Local Delegates at the RNC Enjoying Historic Convention

Two local Republican women are participating in the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week.

Becky Berger of Schulenburg is serving as a seated delegate and Kathryn Geesaman of Flatonia is serving as an alternate. The Record spoke with Berger on Wednesday about the Convention.

“We’ve had some dynamite speeches,” Berger said. “The people that ran against Trump have all gotten over it. They made some excellent speeches last night. We’ve got to have unity. There’s no more picking on each other or questions about who’s more conservative, who’s perfect and who’s not. Donald Trump is pushing it.”

Berger said the platform that the Trump campaign presented was “very unifying.” Notably, the platform passed at the convention did not include a pro-life plank, which has been a cornerstone principle of the Republican Party ever since Roe v. Wade..

“We had the Supreme Court kick it back to the states,” Berger said. “Trump said he wanted the states to make that decision. It’s no longer a national issue, so it shouldn’t be in our national platform. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to be pro-life at the state level, the county level, or the local level. But there were a lot of people who wanted that at the national level. It’s just not pertinent to us any more.”

One of the biggest surprises of the convention, she said, was the apparent shift in labor union politics. Sean O’Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, gave a fiery speech to close out the first night of the convention. It was the first time in 121 years for a Teamster to speak at the GOP Convention. The Teamsters and other labor unions have traditionally supported Democrats. Although O’Brien did not endorse Trump or the Republican Party, he did encourage Republicans to support American workers. His speech was seen as giving the Republican Party some legitimacy among union voters.

“The unions have always avoided us,” Berger said. “Practicality is starting to get to people. It just about floored us all.”

Berger said the attempted assassination on former President Trump in Pennsylvania last Saturday led to some changes to the convention schedule.

“Because of the incident on Saturday, we did the nomination of the president and vice president on Monday,” she said. “Usually, we wait until Wednesday to nominate.”

When the Record spoke to Berger on Wednesday morning, she said Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance was scheduled to give an acceptance speech that night with Trump to deliver his on Thursday evening.

Security was on high alert in Milwaukee following the attempt on Trump’s life. Outof- state police officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man outside the convention security perimeter on Tuesday. The attack was not believed to be related to the convention. Later that night, police arrested a man with a mask who tried entering the security perimeter. Officers found an AK-47 pistol hidden inside the man’s backpack.

“It’s ridiculous,” Berger said. “But we have so much security here. It’s unbelievable.”

Berger said there has been a lot of discussion among delegates about the security failures during the attempted assassination on Trump Saturday.

“The head of Secret Service (Kimberly Cheatle) has messed up multiple times since she’s been in that position,” Berger said. “This was one of them. And they’re not giving the other candidates enough security. I mean, he’s not our candidate, but Robert Kennedy Jr. asked for security and they had already proven he had threats to their campaign. Biden wouldn’t allow Secret Service at all to protect him. His father was assassinated for God’s sake. It doesn’t matter if he’s in our party or not. Go and cover him.

“The President was very emotional when he spoke (on Monday),” Berger added. “And then last night he was in the stands. He was pretty much back to his old self and in good humor.”

The convention speech by media personality and adult film actress Amber Rose raised some controversy among conservatives. But Berger defended her appearance.

“If she’s supporting Trump, you ought to at least listen to her,” Berger said. “She got out there and was fabulous. I guarantee you, we are going to get a lot of younger people because of what she had to say.”

Berger said the Republican Party under Donald Trump appeals to more and more former Democrats.

“Last night there was a black lady who had always voted Democrat,” she said. “And this year she’s going to vote Republican. She lives in New York City, and her son came home from the military and got stabbed to death in New York. People are realizing those policies aren’t working. They’re hurting people, hurting our people. And that’s our first goal – protecting our people.

“I’m very pleased with the unity we’re seeing,” Berger added. “We’re bringing the more conservative people back into the real world.”

Berger predicted a “landslide victory” in November.

“It’s probably going to trickle down-ballot,” she said.

Berger said she was pleased with all of the grassroots fundraising efforts this year that allowed every-day Americans to serve as delegates at the Republican National Convention.

“It’s expensive to come here,” she said. “People used to say the Republican Party is for rich white people. It’s good to get people who normally wouldn’t’ have come here so they can be exposed to this and realize, ‘Yes, you are part of this party whether you have enough money or not.’”