John Giles — the longtime Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona — is not only throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, but he's confronting his party directly for being in thrall to former President Donald Trump.
Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, are campaigning in the Grand Canyon State on Friday night in front of a massive audience of approximately 20,000 supporters in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. Giles spoke ahead of Harris and Walz to warm up the crowd, and launched right into an attack on both Trump and on his own party.
"As you may know, I'm a lifelong Republican ... I have to tell you, I do not recognize my party," he said. "I have something to say to those of us who are in the political middle: You don’t owe a damn thing to that political party. In particular, you don’t owe anything to a party that is out of touch and hell-bent on taking us backward."
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"In the spirit of the great Senator John McCain, please, please join me in putting country over party and stopping Donald Trump and protecting the rule of law, protecting our Constitution and protecting our democracy of this great country," he added.
Earlier this month, Giles — who has been mayor of the city of roughly 400,000 residents since 2014 — announced his support of the Democratic ticket in an op-ed for the Arizona Republic. He notably heaped praise on Biden and Harris for their handling of the economy in his home state, which is considered one of the major issues voters are paying attention to in the 2024 campaign cycle.
"Under the Biden-Harris administration, Mesa has seen historic federal funding for the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, along with investments to make sure our streets and public transit systems benefit from modern technology," Giles wrote. "With the CHIPS Act, Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden are delivering thousands of new jobs to Arizonans and helping us grow critical industries."
The lifelong Republican also used his op-ed to tear into Trump, ripping the former president for his role in firing up a mob of his supporters on January 6, 2021, who then laid siege to the U.S. Capitol.
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"Trump poses a serious threat to our nation," he argues. "We can’t have a felon representing us on the national stage, let alone one who would threaten to abandon NATO and ruin our standing abroad. We are in a moment that only happens once every few generations, when we have to defend democracy, and stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights."
Giles' endorsement is a major get for the Harris/Walz campaign in the critical battleground state that went for Trump in 2016 and for President Joe Biden in 2020 by just over 11,000 votes statewide. And while the state's coveted electoral votes may play a decisive role in who wins the presidency, Arizona may also determine which party controls both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In addition to the presidential race, Arizona also has a hotly contested U.S. Senate race between Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and far-right former news anchor Kari Lake, who has still not conceded her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial race.
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