A few short years ago, Rich Logis was, by his own account, a hardcore devotee of Donald Trump.
As a conservative pundit, he wrote essays and op-eds defending the former president and attacking his critics and political rivals, like Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden. In an opinion piece published last year by Newsweek , Logis recalled volunteering for Trump’s 2016 campaign and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2018 bid for the governor’s mansion.
“For a long time, I sincerely believed in ‘Make America Great Again,’ ” he wrote in the Newsweek piece. “I convinced myself that a Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden victory represented the end of the United States as we knew it.”
His views have changed drastically in recent years. In a video broadcast at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, Logis excoriated Trump, calling his past support for the former president and 2024 Republican nominee a “grave mistake,” while endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris’ White House bid.
Logis said it was Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted him to start questioning the former president’s leadership.
“When the pandemic hit, we needed leadership, but we were given almost nothing,” said Logis, a Florida resident who earlier this month was named a co-chair of the group Republicans for Harris in Florida. “It was a major betrayal to the country.”
At that point, he added, “I finally stepped outside the MAGA echo chamber, I stopped listening to what Trump said and looked around with my own eyes. And I realized that he had been lying about pretty much everything.”
By featuring a one-time Trump supporter like Logis, Harris’ campaign and the Democratic National Committee are hoping to persuade Republicans and right-leaning independents disillusioned with Trump’s candidacy and the current GOP to ditch the former president and back Harris.
While polls show that Republican voters overwhelmingly remain supportive of Trump, there have been some high-profile defectors. In addition to Logis, former Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois is expected to speak at the Democrats’ convention later this week. Ana Navarro, a Republican commentator and longtime Trump critic who co-hosts ABC’s “The View,” will host the convention’s Tuesday-evening programming.
In his video remarks on Monday night, Logis acknowledged that while many Republican voters may be hesitant to back a Democrat like Harris, “you don’t need to agree with everything you hear tonight to do what is right.”
“ We need to be able to trust our leaders,” Logis said. “That’s why I’m all in for Kamala Harris.”
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