The daughter of COVID victim gave the most pointed speech of the first night of the DNC.

On the first night, the organizers of the Democratic National Convention sought emotional resonant notes with choreographed patriotic songs and, more seriously, interviews with victims of and experts on racial violence. But after a string of politicians and experts condemned the president and spoke out against the ills of a divided country, one of the most powerful moments of the night came when an ordinary citizen turned up to talk about the coronavirus pandemic.

After Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke in New York about the nation’s failures during the pandemic, the video cut to a woman named Kristin Urquiza, giving her a direct address to the camera from her home. Urquiza suddenly gained national prominence when she penned an obituary for her father, who died at COVID-19 on June 30th. Mark Anthony Urquiza had fallen ill after going to a karaoke bar with his friends when the order-at-home order was lifted in Arizona. In her father’s complaints, Urquiza expressed anger at her grief. And on Monday night, almost immediately, she launched into where she placed the blame for her father’s death:

My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today, but he is not. He had confidence in Donald Trump. He voted for him, listened to him, believed him and his mouths when they said that coronavirus was under control and would disappear; that it was okay to end social distance rules before it was safe; and that if you did not have any underlying health conditions, you probably would be fine.

The words resonated with those in the classroom: “His death is due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue with the health of brown bodies due to a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the seriousness of this crisis. , and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on minimizing risk, “she wrote. In interviews in the weeks that followed, she made it clear that she placed the blame on Trump and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. On the same day as at her father’s funeral, she set up an offrenda outside the Arizona State Capitol with a call to add people photos of loved ones they have lost to the disease.

On Monday, Urquiza described the rapid decline of her father after she fell ill, saying he “died alone in the ICU with a nurse holding his hand.” She continued: “My father was a healthy 65-year-old. His only pre-existing condition was to trust Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life. ”

During the video, her words were illustrated by happy family photos, followed by photos of her at her father’s grave. “The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americans: the America in which Donald Trump lives and the America in which my father died,” she said.