On Thursday, Democrats turned over primetime convention speaking slots to a number of Republican critics of Donald Trump, including his former press secretary and a Republican mayor in Arizona.
“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 has been kidnapped by extremists and devolved into a cult,” Mesa, Arizona, mayor John Giles opened his remarks to the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
While the majority of the Republican Party is firmly behind Trump, he has been dogged by a small but loud group of GOP critics, including some ex-employees — a handful of whom have been given a platform at the Democrats’ convention as the party hopes to reach across the aisle to disaffected Republican or Republican-leaning voters.