MILWAUKEE, Wisc.—Not long after lunch Tuesday, as the summer sun shone down on a slow-cooked Milwaukee, Benny Pinaula, a career retail worker and political activist, sat in an elevated chair in an air-conditioned conference centre surrounded by ecstatic Republicans in red MAGA-wear. Pinaula, a military veteran, was having his loafers shined.
He wore a homemade MAGA bucket hat (with the territorial flag of Guam, his home, replacing the “A”); and in one hand, he held a bag of souvenirs, including an original, red MAGA cap. Eight years ago, Pinaula served as a delegate in Cleveland the first time the Republican Party nominated . The mood that year could not have been more different from the one in Milwaukee this week, he said.
Former President Donald Trump entered day two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday with his ear bandaged from the assassination attempt on his life that occurred Saturday, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Video / July 16, 2024) “I’ve been on many different campaigns,” he explained, after his shine. “I’ve been on campaigns where we lost and I’ve been on campaigns where we won.
And I can tell you when the energy’s high and spirit is high, I would say 90 per cent of the time you’re going to win. And that’s what it feels like here.” Republican activists and insiders are celebrating what almost feels like an early victory party in Milwaukee this week.
It would be an understatement to say they’re feeling good, abo.