There were chants of “USA” and boasts of patriotism. Even the vice presidential candidate touted his love of guns.
No, it was not the Republican National Convention all over again, but it has been a roster of Republican speakers getting standing ovations at the Democratic National Convention by taking some of the harshest swipes at former President Donald Trump.
Every night of the DNC, GOP members from a former press secretary for the Trump White House to a former “full-fledged member of MAGA,” have been given a chance to stand at the podium and address the Democratic delegates in Chicago.
At least seven Republicans have been given time to speak to their longtime rivals — including Rep. Adam Kinzinger who was given a prime-time speaking slot Thursday night — and all of them said they’ve dumped Trump and are supporting Harris.
“I voted for Trump not once, not twice, but three times. You see, I work in construction. I work with my hands. He told us he’d look out for blue-collar workers. So, I made my first-ever political contribution to Trump and I donated to him many times throughout his presidency,” Kyle Sweetser of Alabama said during his DNC speech Tuesday night. “But then I started to see Trump’s tariff policy in action. Costs for construction workers like me were starting to soar. I realized that Trump wasn’t for me. He was lining his own pockets.”
Sweetser said he’s not “left-wing, period. But I believe our leaders should bring out the best in us, not the worst.”
Former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan received a standing ovation Wednesday night when he told the crowd that Trump’s attempts to overthrow the 2020 election “disqualified him from ever, ever, ever stepping foot into the Oval Office again.”
“If Republicans are being intellectually honest with ourselves, our party is not civil or conservative. It’s chaotic and crazy. And the only thing left to do is dump Trump,” Duncan said. “These days, our party acts more like a cult, a cult worshiping a felonous thug.”
He said he was supporting Harris and stared into the camera to speak to his “Republican friends at home watching.”
“If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot,” said Duncan, prompting chants of “USA! USA.!”
Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told conventiongoers that she was “a true believer” of Trump.
“I was one of his closest advisers. The Trump family became my family,” said Grisham, adding that she spent Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Grisham offered a behind-the-scenes look at Trump, alleging he mocks his supporters, calling them “basement dwellers.”
“On a hospital visit one time when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad the cameras were not watching him,” Grisham alleged. “He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth. He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough and people will believe you.’ But it does matter. What you say matters and what you don’t say matters.”
Grisham said while working in the White House she was skewered for never holding a press briefing. She said it was because “I never wanted to stand at a podium and lie.”
“Now, here I am at a podium advocating for a Democrat and that’s because I love my country more than my party,” Grisham said during her speech Tuesday night.
Another Trump administration veteran, Olivia Troye, a former homeland security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, said her dream of working in the White House turned into a nightmare.
“I saw how Donald Trump undermined our intelligence community, our military leaders and, ultimately, our democratic process,” Troye said during her speech Wednesday night. “Now, he’s doing it again. Lying and laying the groundwork to undermine this election.”
Troye added, “Being inside Trump’s White House was terrifying, but what keeps me up at night is what will happen if he gets back there.”
Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles began his DNC speech Tuesday by saying, “I have a confession to make: I’m a lifelong Republican.”
“I feel a little out of place tonight, but I feel more at home here than in today’s Republican party. The Grand Old Party had been kidnapped by extremists and evolved into a cult, the cult of Donald Trump,” Giles said. “Trump doesn’t know the first thing about public service. Like a child, he acts purely out of self-interest. We all need an adult in the White House. We’ve seen what happens when we don’t have one.”
Rich Logis of Florida told the conventioneers that two years ago he was a “full-fledged member of MAGA.”
“I believed Trump. I was a MAGA pundit. I had my own podcast. I was in a state of panic, terrified the Democrats were destroying our country,” Logis said, addressing the convention Monday night via a video link.
He said that when the pandemic hit, he began to see how important solid leadership is and described Trump’s handling of the crisis as “a major betrayal to the country.”
“So I finally stepped outside the MAGA echo chamber. I stopped listening to what Trump said and looked around with my own eyes. And I realized he had been lying about pretty much everything. Lying is Trump’s toxic superpower,” Logis said. “I made a grave mistake, but it’s never too late to change your mind.”
