Daughter of coronavirus victim speaks at DNC: 'His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump'
Kristin Urquiza lost her father to COVID-19 — and she's pinning the blame squarely on President Trump.
Urquiza authored an obituary for her father Mark Anthony Urquiza, who died in June of coronavirus, calling out Trump and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R). She reiterated that message on Monday at the Democratic National Convention, declaring her father's "only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump."
"My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today, but he isn't. He had faith in Donald Trump. He voted for him, listened to him, believed him and his mouthpieces when they said coronavirus was under control and going to disappear," Urquiza said. She recounted how after Arizona's stay-at-home order was lifted, her father went to a karaoke bar with his friends. "A few weeks later he was put on a ventilator, and after five agonizing days, he died alone."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"My father was a healthy 65-year-old. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life." Watch Urquiza's whole powerful speech below. Kathryn Krawczyk
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Political cartoons for November 23Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include a Thanksgiving horn of plenty, the naughty list, and more
-
How will climate change affect the UK?The Explainer Met Office projections show the UK getting substantially warmer and wetter – with more extreme weather events
-
Crossword: November 23, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
