The final night of the Republican National Convention took place Thursday at the White House in Washington DC, the first time a sitting President used the taxpayer funded building as a visual backdrop for a partisan election campaign. Giving a rambling and largely scripted address that was filled with lies and ran about 70 minutes long before a mostly mask-less crowd of about 1,500 that were seated closer than 6 feet from one another, Trump made multiple gaffes including saying, “I profoundly accept this nomination,” instead of “proudly.” Gloating over the impropriety of holding the event at the White House, Trump slammed Democrats saying this: claiming it was his home instead of a temporary taxpayer funded residence for elected Presidents. Walter Shaub, former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, who had resigned in protest of Trump’s overstepping, tweeted, “This abomination may be the most visible misuse of official position for private gain in America’s history. It is an abuse of the power entrusted to this man, the breach of a sacred trust. It is the civic equivalent of a mortal sin—maybe a religious one too.” 

The New York Times described the speech as, “a crusade against left-wing ideology and violent social disorder, fought against the backdrop of a virus that Republicans largely described as a temporary handicap on the economy.” The Washington Post fact-checked 25 false claims, calling Trump’s address a, “tidal wave of tall tales, false claims and revisionist history.” Much of the speech was largely focused on claiming that the current unrest over racial injustices are a preview of the America that his rival Joe Biden would usher in. He and others failed to acknowledge that the current unrest is unfolding under Trump’s rule. He painted a dark picture of nationwide demonstrations and lamented the fact that he needed mayor’s permission to send federal troops in to cities. His personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been implicated in numerous crimes also spoke on Thursday with no hint of irony about the importance of law and order and also echoed the claim that violence in American cities was what Biden would usher in. Giuliani also made far-fetched claims of Trump’s work ethic. 

 Outside the White House a large mass of protesters gathered and attempted to drown out Trump’s nomination acceptance speech. While