Mike Pence, who as Donald Trump’s 2016 running mate helped bolster the GOP ticket with staunch conservatives, praised the president’s record Wednesday night and cast rival Joe Biden as too radical for America.

“Despite unrelenting opposition and obstruction from the swamp in Washington, we built the greatest economy in the world. We made America great again,” Pence said as he accepted the Republican nomination for vice president.

Pence’s speech came with the nation still grappling with police shootings of Black men. In Kenosha, Wis., there have been protests and violence since a law enforcement officer Sunday shot Jacob Blake, an unarmed 29-year-old Black man, as he leaned into his car, where his children were watching.

Pence said said that violence in America was unacceptable, but said little about the crisis in Kenosha.

“Last week, Joe Biden didn’t say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country,” he said. “Let me be clear: The violence must stop, whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha. Too many heroes have died defending our freedoms to see Americans strike each other down. We will have law and order on the streets of America.”

The vice president used most of his speech to the case for giving the GOP ticket four more years.

To bolster his point, he said Biden was a tool of the far left.

“When you consider their agenda, it’s clear: Joe Biden would be nothing more than a Trojan horse for a radical left,” he said. “On November 3, ask yourself: Who do you trust to rebuild this economy? A career politician who presided over the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression? Or a proven leader who created the greatest economy in the world?”

And Pence said Trump was optimistic, unlike Democrats.

“Democrats spent four days attacking America. Joe Biden said we were living through a season of American darkness,” he said. “But as President Trump said, “where Joe Biden sees American darkness, we see American greatness.”

Pence spoke from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, the site that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem. Trump has attended each night of the convention, and the president flew in to the fort for the speech in an unannounced surprise. The speech, which was interrupted by cheers and applause, was given before an audience with few masks spotted.

After the speech, Pence and his wife, Karen, where joined on the stage by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. They waved to the crowd and then stood at allegiance to the flag when singer Trace Adkins performed the National Anthem.

As Pence spoke on the third day of the GOP convention, most of the nation’s focus was on the events in Wisconsin and the hurricane rambling toward the coast near the Texas-Louisiana border.

The suspect, Kyle Rittenhouse, has been held on suspicion of first-degree murder and charged in Illinois as a fugitive from justice. Buzzfeed reported that Rittenhouse on social media had posed with weapons and posted his support of police and Trump and was in the front row of a Trump rally in Iowa in January.

In response to the situation in Wisconsin, the NBA postponed Wednesday’s three basketball playoff games as players and coaches continued to speak out for racial justice and against police brutality. The Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play their game against Orlando, leading to the postponement, as players on other teams mulled whether to play, leading to the postponements.

The WNBA also called off games Wednesday night. In baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers also opted not to play their scheduled baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Seattle players called off their game with San Diego, and the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers did not play.

In North Texas, FC Dallas-Colorado Rapids soccer game was postponed as players showed solidarity with NBA teams.

Police talk

Pence, who didn’t mention the sports leagues reaction to the Kenosha shootings, said that it was possible to be against police brutality and still support good law enforcement officers.

“The American people know we don’t have to choose between supporting law enforcement and standing with African-American neighbors to improve the quality of life in our cities and towns,” he said. “From the first days of this administration, we have done both. And we will keep doing both for four more years in the White House.”

Pence then attacked Biden, and like other Republicans, painted a grim picture of what America would look like under a Biden presidency.

“Joe Biden says America is systemically racist. And that law enforcement in America has a, quote, ‘implicit bias’ against minorities. And when asked whether he’d support cutting funding to law enforcement, and he replied, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ The hard truth is … you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” Pence said.

Biden says he’s against defunding police departments.

Republicans used the third day of their national convention to honor police officers, armed service members, veterans and Medal of Honor winners. That made Pence’s speech a critical moment in the nation’s conversation about police brutality and social justice. And it came four years to the day that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench during the national anthem before a preseason game to protest police violence against Black men.

The early speakers — whose remarks were mostly taped — didn’t mention the situation in Wisconsin but continued with a theme that electing Biden would result in rampant crime and violence, even as crime and violence has been on display during Trump’s term in office.

“It took 244 years to build this great nation — flaws and all — but we stand to lose it in a tiny fraction of that time if we continue down the path taken by the Democrats and their radical supporters,” said South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. “From Seattle and Portland to Washington and New York, Democrat-run cities across this country are being overrun by violent mobs.

“The violence is rampant. There’s looting, chaos, destruction, and murder. People that can afford to flee have fled. But the people that can’t — good, hard-working Americans — are left to fend for themselves. The Republican Party’s commitment to individual rights and self-government is as necessary today as it was in 1860 when we won our first presidential election.”

In his prayer before Wednesday’s program began, Rabbi Shubert Spero criticized some social justice advocates before he praised Trump.

“President Trump has stood up forcefully against those who are corrupting the term ‘social justice’ so as to deny Americans their birthright and these divine gifts,” he said.

Speakers also praised Trump for his fight against substance abuse, as well as discussing how he helped them personally. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she was “blown away” when Trump called her after she received a mastectomy to reduce her chances of developing breast cancer.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, the former Navy SEAL who represents the Houston area’s Congressional District 2, was the only elected official from Texas featured at the convention.

He talked about American heroes and criticized people for “lecturing over others when they disagree.”

“Heroism is grace, not perpetual outrage,” he said. “Heroism is rebuilding our communities, not destroying them. Heroism is renewing faith in the symbols that unite us, not tearing them down.”

Democrats have been outraged by the Republicans’ talking points.

“What he should be talking about is the Black Americans who are being targeted in these shootings,” state Rep. Carl Sherman, D-DeSoto, said of Pence’s speech.

The crusade against police brutality and calls for social justice are just part of what’s becoming a tense year in America. The nation is still gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, and the administration has been heavily criticized for its response to the crisis. Critics say Trump and Pence didn’t initially take the threat seriously, failed to assure for adequate testing for the virus and failed to develop a national policy—backed by science—that mitigated the virus and saved lives.

Pence praised the administration’s efforts, saying that after all the hardships, “we’re finding our way forward again.”

“As we speak we’re developing a growing number of treatments, including convalescent plasma that are saving lives all across the country,” he said. “Last week, Joe Biden said no miracle is coming. What Joe doesn’t seem to understand is that America is a nation of miracles and we’re on track to have the world’s first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year.”

Trump has touted his decision to implement a China travel ban as evidence that he was on top of the situation. The president has also defended the administration’s record on testing for the virus.

Pence leads the task force developed to defeat COVID-19.

Hurricane Laura, which was poised to move on to the Texas-Louisiana coast near Port Arthur at near Category 5 strength, was not mentioned by earlier speakers in their taped remarks, but Pence offered support.

“Our prayers are with you tonight,” he said. “This is a serious storm. Stay safe. Know that we’ll be with you every step of the way to support, rescue, respond and recover in the days and weeks ahead. That’s what Americans do.”

Democrats pounce on Pence

On Wednesday top Democrats hit Pence as incompetent and as Trump’s top enabler.

“He’s head of the Coronavirus Task Force — I wouldn’t be proud of that if I were him. Look how poorly we’ve done,” Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate minority leader, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

“Clearly, the response of the administration — if Pence was leading it, it’s a severe indictment of him that will be a stain on his record forever, no matter what he does afterwards,” he said.

Schumer added that “when Trump just lies and misstates things to the detriment of the country, Pence is quiet as a little mouse.”

“That’s another indictment of him,” Schumer said. “A real leader would have first gone to the president and said, ‘You can’t say these mistruths, and if you keep saying them, for the good of the country I’m going to have to contradict you.’ He has not done that. He has shown no leadership. He has just been a total acolyte of President Trump’s bad policies, misdeeds and, frankly, lying.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Pence seemed to be a “figure in the background” as the pandemic brewed.

“There’s nothing for him to be proud of in terms of his role in fighting this virus,” she said. “In fact there’s evidence to support the fact that he was very slow on the draw, pulled his punch, when he should have been leading with it. And he’s part of the indictment on the coronavirus.”

Also, she added, “he certainly is an accomplice to the president’s assault on the Affordable Care Act.”

Pence popular with the base

But most Republican leaders back Trump and Pence’s response to the pandemic.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the vice president was an asset to the GOP ticket and is preferable to California Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate.

“He’s a man of conviction,” Patrick said. “You know where he stands on the issues.”

Patrick said Trump’s speech would be better received than the address made by Harris as last week’s Democratic National Convention.

“Kamala Harris. I thought her speech was terrible,” Patrick said. “She said nothing. It was just like whipped cream…Mike Pence is a real guy, I think he will do very well against her.”

The vice president, analysts say, will attempt to mollify soft Republicans and independent voters wary of the bombast and controversies that have become par for the administration, while outlining the case for giving Trump for more years as president.

“In 2016 he was a validator for Trump,” said conservative political consultant Matt Langston. “He calmed down a wing of the Republican Party.”

Langston said he’s surprised that Pence hasn’t been more visible during his four years as vice president.

“They may have underutilized him over the last four years,” he said.

State Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, said he expected Pence to be “uplifting” and make the case that Trump’s policies have worked.

Shaheen added the Pence has been a positive addition to Trump’s team because of his experience and government.

“In 2016 the president was an outside and to have that balance between the two of them was important,” Shaheen said. “He’s been a great vice president and will be a great vice president for the next four years.”

Pence headlines a packed night of speakers at Wednesday night’s Republican National Convention. The theme of the night is “Land of Heroes,” and Pence is expected to provide an optimistic outlook about the direction of the country under Trump. The evening is meant to pay tribute to the military, law enforcement officials and others.

Other speakers included Second Lady Karen Pence and famed college football coach Lou Holtz, who said Biden was “Catholic in name only.”

Karen Pence praised military heroes and their families and asked the nation to support the GOP ticket.

“One-hundred years ago today women secured the right to vote,” she said. “So let’s vote, America. Let’s honor our heroes. Let’s reelect President Trump and Vice President Pence for 4 more years.”