‘Trusting Trump was dad’s only pre-existing condition’

WASHINGTON: Social media lit up with Kristin Urquiza’s quotes from her speech to the Democratic Convention even before she finished her short yet stinging rebuke of President Trump, who she blamed for her father’s death due to Covid-19.

“His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump — and for that he paid with his life,” she said of her dad, a Trump voter who had gone to a karaoke bar soon after stay-athome orders were lifted in Arizona.

“I’m one of the many who have lost a loved one to Covid. My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today, but he isn’t... My dad was a healthy 65-year-old.”

LIFELONG REPUBLICANS VOUCH FOR JOE BIDEN

John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, was among a group of senior Republicans who spoke at the convention about their inability to support Trump in the White House.

Kasich said, “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times.”

Susan Molinari, a former Republican congresswoman from New York, said, “I’ve known Donald Trump for most of my political career. So disappointing, and lately so disturbing.”

‘THE RISING’ PLAYS, AND THE BOSS APPROVES

Democrats used Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising as background score for a searing video of Trump’s handling of the many crises of his presidency — caging illegal immigrants, rising racism, the Covid-19 pandemic and the anti-racism protests that followed George Floyd’s killing.

Springsteen had written the song after the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001. The Democratic National Committee said the song highlights the resilience of the American people in overcoming the crises.

The Boss, as Springsteen is called, approved. He retweeted a Joe Biden post of the video. “Come on up for #therising,” he added, using a line from the song.