
White evangelical support for Trump remains strong for now.
But even minimal erosion could be fatal in key states like Florida that saw her win the electoral college in 2016 despite a deficit of nearly three million votes nationwide over Hillary Clinton.