Rich Logis was a “staunch” independent—disillusioned with American politics and the two-party system—when he joined the MAGA movement.
Drawn to Donald Trump as a maverick, the 47-year-old entrepreneur from Delray Beach, Florida, volunteered to write scripts for Trump’s calls to reach out to voters. He became a “MAGA expert,” writing articles for the Daily Caller and the Federalist and starting a podcast that promoted itself as “dangerous and inappropriate” for Democrats and moderate Republicans.
But on Monday night, in a video, Logis addressed the Democratic National Convention. “I finally stepped out of the MAGA echo chamber,” he said. “I stopped listening to what Trump said, looked around with my own eyes and realized I had been lying about almost everything.”
Ligos is one of several high-profile Republicans preparing to speak out against Trump at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this week.
Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on the charge of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, is scheduled to address the DNC on Thursday night before Harris delivers her opening remarks.
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan is also scheduled to speak along with Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary and aide to former first lady Melania Trump, and Olivia Troye, a former national security official in the Trump White House.
Faced with a close election — national polling averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight.com show Harris leading Trump by 2.9 percentage points — Democrats are hoping they can persuade disenchanted Republicans not just to sit out the election, but to vote for Harris.
In June, the Biden campaign hired a national Republican outreach director: Austin Weatherford, Kinzinger’s former chief of staff. This month, it launched “Republicans for Harris,” a program that encourages high-profile Republicans to advocate for Harris, creating a “permission structure” for Republican voters who are hesitant to vote for a California Democrat.
“We’re here to be part of a campaign within a campaign to build a coalition of Republicans who will talk to Republicans about Trump’s unfitness for office,” Weatherford said at a recent virtual Republicans for Harris town hall meeting.
“We may not agree on every issue with Harris, but one thing is clear: she takes the time to listen and learn all sides of an issue,” he said, noting that Harris had supported an immigration bill that Trump decided to kill.
I made a serious mistake, but it's never too late to change your mind.
—Former MAGA pundit Rich Logis now supports Kamala Harris
Republicans across the country have recorded testimonies for Republican Voters Against Trump, a $50 million advertising campaign being launched in every battleground state. Among them is a man from Antioch, California, identified only as “Jeff.”
“I am a lifelong Republican. I am a former Trump voter and I will not be voting for Donald Trump in 2024,” Jeff said in his video testimony. “Donald Trump has nothing but contempt for the American people.”
Logis, in his video, said he began to have doubts when the former president made false claims of voter fraud after losing the 2020 election and inspired a mob to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' handling of the COVID-19 pandemic made him rethink his support for Republicans.
“I made a grave mistake, but it’s never too late to change your mind,” said Logis, who now runs a “Leaving MAGA” group for former Trump supporters. “You don’t have to agree with everything you hear tonight to do the right thing.”
This is not the first time anti-Trump Republicans have spoken at the Democratic National Convention.
Four years ago, former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Joe Biden. “Today we are a divided country, and we have a president who is doing everything he can to make it that way and to keep us that way,” Powell said in a video recorded for the convention. “What a difference it will make to have a president who brings us together, who restores our strength and our soul.”
John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio who challenged Trump in the 2016 nomination race, also pledged his support for Biden. “I’m a lifelong Republican,” Kasich said. “But that attachment takes second place to my responsibility to my country.”
Many Republicans who vote for Harris acknowledge that they do not agree with her on every issue.
“I didn't jump ship because I'm totally in love with Democratic policies,” former Georgia Lt. Gov. Duncan told the Los Angeles Times.. “I gave up because I couldn’t imagine myself, as an American, voting for someone as evil and corrupt as Donald Trump.”
Duncan said that, working with Democrats and Harris, he would try to move American politics more toward the center.
“I feel like there’s a gravitational pull toward the center on some of these issues,” Duncan said. “Not all of them; this isn’t turning all Democrats into Republicans. But just governing more toward the center, I think is an extremely healthy step for this country right now.”
Duncan’s support for Biden and Harris has angered many Georgia Republicans. Though some of the state’s Republican leaders, including Gov. Brian Kemp, have a tense relationship with Trump, they have sought to focus on GOP unity.
Some Republicans have urged disenchanted conservatives and evangelicals to show up at the polls and leave a blank line, rather than vote for Harris.
“Voting for Kamala Harris to stop Trump or save conservatism only tells Democrats that they don’t need to do anything to earn your vote,” Erick Erickson, a conservative radio show host and former Never Trump supporter, wrote last week.
“Good stewardship often means not choosing between two lesser evils, but choosing not to choose the evil at all,” he added.
