Kamala Harris

Washington.-Republican lawmakers are reaffirming their support for former President Donald Trump as a “very strong candidate” for the White House in the face of Kamala Harris’ “fake campaign,” as former Trump allies take to the stage at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago to back the vice president in the race.

Mayor John Giles of Mesa, in the border state of Arizona, television personality Ana Navarro and former Trump Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham took the floor on the second night of the DNC with strong messages against the former president, whom they accused of putting his own interests above others.

These anti-Trump Republicans will be joined at the United Center, the venue for the partisan event, by former member of the Republican candidate’s team, Olivia Troye, and former representative to the United States Congress from Illinois, Adam Kinzinger, one of the most vocal detractors of the former president after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

While their approaches are different and they all warn that they are out of place in the Democratic partisan meeting – whose main objective is to energize the Democratic base in favor of the partisan presidential duo – the anti-Trump Republicans agree on a strong message: the well-being of the country is above partisan loyalties.

“This is my message to all the Republicans and independents watching, people like me who voted for Trump and believed in him. I made a grave mistake, but it’s never too late to change your mind. You don’t have to agree with everything you hear tonight to do the right thing,” conservative analyst and former MAGA Richard Logis said in a video message to the convention on Monday.

On the other hand, Republicans who support the tycoon and party leader reject these positions, but insist that it is something they anticipated.

“The truth is that we are not very surprised that this type of thing happens in the climate of political polarization that we live in the United States. The truth is that what is important is that our candidate is a very strong candidate, unlike the candidate of the Democratic Party,” the Spanish-language spokesman for Donald Trump’s campaign, Jaime Florez, told the Voice of America.

For Florez, the contrast is clear. “We have stated that we are much stronger in economic matters and that in terms of security, much was achieved during the Trump administration, which has not been achieved during the Biden administration and which, on the contrary, has been aggravating the issue of domestic security, particularly in our neighborhoods here in the United States.”

The Democratic National Convention, which will conclude on Thursday after four days of events and speeches that have demonstrated the enthusiasm of the blue party, energized by the rise of Kamala Harris to the top of the presidential ticket, after the exit of President Joe Biden from the race. The atmosphere around the event is one of “joy” and expectation, according to what participants told VOA.

But for Republican lawmakers like Mike Waltz, there is no reason for optimism.

“I don’t know what’s joyful about attacking your opponent, denying your record and ignoring the fact that Americans are hurting,” the Florida congressman said at a daily Republican briefing near DNC headquarters.

“If you want to spread joy, tell the American people why you failed them so desperately for three and a half years and what you’re actually doing to take responsibility for the failure and do something about it. Instead, you have a fake campaign,” Waltz said.

Florez agreed. “Kamala Harris’ first day was January 20, 2020. She has been in government for almost four years, and has been responding very poorly for almost four years, on issues such as the border, on issues such as the economy,” the spokesperson said.La Voz de América.