The fourth and final day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention wrapped up on the evening of August 22 culminating with the current vice-president, Kamala Harris, accepting the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America after delivering a forceful and poignant speech that traced her family history, provided some insight into her policies for home and abroad, and warned of the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House “with no guard rails” due his friends on the Supreme Court.
Some interesting highlights for viewers of the televised DNC, were the high-profile Republicans that took to the podium during the four evenings of the convention and threw their support behind the Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris. For the most part, they all seemed to cherish their Republican roots, but not the Republican nominee for President Donald Trump.
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. ~ ABC News
Republicans taking to the podium and endorsing Harris over Trump included life-long Republican heavy hitters with a common theme to their speeches – that they were putting country above party. Those heavy hitters, at times speaking directly to their Republican brethren, included:
Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles, who, during his speech spoke about the “cult of Trump” that had overtaken his party. “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.”
Mayor John Giles of Mesa, AZ, just made a powerful statement at the DNC: “Trump was all talk. But Biden and Harris delivered for my conservative community.” This lifelong Republican is backing Harris because real results matter. #DNC2024#LeadershipThatDeliverspic.twitter.com/T2dT6Tsvzh
Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham who got to see Trump up close and personal while he was president, also had some choice words regarding her former boss, saying that he mocked his supporters and called 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,” she said. “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.”
Donald Trump "has no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth."
Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham speaks at the DNC. Grisham, who resigned hours after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, shares what she witnessed when the cameras… pic.twitter.com/5bk9wG2Imo
Former Georgia Republican Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan delivered a fiery speech at the convention and didn’t hold back his feelings regarding the former president, going as far as to say that Trump’s behavior on January 6, 2021, and his 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.” The former governor looked straight into the camera and delivered a message to his fellow Republicans, saying, “If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot.”
Geoff Duncan's full DNC speech. "Doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing. Stay strong." pic.twitter.com/fJH3XoKDaY
Olivia Troye, former homeland security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, also didn’t pill any punches during her speech, saying, “I saw how Donald Trump undermined our intelligence community, our military leaders and, ultimately, our democratic process. Now, he’s doing it again. Lying and laying the groundwork to undermine this election.”
“Being inside Trump’s White House was terrifying, but what keeps me up at night is what will happen if he gets back there.”
Ex-Trump White House national security official, Republican Olivia Troye, absolutely trashed Donald at the DNC convention.
The Democrats saved the best for last when Adam Kinzinger took to the microphone in Chicago on the final night of the DNC. Kinzinger, the former U.S. House Representative from Illinois, left Congress in 2023 disillusioned with his party and Donald Trump, who he openly criticized.
Endorsing Kamala Harris for president, Kinzinger bared his soul Thursday night saying that his party had lost its way, adding that “Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party. His fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness.”
Kinsinger spoke earnestly and directly to his fellow Republicans at times, saying that his party “switched its allegiance” to “a man whose only purpose is himself.”
“Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong. A small man pretending to be big. A faithless man pretending to be righteous. A perpetrator who can’t stop playing the victim. He puts on quite a show. But there’s no real strength there.”
Kinzinger said he never thought he’d be speaking at a Democratic convention.
“But I’ve learned something about the Democratic Party. And I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret. The Democrats are as patriotic as us,” he said to loud applause. “They love this country just as much as we do. And they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been. I was relieved to discover that.” ~ CBS News
Kinzinger’s speech was so powerful and forthright that Ace News Today is providing the full video, and the verbatim transcript, below.
Ooooohhhh boy!
Adam Kinzinger kicked the MAGA nest tonight at the DNC convention! They’re so triggered!
I’m Adam Kinzinger, and I am proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward alliance that we have to defend truth, defend democracy and decency.
I was just a kid when I was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan, to his vision of a strong America, the shining city on a hill. I was a Republican for 12 years in Congress, and I still hold on to the label.
I never thought I’d be here. But listen, you never thought you’d see me here, did you?
But I’ve learned something about the Democratic Party, and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret: The Democrats are as patriotic as us. They love this country just as much as we do. And they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been.
I was relieved to discover that, because I’ve learned something about my party too, something I couldn’t ignore: The Republican Party is no longer conservative. It has switched its allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself.
Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong. He is a small man pretending to be big. He’s a faithless man pretending to be righteous. He’s a perpetrator who can’t stop playing the victim. He puts on—listen—he puts on quite a show, but there is no real strength there.
As a conservative and a veteran, I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable. It’s in protecting your family. It’s in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy. That—that is the soul of being a conservative. It used to be the soul of being a Republican. But Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party. His fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness, sapping our strength, softening our spine, whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values.
Our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6th, as Donald Trump’s deceit and dishonor led to a siege on the United States Capitol. That day, I stood witness to a profound sorrow: the desecration of our sacred tradition of peaceful transition of power, tarnished by a man too fragile, too vain, and too weak to accept defeat.
How can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election? How can a party claim to stand for liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine—an attack pitting tyranny against democracy, a challenge to everything our nation claims to be—and it retreats, it equivocates, it nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin and his running mate who said, “I don’t care what happens in Ukraine”? Yet he wants to be Vice President, yeah.
How can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that our forebearers fought for—men like my grandfather, who served in World War II, who believed in a cause bigger than himself, and he risked his life for it, behind enemy lines? To preserve American democracy, his generation found the courage to face down armies. Listen, all we’re asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man.
Some have questioned why I’ve taken the stand I have. The answer is really simple, ladies and gentlemen: We must put country first.
And tonight, as a Republican speaking before you, I’m putting our country first.
Because the fact is, I do belong here. I know Kamala Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law, the Constitution, and democracy, and she is dedicated to upholding all three in service to our country. Whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle, of decency, and of fidelity to this nation.
Listen, to my fellow Republicans, if you still pledge allegiance to those principles, I suspect you belong here too. Because democracy knows no party. It’s a living, breathing ideal that defines us as a nation. It’s the bedrock that separates us from tyranny. And when that foundation is fractured, we must all stand together united to strengthen it.
If you think those principles are worth defending, then I urge you: Make the right choice. Vote. Vote for our bedrock values. And vote for Kamala Harris.
