RNC slams Democrats as party that 'wants to hook you on free money to make you vote for them' - then lines up Donald Trump supporters who say they still consider themselves Democrats

Republicans made the case for Democrats and black voters to cast their ballot for Donald Trump as party-switching Representative Jeff Van Drew made remarks

The final night of the Republican Convention Thursday made the case that Democrats and black voters should cast their ballots for Donald Trump in November – with one former Democrat claiming the party wants to get supporters 'hooked on free money.'

In a video with six former or current Democrats, which aired during the convention, the individuals shared why they were left-leaning before and why they now support Trump.

'I still consider myself a liberal, but liberalism has changed, and I don't fit there anymore,' one woman said.

'I mean I was a socialist,' she continued. 'One of the hardest things to do is to challenge your own beliefs.'

The video package was book-ended with remarks from Trump aide Ja'Ron Smith, who claimed he didn't meet a Republican until he was grown, and Representative Jeff Van Drew, who switched from Democrat to Republican in the middle of his term.

One of the men giving his testimonial said in the video said, 'As a black kid growing up in Texas, you were taught you had to support Democrats because Republicans vote for white people – supporting the rich. And we definitely weren't rich.'

'And then this bold man comes down an escalator in New York City,' he said of Trump announcing his candidacy in June 2015. 'I couldn't come out and say it right away, but deep down inside I knew it was going to be the first Republican that I voted for.'

Another man in the video revealed: 'In the 2016 primary I voted for Bernie Sanders.'

'I was renting a room in this woman's apartment, she had three or four kids from three or four different fathers – she was my age – most of them were incarcerated,' he continued when talking about his switch to supporting Trump. 'I asked her, 'What do you do.' And she goes, 'I'm in the system.'

'It seems that Democrats sort of get people hooked on this drug of free money where they basically say, 'You know, if you want your fix, you have to keep voting for us,'' he accused.

In a video package of six people who consider themselves Democrats who are supporting Trump's reelection, one said: 'It seems that Democrats sort of get people hooked on this drug of free money where they basically say, 'You know, if you want your fix, you have to keep voting for us''

'As a black kid growing up in Texas, you were taught you had to support Democrats because Republicans vote for white people,' another said, claiming Trump was the first Republican he ever voted for

'I mean I was a socialist,' a woman in the video package, which aired the final night of the Republican Convention, said. 'One of the hardest things to do is to challenge your own beliefs.'

This particular segment of the night was focused on appealing to Democrats and on-the-fence voters. It also was an obvious urge for black voters to vote for Trump, as that remains one of the president's most unsupportive voting blocs.

Ja'Ron Smith told the story of how he came to support Trump.

'It took a broken leg for me to really get moving in life. It put me on the road to prioritizing school-work, getting to Howard, and working for President Trump,' he recalled. 'And when he thinks of the rust belt, he does remember people like us.'

'Growing up, I'd never really known a Republican—I believed all the stereotypes,' he said of his Cleveland, Ohio upbringing. 'It took meeting Republicans who shared my values to show me I was wrong.'

'Name an issue important to black communities—and it's been a priority for him: prison reform, re-building broken families, bringing jobs back to America—jobs in Cleveland, jobs in Detroit, jobs in Milwaukee. Jobs for the future and jobs right here, right now,' he said.

Van Drew, who spoke at the end of the video package on party-switching, told the tale of how he came to change parties. 

The video was preceded by remarks from deputy assistant to the president, Ja'Ron Smith – who said he didn't know Republicans as he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio

'I was elected to Council as a Democrat, but as I won seats for county office, state legislature and then Congress, I noticed things were changing—the Democrat Party had become less accepting of American tradition, less believing in American exceptionalism, less supportive of traditional faith and family,' Van Drew explained.

'This was not the party that I knew.'

He was elected as a Democrat to New Jersey's General Assembly in 2001, and in December 2019, as a U.S. representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district, Van Drew announced he was switching to Republican affiliation.

He credited House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the squad, comprised of freshmen progressive representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, for his departure from the party.

'In 2018 after being elected to Congress as a Democrat, I was already uncomfortable with a San Francisco liberal running the House, which is why my first vote in Congress was cast against Nancy Pelosi for Speaker,' Van Drew said during remarks from the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. Thursday night.

'But imagine how I felt after seeing members of The Squad quickly take control of the Democrat Party just weeks after being elected,' he lamented. 'The party had moved from liberal to radical.'

Van Drew was one of the only Democrats who voted against Trump's impeachment, and soon after switched to the Republican Party.