MILWAUKEE – Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who made national headlines last year when he announced he was leaving the Democratic Party and becoming a Republican, tore into his former party while addressing the Republican National Convention. 

He said Democrats wanted to defund police and criticized him for being weak on crime. 

“On matters of public safety, the Democrats were never there for me, Dallas families, or the American people,” Johnson said. “The heart of today’s woke Democratic Party is with the criminals, not with their victims.”

While the city of Dallas is non-partisan and run by a city manager, it is the largest in the U.S. with a Republican mayor.

Johnson praised Dallas for reducing violent crime for three years. 

“Let’s make our cities safe again by supporting Republicans who will stand up and fight for our safety,” Johnson said.

His comments came during the second night of the convention which had the theme of “Make America Safe Again.”

Sen.Ted Cruz, who ran against Mr. Trump in 2016, told the convention crowd that he was relieved the former president survived the assassination attempt three days earlier. 

“God bless Donald J. Trump,” Cruz said. “Let me start by giving thanks to God almighty for protecting President Trump and for turning his head on Saturday when the shot was fired.”

Cruz is up for reelection this year against Democratic Congressman Colin Allred. He criticized President Biden and his policies saying the U.S. is facing an invasion at the southern border.

The senator blamed the president for the record numbers of people who’ve crossed into the U.S. illegally. 

“As a result of Joe Biden’s presidency, your family is less safe, your children are less safe, the country is less safe,” Cruz said. “But here’s the good news: We can fix it and when Donald Trump is President, we will fix it.”

Former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who stayed in the Republican presidential primary longer than any other Republican besides former President Trump, also addressed the convention.

She wasn’t originally scheduled to speak, but she told the crowd that changed after the assassination attempt Saturday. 

“President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity,” Haley said. “I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement. Period.”

She told her supporters that even if they don’t agree with Mr. Trump on every issue, they should still vote for him.

Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to speak Wednesday night.

The main headliner will be the vice-presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

This will be the first chance most Americans will see him speak and hear his message.

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