Chicago
CNN
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Republicans will officially travel to Milwaukee to select their next presidential candidate, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel announced Friday, describing the host of the party congress 2024 as “a big city”.
The convention site was unanimously approved by RNC members in a closed-door vote on Friday morning at the party’s annual summer meeting here. McDaniel was joined by former White House chief of staff and former RNC chairman Reince Priebus, as well as members of the party’s Wisconsin delegation for the announcement.
“Over the next two years, we look forward to working with the mayor and all members of the community to make this an event that highlights not only our candidate…but the great city that is Milwaukee,” McDaniel said. .
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, a Democrat, defended the decision to host the convention in his city, telling CNN the move ‘does not mean’ Milwaukee ‘signs on to the Republican Party platform’ .
“My position, and I think most Democrats understand this, is that this is not a political decision, it’s a business decision,” Johnson said. “This will provide us with an opportunity to have millions of dollars of economic impact…for us to fill our restaurants, our bars, our hotels and support our hospitality industry which has been battered by Covid, of course, over the past two last years. years.”
Johnson joined McDaniel on Friday to officially unveil Milwaukee as the choice of convention site, just days after Nashville fell out of favor as a potential alternative. Milwaukee began its bid to host the convention nearly a year ago, and city officials met with RNC officials in February as they toured the finalist cities, which included at the Salt Lake City and Pittsburgh era. Both cities were subsequently dropped from the race.
Later on Friday, the former President Donald Trump is due to hold a rally in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha to campaign for Tim Michels, the GOP gubernatorial nominee, ahead of the state’s primary next week. Trump’s continued popularity with the GOP base would likely position him as a frontrunner in a crowded 2024 GOP primary should he launch another presidential campaign, as is generally expected.
Johnson, who said he would actively campaign for President Joe Bidenthe re-election of 2024dismissed security concerns about protests around the convention in Milwaukee, including whether Trump — one of the most polarizing figures in American politics — is the Republican nominee.
“I think anytime you have a large-scale event, there’s potential for that kind of activity. Our police department is familiar with it, and I think they’re prepared for the convention,” Johnson said. , noting that Milwaukee was originally supposed to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention before moving to a virtual format amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Milwaukee police are already well prepared for this and will be in a really prime position to execute what we were about to execute last round,” Johnson said.
This story has been updated with additional reports on the selection.