Joe Biden, who often dwells on the darkness of President Donald Trump, accepted the Democratic nomination for president Thursday promising to lead America down a “path of hope and light.”

“Here and now, I give you my word,” Biden said at the top of a speech that punctuated a convention downsized because of the coronavirus, stripped of pageantry and a live audience. “If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst.”

The speech, broadcast from Wilmington, Delaware, tied the existential themes Biden and Democrats have pushed since the beginning of his campaign into a tight, forward-looking case to move the country past a moment of great crises.

“As president, the first step I will take will be to get control of the virus that has ruined so many lives, because I understand something this president hasn’t from the beginning: we will never get our economy back on track, we will never get our kids safely back in schools, we’ll never have our lives back, until we deal with this virus,” Biden said.

Like other Democrats who addressed voters watching at home, the former vice president framed Trump as a threat to democracy and decency. Biden also spoke of his personal losses, making a connection to those grieving and suffering in the midst of a prolonged pandemic that has killed more than 170,000 Americans.

“On this summer night, let me take a moment to speak to those of you who have lost the most,” said Biden, whose first wife and young daughter were killed in a car accident in 1972.

“I have some idea how it feels to lose someone you love,” Biden continued. “I know that deep black hole that opens up in the middle of your chest and you feel you’re being sucked into it. I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes. But I’ve learned two things: First, your loved ones may have left this Earth but they’ll never leave your heart. They’ll always be with you, you’ll always hear them. And second, I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose.”