CHARLOTTE — The convention here had barely gotten under way Thursday night, but the crowd came close to a grand-finale moment when former Rep. Gabby Giffords took the stage to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Giffords took the stage, walking unassisted, alongside her longtime friend Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to raucous cheers of “Gabby! Gabby!” from the crowd.
On her way off the stage, she paused and blew the crowd a kiss.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky]