Day two of the party convention was certainly about the Obama couple and Kamala Harris's husband Doug Emhoff. But Donald Trump is casting a shadow over the party meeting, with several high-profile Republicans taking the stage in the evening.
The first was Stephanie Grisham, who was press secretary during Donald Trump's presidency and also chief of staff for the then-first lady Melania Trump.
Critical of Trump
A serious Grisham presented herself as a former "part of the Trump family". She showed screenshots of how she, on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, tried to urge Melania Trump via SMS to say that violence did not belong to peaceful protests.
The answer was no. I was the first to quit that day.
After quitting, Grisham has been critical of her former boss. Now she promises to vote for Kamala Harris in the autumn election, which is between Harris and Trump.
The mayor of Mesa in the swing state of Arizona, Republican John Giles, also appeared at the party meeting.
I have to admit something, I've been a Republican all my life, he said.
But I feel more at home here than in today's Republican party. We need an adult in the White House, Giles continued, adding that when Trump was elected president in 2016, it was like not having an adult there.
First Gentleman?
Tuesday's theme in Chicago was "A bold vision for the future".
Barack and Michelle Obama were the country's presidential couple between 2009 and 2017. Doug Emhoff is a lawyer and may make history as the first in the USA with the title of First Gentleman.
