Republican warning over ‘Civil War’

WASHINGTON DC: Chaotic and violent protests across US cities have been condemned by Republicans who likened the current climate to what started the American Civil War.

As the fallout grows from the latest police shooting of a black man, speakers at the Republican national convention warned Americans wouldn’t be safe under a Democrat government led by Joe Biden.

“We will have law and order on the streets of America,” said Vice President Mike Pence.

Republicans are increasingly framing the November poll as a referendum on law and order, decrying the violence in Democrat-run cities and the growth of “cancel culture” and intolerance. “Rioting and looting is not peaceful protest, tearing down statues is not free speech,” Mr Pence said.

“Last week, Joe Biden didn’t say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country.”

South Dakota’s republican governor Kristi Noem said the unrest that had spread since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the shooting of Jacob Blake in nearby Kenosha was similar to clashes over slavery before the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln “was concerned for the people who had seen their property destroyed, their families attacked, and their lives threatened or even taken away. These good people were becoming tired of, and disgusted with, a government that offered them no protection. Sound familiar?” she asked. “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.”

Earlier, Mr Trump called for pre-debate drug tests for himself and Mr Biden after becoming suspicious his opponent had taken performance-enhancing drugs during the primary election cycle.