Kristin Urquiza, whose obituary for her father Mark Anthony Urquiza drew widespread attention last month, laid into Donald Trump and his response to the pandemic in an unflinching speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night.
“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 that coronavirus was under control and going to disappear, that it was okay to end social distancing rules before it was safe, and that if you had no underlying health conditions, you’d probably be fine. So in late May, after the stay-at-home order was lifted in Arizona, my dad 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 in the ICU with a nurse holding his hand,” Urquiza said in taped remarks. “My dad was a healthy 65 year old. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.”
“The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: the America that Donald Trump lives in, and the America that my father died in,” Urquiza continued. “Enough is enough. Donald Trump may not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonesty and his irresponsible actions made it so much worse. … One of the last things that my father said to me was that he felt betrayed by the likes of Donald Trump. And so when I cast my vote for Joe Biden, I will do it for my dad.”
Watch Urquiza’s remarks at the top of the page, or below:
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