The second night of the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago was dominated by inspiring speeches by former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Both, from different corners, appealed for unity and change as an alternative to the dystopian vision that, they say, Donald Trump offers, Republican Party candidate.
But perhaps more painful for the former president were the attacks he received from members of the Republican Party who took to the stage to rant against the leader of their party.
Among them, at least in the Latin American context, those launched by the commentator and political strategist Anna Navarro attracted a lot of attention..
The strategist, who broke ties with Trump since his 2020 campaign, went on a rampage against the billionaire, comparing him to Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and other dictators in the region.
Navarro began his speech by criticizing the former president for referring to Harris as a “communist,” when it is Trump himself who describes himself as such.
“I know communism. I escaped communism in Nicaragua when I was eight years old. So I don’t take it lightly. But let me tell you what communist dictators do. They attack the free press. They call them enemies of the people like (President Daniel) Ortega does in Nicaragua. They put their unqualified relatives in cushy government jobs so they can enrich themselves like the Castros do in Cuba. And they refuse to accept legitimate elections when they do and call for violence to stay in power like (President Nicolas) Maduro is doing right now in Venezuela. Now tell me something. Do any of those things sound familiar? Is there anyone running for president that reminds you of that?” he asked in his speech.
Navarro was referring, of course, to the president’s constant attacks on the press (which he has called “enemy number one”), the appointment of children and relatives to public positions, and his denial of the 2020 election results when he lost to Joe Biden and a mob of his supporters took over the Capitol to try to stop its certification.
Other criticisms of Trump: ‘He has no empathy, no morals’
But Navarro was not the only Republican to attack the former president.
John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, urged his colleagues to vote for Harris despite their differences.
“I feel a little bit of an outsider here (at the convention), but I feel more at home than in today’s Republican Party which has been hijacked by extremists and turned into a cult, the cult of Donald Trump,” Giles said.
Stephanie Grisham, former Trump White House press secretary and chief of staff to former first lady Melania Trump, described herself as a “true believer” who vacationed at Mar-a-Lagothe residence of the former president.
But she resigned on January 6, 2021, after Trump failed to take action to prevent his supporters from attacking the Capitol. She recalled, for example, that when she asked Melania to intervene to stop the attack on Congress, she responded with a curt “No.”
Grisham also said that Trump, in private, even mocks his own supporters.“He has no empathy, no morals, no fidelity to the truth,” said the extruist.
Additionally, in a short video, three former Trump voters said they believed the former president disrespected the Constitution and criticized his recent convictions for serious crimes.
Also taking the stage was Kyle Sweetser, a supporter of Republican Nikki Haley who now plans to vote for Harris. According to Sweetser, despite having voted for Trump three times in the past, he will not do so this time because he is convinced that he is not the solution for the United States.
“Friendly fire”, it should be noted, is common in this type of event.
During the Republican Convention last month, in fact, Democrats and former Biden supporters also criticized their party and announced their vote for the former president.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
Correspondent for EL TIEMPO
Washington
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