CNN
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It received’t simply be Democrats talking at their convention in Chicago this week. A number of Republicans have additionally obtained key talking spots.
Whereas among the largest names amongst Republicans against Donald Trump have remained on the sidelines, others might be taking to the United Middle stage all through the the week to put out the case for why they’re there – and why they suppose other conservatives ought to be a part of them in voting for Kamala Harris.
Two outstanding audio system are from key battleground states: John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, and Geoff Duncan, the previous lieutenant governor of Georgia.
Each have already endorsed Harris. They’ll be joined by Olivia Troye, a former Trump White Home nationwide safety official who joined Harris for an occasion in Michigan only a few days earlier than Joe Biden dropped out of the race. CNN beforehand reported that former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger will converse on Thursday night forward of Harris. (Each Duncan and Kinzinger are CNN contributors.)
“I’ve been a Republican all my life. However since Donald Trump refused to just accept the outcomes of the 2020 election, the Republican Occasion has spiraled additional and additional into political extremism,” Giles mentioned.
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who spoke at the 2020 Democratic convention by video, is not going to converse at this 12 months’s gathering.
Liz Cheney, the previous No. 3 Home Republican who broke with Trump after January 6 and calls his return to energy a risk to the Structure, will not be anticipated to talk. She posted on social media over the weekend about going to a Taylor Swift live performance in the UK along with her daughter, and a spokesperson didn’t return a request for remark about her plans. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, has mentioned that “there has by no means been a larger risk to our republic than Donald Trump” however has not commented on this 12 months’s election.
George W. Bush, the one different residing Republican president, has been vital of Trump in non-public however has additionally not spoken publicly about how he’ll vote.
However the Harris marketing campaign is making an attempt to maintain the deal with extra common Republicans who’ve been turned away by Trump. The conference may even embrace a video from former MAGA activist Wealthy Logis and remarks from Kyle Sweetser, a Republican from Alabama.
“We might be placing patriotic Republicans entrance and middle in our conference programming to elucidate, in their very own phrases, why they’re placing nation first and supporting Vice President Harris,” mentioned Austin Weatherford, the marketing campaign’s nationwide engagement director for Republicans for Harris.
Interesting to Republicans over defending democracy was a key a part of Biden’s technique earlier than he ended his reelection bid. It’s much less entrance and middle for Harris, however the numbers stay the identical: There are sufficient anti-Trump Republicans in every of the battleground states to make up the margin of victory in races which are anticipated to be tight.
“There’s a place in our coalition for voters who reject the extremism of Donald Trump and need to shield our democracy,” a Harris-Walz marketing campaign aide mentioned.