US election: Joe Biden vows to return hope to US after ‘darkness’ of Donald Trump

Joe Biden challenged Americans to embrace the “path of hope and light” as he accepted his party’s nomination on Thursday, in an emotive and emphatic speech that cast November’s election as not merely the choice of a president but a fundamental referendum on the nation’s character.

“May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight,” Biden said in offering the closing argument of the Democrats’ virtual convention.

“I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” Biden said.


He spoke from a stage in a near-empty auditorium. The unusual setting let the former vice president play to his strengths as a retail politician, connecting his personal experiences of grief and loss to the coronavirus pandemic that he will use to frame voters’ decision in less than three months.

He sharply condemned President Donald Trump — while never actually mentioning him by name — and offered his vision to confront the health and economic devastation wreaked by the virus, as well as the “perfect storm” of racial unrest and climate change. As Biden spoke, the camera pulled in tight to capture his passion at key moments, giving the speech an intimacy and directness instead of the usual pageantry and spectacle of a crowded convention hall.

“Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation,” Biden said. “He has failed to protect us. He has failed to protect America. My fellow Americans, that is unforgivable. As president I will make you a promise: I will protect America.”

Trump spent weeks making the case that “Slow Joe Biden” wasn’t mentally capable of delivering his big speech, let alone leading the country. But the constant criticism allowed Biden, who spoke without major stumbles, to exceed expectations as he accused Trump of cloaking the nation in “too much anger, too much fear, too much division”.

Still unclear is how much momentum Democrats’ “unconventional convention” will provide Biden as he heads into the final months of the campaign. His address culminated a fourday show of unity, with every minute of the nightly coverage fully scripted and vetted to stick to Biden's message.