On the final night of the Democratic National Convention, speakers tried to turn the traditional roles of Republicans as militarists and Democrats as doves upside down. Veterans-turned-politicians and politicians-turned-hawks presented Donald Trump’s isolationism as a threat to democracy worldwide, and they argued that Kamala Harris’ steady hand as commander-in-chief would be the ultimate form of national security.
Speakers invoked the Cold War and borrowed from John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. They presented Harris as the antithesis to Trump cozying up to authoritarians abroad and at home. And Harris herself made the case that Trump was a threat that America can’t risk.
The vice president’s closing argument seemed to be an appeal to America: Don’t trust Trump.
She ended her speech by contrasting her record with Trump’s, promising that she would ensure “that we strengthen, not abdicate our global leadership,” and knocking her opponent for his chaotic statements when it comes to foreign policy.
“Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies,” she said. “Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelenskyy to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade. I helped mobilize a global response over 50 countries to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as president I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.”
It was some of Harris’ most direct criticism of Trump. But it was also largely the theme of the fourth night of the DNC. Time and again, speakers called out Trump for his foreign policy and praised Harris for her steady but muscular grasp of the issues.
“He admires dictators — a lot,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a congresswoman from Michigan who worked as an analyst in the CIA during the Iraq War and is now running for the Senate. “He treats our friends as adversaries and our adversaries as friends.”
Several speakers noted Trump’s admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Trump administration’s subversion of NATO’s joint defense agreements and the hazards presented by allowing war-mongering dictators to encroach on neighboring countries.
The sharpest zings on Thursday against the Republican Party may have come from within the Republican Party. Specifically, much of the criticism came from former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who was one of two GOP lawmakers on the House Jan. 6 Committee.
“We must put country first,” Kinzinger said. “Democracy knows no party.”
But Kinzinger certainly knocked his own party. He said the GOP has retreated, equivocated and nominated a man “who is weirdly obsessed with Putin.”
“And his running mate, who said, ‘I don’t care what happens in Ukraine,’” Kinzinger said of JD Vance. “And yet he wants to be vice president.”
Although the closing night of the DNC largely featured celebrities who touted Harris’ credentials and political promises, the string of A-listers was interrupted with war veterans who kept reminding the audience of the national security implications of allowing Trump to return to the White House.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who flew more than 40 combat missions and served in the Navy during the Gulf War 44 years ago, delivered a scathing rebuke of Trump’s foreign policy.
“America rallied our allies to kick out a tyrant who invaded a neighbor,” Kelly said. “Today, Vladimir Putin is testing whether we’re still that strong. Iran, North Korea and especially China watch closely. What’s Trump’s answer? He invited Russia to do, and these are his words, not mine: ‘Whatever the hell they want.’”
Meanwhile, Kelly contrasted Trump’s record with Harris’, noting that she’s championed NATO and stood up for Ukraine.
“On the Senate Intelligence Committee, she investigated Russian interference in our election,” he added. “She defends free and fair elections everywhere. You already know how Trump feels about those.”
Kelly went on to remind people how it was widely reported that Trump, during his four years in the White House, would regularly show little interest in his presidential daily brief, the highly classified summary of time-sensitive national security information that has been presented to presidents since 1946.
“Donald Trump skipped his intelligence briefings. He was too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one himself,” Kelly said.
But the most sobering warning may have come from former defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta, who said Trump’s philosophy of nonintervention in global affairs presented a risk to the nation and U.S. allies.
“Our warriors need a tough, cool-headed commander-in-chief to defend our democracy from tyrants and terrorists,” Panetta said. “We need Kamala Harris behind the resolute desk. She knows, she knows a tyrant when she sees one. And our allies know a leader when they see one.”
Panetta also touted Harris’ record on the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as her time as vice president. He said she has worked with more than 150 world leaders. “She’s looked our allies in the eye and said, ‘America has your back,’” Panetta continued. “Trump would abandon our allies and isolate America. We tried that in the 1930s. It was foolish and dangerous then, and it’s foolish and dangerous now.”
Panetta also appealed to the GOP’s love of Ronald Reagan to argue that Trump was a marked departure from the traditional Republican Party on these issues.
“Listen to President Reagan,” Panetta said. “Isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments. Never. Trump tells tyrants like Putin they can do whatever the hell they want. Kamala Harris tells tyrants: ‘The hell you can! Not on my watch!’”
He again noted that Harris had worked with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fight back against Russia. “She knows that protecting their democracy protects our democracy as well,” he said.
Toward the end of his speech, Panetta also made a passing reference to a radical idea Trump continues to float as he seeks to win the 2024 election: redirecting American military might inward and unleashing it on the very people soldiers have sworn to protect.
“She’ll keep America’s military the strongest in the world, the strongest ever known. And she understands what our military is for. The role of our military is to defend us from foreign enemies. It is not to threaten Americans and it sure as hell isn’t to put immigrants in camps,” Panetta said.
“So we face a critical choice — to vote for someone who stands with our military and stands up for democracy, or someone who will disrespect our heroes and undermine our democracy,” he continued. “My fellow Americans, there is only one choice.”
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Jose Pagliery is a reporter at NOTUS.