Former felons get big stage at Republican National Convention

MILWAUKEE — Not one but three convicted felons were featured on the third day of the Republican National Convention.

The most famous, former President Donald Trump, is there accepting his party’s nomination as he looks to regain the White House. Former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort was spotted on the convention floor, and former Trump administration official Peter Navarro was given a prime speaking spot Wednesday night after getting released from prison Wednesday morning.

“I went to prison so you won’t have to,” Navarro said to a ravenous crowd. “I am your wake-up call.”

Navarro, who woke up in the morning inside a Miami correctional facility, was given a standing ovation that lasted so long he briefly had to delay starting his speech. The enthusiasm never died down throughout his remarks.

“They demanded that I break the law because they have no respect for it,” he said. “I refused.”

Also spotted by the RNC earlier this week was Rudy Giuliani, who took a fall while walking on the convention floor. Giuliani, Trump’s former lawyer, is a co-defendant in the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case and also indicted in Arizona.

Navarro, an economic adviser in the Trump White House, was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress after refusing to turn over documents to the Jan. 6 committee and declining to testify to the committee. He described those requests as asking him to violate executive privilege, repeating the “I refused” theme.

Democrats say the embrace of officials with criminal records undermines the traditional Republican pledge to instill law and order. Delegates at the convention had no apparent qualms about embracing Navarro, who brought up his fiancee onstage and later kissed her in front of the audience.

“I’m Peter Navarro,” he said to cheers. “I went to prison so you won’t have to.”