Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham never thought that she would be addressing the Democratic National Convention — in fact, she said exactly that to NBC News ahead of her speech to the Democrats’ quadrennial gathering on Tuesday.
She called herself a “true believer” of Donald Trump and his message, describing that the Trump family became her own family, spending major holidays with him.
But all that changed after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, she said, telling the crowd about a text exchange with former first lady Melania Trump, in which Grisham advocated for a tweet denouncing "lawlessness or violence.”
"She responded with one word,” Grisham said. “No.”
"He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” she charged, while saying that Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, does. “And she has my vote.”
“I love my country more than my party,” said Grisham.
While much has been made of the power players in the Democratic Party coming together to hand over the reins to Harris — from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Barack and Michelle Obama, and even President Joe Biden, the man offering the vice president the proverbial torch — a handful of Republicans have appeared on the convention stage in Chicago to try and paint a contrast with Trump and emphasize that the party they once opposed is now offering a “big tent,” despite stark differences when it comes to policy.
“To my fellow Republicans, you are not voting for a Democrat, you are voting for democracy," said former Trump administration official Olivia Troye, who left his White House prior to the Jan. 6 attack and has since emerged as one of his sharpest Republican critics. "You aren't betraying our party, you are standing up for our country.”
“Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home watching,” added Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan on Wednesday night in a speech immediately following Troye’s. “If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you're not a Democrat. You're a patriot.”
John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, said he feels “more at home” at the DNC “than in today’s Republican Party.”
“John McCain’s Republican Party is gone and we don’t owe a damn thing to what’s been left behind,” Giles said. “So let’s turn the page, let’s put country first.”
Throughout the convention, in addition to the speakers, Democrats have played video messages of former Trump voters who have moved away from the former president and toward the vice president.
Rich Logis, who called himself a “full-fledged member of MAGA,” called his support a “grave mistake” and implored voters to change their minds about who they support.
As the convention enters its final night, expect this sentiment to continue: Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Trump critic who was one of two Republican members of the House Jan. 6 committee, will address the DNC in Chicago on Thursday. Kinzinger endorsed Harris and Biden, prior to him dropping out of the race, and his former chief of staff leads the campaign’s Republican outreach arm.
But it’s unclear whether the message of country over party will move the needle in terms of votes in November, experts say.
“It's probably one of those things that makes the Democratic Party feel good,” Kathleen Dolan, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. “They’re doing outreach. They're showing, you know, people who could be believed. But I'm just not sure it's going to have a significant impact.”
Trump’s campaign appears to agree with that sentiment. A spokesperson for the campaign told the New York Times earlier this week: “We thought the DNC was supposed to be filled with celebrities, not D-list failed CNN contributors.”