New Mexico's Republican convention delegates are fired up by VP pick, union head and rapper

New Mexico’s Republican delegates are energized by the Republican National Convention, which began only a few days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce said the assassination attempt was despicable and a failure of the Secret Service.

“The explanation given by the (Secret Service) director that the slope of the roof was too great. ... That was a ridiculous statement. She should resign because of that stupid statement, as much as the failure of the security,” Pearce said from Milwaukee, site of the convention.

The GOP convention began Monday and will wrap up Thursday with a speech from Trump.

On Monday, Trump announced first-term Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate. The 39-year-old was critical of Trump in the past, calling him “cultural heroin” in a 2016 essay, but warmed up to Trump by the time Vance ran for office in 2022. Trump endorsed Vance’s Senate campaign.

New Mexico delegate Drew Degner of Farmington thinks that Vance is a great pick.

“I’m still learning about J.D. and what he stands for, but what little I do know from him, I think what he brings is a youthfulness to just the politics in general. ... I think we’re getting tired of old men running the nation, and I think he’s bringing up the next generation of U.S. politics,” Degner said.

Vance is the “perfect candidate to win the Midwestern vote,” Pearce said.

“The Midwest has been just devastated by jobs outsourced, factories leaving,” Pearce said, and he believes that Vance’s selection plays to blue-collar voters in the Midwest.

An unprecedented speech from Teamster Union President Sean O’Brien during the convention on Monday also plays to those working-class voters, Pearce said. The speech marks the first time that a union president has spoken at the RNC.

“It’s something that not every Republican would have acknowledged or gone along with, and Trump welcomed the union president,” Pearce said.

The majority of major labor unions have endorsed President Joe Biden, the Democrat who is running for reelection.

Pearce also said he was on the edge of his seat listening to rapper Amber Rose speak.

“Two years ago, four, six, eight, 10 years ago, the Republican Party would never have had a rapper,” Pearce said. “And I think it speaks to the courage of a rapper, who probably ... she’s going to suffer economic pain. There are going to be people, just like actors who come out and endorse Republicans, who have a backlash among their communities.”

At the 2020 Republican National Convention, the party declined to vote on a platform. The 2024 platform centers around Donald Trump, in both style by mimicking the capitalizations Trump typically writes with, and in subject, calling him the “unapologetic Champion of the American People.” The platform lists “seal the border, and stop the migrant invasion,” as its first of 20 “promises,” and carrying out “the largest deportation operation in American history” as promise No. 2.

New Mexico delegate Teresa Barncastle of Roswell said she is concerned about the U.S.-Mexico border and would like to see a closed border.

“There are ways to get citizenship, and so many, and especially in New Mexico, there are so many that have followed those laws, and a lot of times, they’re being bumped back because there’s not enough agents to handle the process,” Barncastle said. “So if they close the border, follow the law, then it will all be fine.”