Several Republicans crossed party lines and endorsed Joe Biden during the first night of the Democratic National Convention Monday, calling on other GOP voters to turn their backs on Donald Trump in November.
Former Ohio governor John Kasich led the charge, admitting his presence was unusual but insisting his status as a lifelong Republican “holds second place to my responsibility to my country.”
“In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times,” he said of his participation at the Democrats’ convention.
“We can all see what’s going on in our country today and all the questions that are facing us, and no one person or party has all the answers,” Kasich added. “But what we do know is that we can do better than what we’ve been seeing today, for sure.”
Kasich was among 16 people who battled Trump for the Republican presidential nomination during the 2016 primaries and was among the last to drop out, finishing fourth in earned delegates.
During the primary, he stressed his bipartisan work as a Republican member of Congress during President Bill Clinton’s administration. Biden, he said, was also able to work with Republicans during his time in the Senate and as Barack Obama’s vice-president, and could “bring us together” in the same way if elected.
Other Republican elected officials set the stage for Kasich’s speech in their own, introductory messages.❐
