BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Delegates from around the country are gathered in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, including the 32 members of Idaho’s delegation.
The event kicked off Monday, two days after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania. The shooting — which left one rally attendee and the suspected shooter dead, two others seriously injured, and a bloodied ear on Trump — unnerved some RNC attendees, but many Idaho delegates felt safe in the heightened security at the event.
“A lot of delegates in our own delegation and in other states … expressed some real trepidation about coming this week, because of concerns about safety and concerns about counterdemonstrations and protests,” said Theo Wold, former Idaho solicitor general and Idaho campaign chair for the Trump campaign.
Sen. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, said that she and others had wondered what would change about security, but she said she’s felt safe.
“I think it created the idea that, even more so, we wanted to be here and supportive of President Trump,” Nichols said.
Both members of the delegation said that the event is being staffed by local law enforcement officers from across the country as well as federal agents.
Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the convention shot and killed a Milwaukee man about a mile away from the site, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The Columbus Police Department said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention, but said it occurred “within the operational zone to which our officers were assigned,” according to the AP.
They said there is a visibly monitored perimeter around the event and checkpoints attendees have to go through and show credentials. There are also restrictions on what can be brought in, Wold said.
“Think of TSA at the airport, but kind of on steroids,” he said.
Wold said it appears security was increased on the fly and has noticed that not everyone seems to be informed of new measures.
“There’s a lot of people who are wearing uniforms and have badges on who say, ‘...I don’t know if that credential gets you in here, or I don’t know if I can allow you to go into checkpoint, because all we know is we’re just restricting traffic or restricting pedestrian access,’” Wold said.
Nichols said with the additional security, she believes the convention is “probably the safest spot you could be in right now in the United States.”
The Republican nominee for president made his vice presidential pick on the first night of the four-day convention, selecting U.S. senator from Ohio, JD Vance. He has represented Ohio since January 2023.
Wold and Nichols said the attendees seem to broadly agree with the pick.
Nichols said Vance was an “intriguing” choice, noting that he had not been a supporter of Trump previously.
The 39-year-old author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” and Marine Corps veteran had called Trump during the 2016 campaign, “noxious,” “cultural heroin” and “might be America’s Hitler.”
Nichols highlighted Vance’s young age, his military service and the fact that he comes from the swing state of Ohio.
Wold said he’s known Vance for a couple of years and said his selection highlights a “commitment to working class Americans.” Vance is a former venture capitalist who wrote a memoir about his roots in rural Kentucky and Ohio, dealing with poverty and addiction. His book was praised by conservative critics and adapted into a 2020 film directed by Ron Howard. The book also faced criticism from Appalachian authors and others who said Vance perpetuated regional stereotypes, the Associated Press reported.
Wold said he thought Vance would serve as “an extension of Trump’s ‘America-first agenda’” and that his views are “remarkably similar” to the former president’s.
Nichols and Wold expressed excitement for the direction of the Republican Party and bringing that energy into the general election.
Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon did not respond in time to a request for an interview, but spoke at the convention when she pledged all 32 of Idaho’s delegates to Trump, who earned more than 80% of the vote in Idaho’s presidential caucus in March.
“We are the Gem State, we are very rural, we have a lot of mountains and rivers and we also love freedom and liberty, and we love a fighter,” Moon said in a video from the convention. “And Donald Trump is a proven fighter, and we want him to be our next president with our 32 delegates.”
Moon’s short speech was followed by repeated chants of “fight, fight, fight” by the delegation.
The Democratic National Convention will be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
