California GOP convention: Lara Trump doubles down on election rigging claims

Lara Trump speaks in broad strokes about the economy, fentanyl crisis and other issues.

Hours after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has admitted to fatally shooting her dog, spoke at the California Republican Convention, Lara Trump said that because of the poor economy, American families must choose between feeding their children and feeding their pets.

“People have to make decisions about how they are going to afford their lives. Ultimately, when they have to decide, do I feed my children or do we keep our family pet?” Trump said during a dinner banquet talk at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame. “They decide to feed their children and that family pet goes to an animal shelter. And because they are overrun, they don’t have enough room, these animals are being euthanized.”

It’s unclear if her story is based on any actual studies or documented events.

Trump, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, spoke for about 40 minutes in a Q&A-style moderated discussion. Her talk covered the presidential campaign, election fundraising and her fears of election rigging, among other topics.

Trump told the crowd of supporters that the local party has expanded the party membership over the past several years.

Although registered Democrats far outnumber Republicans in California, especially in the Bay Area, Trump noted that a significant portion of the conservative party’s donations came from this region.

While Trump spoke little and only in broad strokes about the social issues that matter to conservatives, Jessica Millan Patterson, California GOP chairwoman, highlighted priority issues for state Republicans during a press conference prior to Trump’s dinner talk.

Among those issues are border security, the fentanyl crisis, rising crime and energy issues.

“There’s border security with fentanyl coming over the border,” Patterson said. “Energy independence is also a big issue.”

Earlier in the convention, Noem, the featured lunchtime speaker, criticized Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden for their restrictive pandemic policies and called on state Republicans to level up their support for local and national conservative candidates and ballot measures.

Noem was once expected to be a possible running mate for former President Donald Trump. But political experts said that’s no longer likely since she revealed in her recent book that she shot and killed her dog some years ago, angering Republicans and Democrats alike.

Meanwhile, Lara Trump spent much of her speech repeating and doubling down on unfounded claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

“We have right now at the RNC, if you come to our offices, the bulk of the staff you will see in our building is focused solely on election integrity because, let’s be honest, we can never repeat 2020 ever again,” Trump said. “We need to ensure free fair and transparent elections.”

Former president Trump was indicted last year on felony charges related to his attempts to overturn the last presidential election results.

Many of the states where his supporters claim the elections were rigged conducted recounts and audits of the results. All of the reviews confirmed Biden won the election and found no evidence of massive voter fraud as alleged by Trump.

Tickets to the convention ranged from $300 to $575. Around 800 to 1,000 members attended the second day of the convention.

In 2016, the last time Republicans held the state convention in the Bay Area, which was also in Burlingame, protesters clashed with police.

This time, without the presence of the presumptive Republican candidate, the convention was peaceful with no protesters in sight.

“We are focused. Very focused,” Patterson said, when asked about the contrast in mood this time. “We know what our job is and it’s exciting time. Now we have the work to do.”

Sunday is the last day of the three-day state convention.

The Republican National Convention is slated to take place from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee, Wis.