Glendale, Arizona – With Arizona at the forefront of the 2024 election, the opening speaker at Vice President Harris’ rally in Glendale appealed to moderate Republicans by referencing one of the GOP’s past presidential candidates.
Rep. Gregory Stanton (D-Ariz.), who represents the Phoenix suburbs in eastern Arizona, has portrayed the Harris-Waltz slate as a moderate option and called on “John McCain Republicans” to support it.
Mesa’s Republican Mayor John Giles echoed those comments, saying he doesn’t identify with any political party as a lifelong Republican.
“It’s been taken over by extremists,” Giles said. [political] Eliminate the “core” from the party.
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Former President Trump and former U.S. Senator John McCain. (Getty Images)
“I owe nothing to that party,” Giles added, saying his support for Donald Trump would be a “displacement of loyalty.”
“In the spirit of the great Senator John McCain, I ask you to join me in putting country before party to stop Donald Trump, uphold the rule of law, defend our Constitution, and protect our great democracy.”
McCain, who died in 2018, had a frosty relationship with Trump after he voted against repealing Obamacare and then signaled his opposition.
The two men frequently exchanged harsh words, with McCain retracting his future support for Trump after the release of an audio tape of Billy Bush during the 2016 election in which Trump made comments about McCain’s Vietnam War service.
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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, onstage at a campaign event in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
Giles, who continues to serve as a Republican, on Friday called Harris “the kind of competent, fair and impartial leader our country wants.”
He also criticized Trump’s focus on the border crisis, arguing that the Republican candidate is not trying to solve the crisis but is instead using it for “his own political ends.”
“I’m glad you’re here and I’m glad to have your support,” Stanton added of the “John McCain Republicans” who may be attending Friday’s rally.
Other mayors who spoke included Tempe Mayor Corey Woods and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, the ex-wife of U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who officials also called for support for against former news anchor Kali Lake.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
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The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), left, stands with the late former Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) during a tour of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Joe Raedl/Getty Images)
Outside the rally, John, an Avondale native, stood alongside Harris-Waltz supporters holding a hand-drawn poster resembling a Google Maps GPS graphic depicting the “fastest route” from Desert Diamond Arena to the south border of Nogales.
“Too many Americans are being killed by illegal immigrants crossing the border because the border is too open,” John said, adding that he did not expect his poster would get him allowed into the country.
“Not only that, but sooner or later they will start taking all our jobs.”
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“I don’t know if all these people have jobs, but sooner or later they will,” John joked as he addressed the crowd around him.
“Not only that, but when taxes go up, prices go up because someone has to support 20 million illegal immigrants. And that person isn’t me. That’s why I’m not voting for Ms. Harris.”
Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report..
