#‘Four more years’: Trump formally accepts GOP nomination from White House

President Trump formally accepted the GOP nomination for reelection on Thursday evening in front of a sea of guests on the White House South Lawn on the final night of the 2020 Republican National Convention.

“We are one national family and we will always protect, love and care for each other,” Trump, 74, said to thunderous applause from the crowd of supporters after emerging from the White House with first lady Melania Trump to the sounds of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”

“My fellow Americans, tonight with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I proudly accept the nomination for president of the United States,” he said to wild cheers of “four more years!”

The president shared his sympathy with those in the path of Hurricane Laura at the top of his address and promised he would “spare no effort” to save lives along the Gulf Coast.

The address began on an emotional note as he thanked Melania and his family, saying, “I love you more than words can express,” and paid tribute to his late brother, Robert Trump, who passed away this month.

Trump settled on the executive mansion for his acceptance speech last month after he was forced to cancel a raucous, in-person convention in Jacksonville amid the pandemic, and in an Oval Office interview told The Post he believed a White House address would make the country “feel good.”

The president’s GOP crowning on Thursday completes his takeover of a party which just four years ago considered him an interloper. Against all odds, the Manhattan property developer and former Democrat triumphed over a field of insider candidates in 2016.

“The Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, goes forward united, determined and ready to welcome millions of Democrats, independents and anyone who believes in the greatness of America,” Trump told a crowd of about 1,500 supporters seated closely together in white lawn chairs.

“Four years ago I ran for president because I could not watch this betrayal of our country any longer,” Trump said. “I could not sit by as career politicians let other countries take advantage of us on trade borders. foreign policy and national defense.”

Trump said that he broke “the cardinal rule of Washington politics — I kept my promises.”

Trump vowed that the US “will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner” to end the coronavirus pandemic, which killed about 180,000 Americans since March. He called it the “China virus.”

The US is “quickly returning to full employment, soaring incomes, and record prosperity,” he said.

The president presented the election stakes as stark against Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

“Joe Biden is not the savior of America’s soul – he is the destroyer of America’s jobs, and if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness,” Trump said. Democrats “see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins,” he said.

“At the Democrat National Convention, Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic, and social injustice. So tonight, I ask you a very simple question: How can the Democrat Party ask to lead our country when it spends so much time tearing down our country?”

Trump spoke as anti-police brutality activists demonstrated loudly outside the White House — continuing months of unrest linked to the May killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota.

“Our opponents say that redemption for you can only come from giving power to them. This is a tired anthem spoken by every repressive movement throughout history,” he said.

Trump told his audience that “your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free reign to violent anarchists, agitators, and criminals who threaten our citizens.”

Trump continued a play for black votes that was a theme each night of the mostly virtual Republican convention. “I’ve done more in three years for the black community than Joe Biden has done in 47 years — and when I’m reelected, the best is yet to come!” he said, mentioning his signing of the criminal justice system-reforming First Step Act.

Trump regaled the crowd with an account of his predecessors in the White House and various policy accomplishments and described his reelection as a would-be tribute to America.

“We understand that America is not a land cloaked in darkness, America is the torch that enlightens the entire world,” he said.