The Indiana Republican Party will host a watch party Wednesday for Vice President Mike Pence’s speech during the Republican National Convention.
The watch party will be held at 5:30 p.m. at YES Cinema, 328 Jackson St.
Pence, who is a Columbus native, is expected to speak from Fort McHenry in Baltimore at around 8:30 p.m. and make the case for why he believes President Donald Trump deserves another four years in the White House.
Admission is free, and the theater will follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes requiring those in attendance to wear masks and practice social distancing, said Barb Hackman, chair of the Bartholomew County Republican Party. There is space for 79 people inside the theater. Indiana GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer is expected to attend the watch party in Columbus.
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“The Indiana GOP had reached out and they were wanting to have watch parties for the vice president’s speech throughout the state,” Hackman said. “With us being (Pence’s) hometown, they wanted to make sure that it was a main event for them.”
The Republican National Convention got underway on Monday in North Carolina with scaled-back, in-person roll call votes in which President Donald Trump and Pence were officially renominated as the GOP’s presidential and vice presidential candidates, according to wire reports.
The convention, which will be held partly online and partly in person Monday through Thursday this week, will feature speeches by several GOP lawmakers, candidates and members of Trump’s family.
Pence made an in-person appearance at the convention on Monday and thanked the delegates for renominating him.
“The choice in this election has never been clearer and the stakes have never been higher,” Pence said. “We’re going to make American great again. Again.”
Other convention speakers on Wednesday include Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president; Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-New York; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, among others, according to The Associated Press.
Trump faces a difficult fight for reelection as he continues to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed about 177,000 people in the United States, ravaged the economy and upended nearly all aspects of life. The president’s bid for a second term also continues to be shadowed by protests throughout the nation over police brutality and racial injustice.
Now that delegates have completed the task of formally renominating Trump, much of the remaining convention business will shift to the Washington, D.C., area. Trump is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech from the White House South Lawn on Thursday evening.
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The Bartholomew County Republican Party will hold a rally on Saturday to support U.S. troops and first responders.
The event, called "Patriotic Rally," will be 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Mill Race Park Playground Shelterhouse.
Speakers expected to be in attendance include Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Rep. Greg Pence, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, Maj. Gen. Mark Pillar, Bartholomew County Superior Court II judge candidate Jon Rohde, state Rep. Randy Frye, state Rep. Ryan Lauer and Bartholomew County Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz.
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