DNC Attendees Reject Popular GOP Accusation That Convention Is Hypocritical: 'Apples and Oranges'

CHICAGO — Democratic National Convention attendees rejected Republican criticism that the perimeter fence and increased security around the convention protecting Democratic officials should also be erected on the southern border.

“It’s a false equivalency, right? Let’s just be 100,” Louidajean Payton of Naperville, Illinois, told Fox News Digital at the DNC’s DemPALOOZA event in Chicago on Tuesday, in response to the Republican story that Democrats are being hypocritical by installing fencing, barricades and layers of security at the convention while generally not supporting such precautions along the southern border.

“People are coming, not necessarily through this border, but they’re coming by plane every day. We have another border called Canada and we also have the ocean and boats. That’s true. So the reality is this, right? Security is always a priority. But when you try to stigmatize and divide people, that's when i know you're not really for us.

Payton continued: “Let’s be honest, these people weren’t trying to cross the border like that when I was growing up. You know why? Because they could still make a good living farming, right? But let’s not talk about politics and how things got to where they are today. So when you really think about it, the dynamics of what’s going on there, Democrats cared about it as much as Republicans did. But it’s a false equivalency.”

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DNC attendees told Fox News Digital that it's not hypocritical to build a wall at the DNC while the border remains open.

“There are two different issues,” Chukwudi Chuck Eke, a Nigerian-American citizen attending the DNC representing National Diversity Platform 4 Kamala Harris, told Fox News Digital.

Eke spoke about the assassination attempt on former President Trump and said he “thanked God” for saving Trump’s life, but said it was a “learning experience.”

“For every event that is held, there are security measures in place to protect people’s lives. So there is no comparison. We are talking about event security and border security. They are two different things. It’s not a good analogy, it’s like comparing apples and oranges.”

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A Democratic National Convention security checkpoint outside the United Center (Fox News Digital)

Patrice Parker, a Democrat who traveled from Alaska to Chicago for the event, told Fox News Digital that Republicans “lie about everything” and suggested their criticism shows they have degraded as a party.

“I can’t believe what he’s become. Ted Stevens was a Republican. He was an independent. He voted for what he believed in, not for a monster like Donald Trump. I feel the same way about Lisa Murkowski today. I never voted for her, but I grew to respect her.”

Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from Fox News' Digital Immigration Hub.

President Biden speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Parker added that “it's all about security” for all these “really important and valuable people who run our country.”

“Walls for me, but not for you,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Katherine Leavitt told Fox News this week, echoing criticism leveled at the DNC by conservatives in recent days.

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“It’s really telling that the DNC uses a wall to keep out undesirables who want to get into their convention, but they won’t use a wall to keep out illegals,” conservative commentator Robby Starbuck wrote on X. “Think about it…”

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