Doug Elmets, a former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, admitted when he took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday that it was not an event he'd ever thought he'd attend.
"Unlike many of you, I'm a Republican," he said. "Forty years ago, I cast my first vote for president, voting Republican that day like I would do time and again." He still reveres his former boss, and had a stinging message for Donald Trump. "I came here tonight to say I knew Ronald Reagan, I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan." Reagan, he continued, "famously said, 'Tear down this wall.' Trump says, 'Build the wall.' Reagan saw nuance and Trump sees the world as us versus them, where somebody with brown skin or a foreign sounding name is likely to blame for our troubles. Reagan knew a leader needs diplomacy to steer a safe, prosperous course forward. Trump is a petulant, dangerously unbalanced reality star who will coddle tyrants and alienate allies."
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