A day after Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary urged Republicans to ditch the former president in favor of Kamala Harris, that trend continued Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention with former Trump White House counterterrorism adviser Olivia Troye and a Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan, telling members of the GOP that voting for Harris wouldn’t be “betraying” their party.
Troye, like Stephanie Grisham did the day prior, explained why she resigned from the Trump administration—a move that was hard as a Republican, she said, but “as an American, it was the right one.”
“I saw how Donald Trump undermined the intelligence community, our military leaders and, ultimately, our democratic process. Now he is doing it again—lying and laying the groundwork to undermine this election,” said Troye, a member of the coalition of “Republicans for Harris.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“It is his M.O.—to sow doubt and division. That is what Trump wants, because it is the only way he wins, and that is what our foreign adversaries want—because it is the only way they win.”
Troye, who penned a column Wednesday for MSNBC on her reasons for not supporting Trump, added that she has immense concerns for what Trump would do if given a second term.
Former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago.
SAUL LOEB/Getty Images“The guardrails are gone. The few adults in the room the first time resigned or were fired,” she said. “To my fellow Republicans, you aren’t voting for a Democrat. You’re voting for a democracy. You aren’t betraying our party. You're standing up for our country.”
Troye and Duncan both emphasized that they don’t agree with Harris on every issue, which is OK.
“But you do have to recognize her prosecutor mindset that understands right from wrong, good from evil. She is a steady hand and will bring leadership to the White House that Donald Trump could never do,” said Duncan, an outspoken opponent of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Attendees cheer following a speech by former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan during the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
BRANDON BELL/Getty Images“If Republicans are being intellectually honest with ourselves, our party is not civil or conservative. It is chaotic and crazy, and the only thing left to do is dump Trump. These days our party acts more like a cult, a cult worshiping a felon thug,” Duncan continued.
“Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home watching: If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you are not a Democrat. You are a patriot.”
In addition to Grisham, Troye and Duncan, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, told the DNC crowd Tuesday that he too is backing Harris.
Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger is also set to deliver his endorsement on Thursday.
