President Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican Party’s nomination Thursday night before a crowd of about 1,500 on the South Lawn of the White House. In defiance of social distancing rules, attendees sat shoulder to shoulder with few people wearing masks. Trump spoke as the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 180,000 — by far the highest total in the world. During his speech, Trump defended his administration’s handling of the pandemic.

President Donald Trump: “We are delivering life-saving therapies and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner. We will defeat the virus and the pandemic and emerge stronger than ever before.”

During his acceptance speech, Trump repeatedly attacked his rival Joe Biden, claiming he was a threat to the American dream. CNN reported Trump’s speech included at least 20 lies and misleading statements. We will have more on Trump’s speech later in the program.