Here’s a snapshot of news and activities from the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Calls mount for director to step down
Illinois’ three Republican members of Congress have called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“She needs to go. She failed,” Rep. Mike Bost of downstate Murphysboro said at the daily Illinois GOP press briefing Thursday.
Rep. Darin LaHood of Dunlap called the agency’s actions “unacceptable” and “embarrassing.”
“We need to follow the facts and evidence, make sure people are held accountable,” LaHood said of a House task force being set up by Speaker Mike Johnson. “That starts with the director stepping down today, and other people that didn’t do their jobs should be held accountable.”
Rep. Mary Miller, of downstate Oakland, said “so many important questions remain unanswered.”
They join a chorus of GOP lawmakers calling for the resignation of Cheatle, who was confronted in the convention hallways Wednesday night by a group of senators.
In an interview with ABC News Tuesday, Cheatle said the shooting on Saturday was “unacceptable” and “the buck stops with me.”
The ticket that might have been
Connie Shanahan
Cornelius “Connie” Shanahan, an alternate delegate from Fremont Township, remembered the suspense over the 1980 vice presidential pick.
“Nobody knew who the VP was going to be,” said Shanahan, who was a guest at the convention in Detroit where Ronald Reagan first was nominated for president. “There were all kinds of rumors back and forth. It was kind of exciting.”
One of the rumors was that Reagan would choose former President Gerald Ford as his running mate. However, according to the rumors, Ford kept upping the ante, asking for more responsibility.
“It got to the point where it was starting to be a co-presidency is what we heard,” he said. “That’s when Reagan said there is only one president. I’m going to be it. That’s when he went to his other choice, which was (George H.W.) Bush.”
Lincoln and Trump joined at the hat
Alternate delegate Robin Hans of Winnetka shows off her Lincoln-Trump stovepipe hat that’s been turning heads at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Steve Zalusky/[email protected]
Delegate Susan Sweeney of Park Ridge alternate delegate Robin Hans of Winnetka have been making a fashion splash in Milwaukee this week.
They’ve been wearing stovepipe hats with images of Abraham Lincoln on one side and Donald Trump on the other. The image of the 45th president shows him pulling open his shirt to reveal a Superman outfit.
The hat was designed by Hans, who is an artist. She’s also worn a dress with MAGA-themed patches, including ones that say, “Women For Trump” and “Trump Is Still My President.”
Hans, who said she paints superheroes, traces her passion for Trump to his first campaign.
Susan Sweeney, left, a delegate from Park Ridge, sports her Lincoln-Trump stovepipe hat on the floor of the Republican National Convention while being interviewed Wednesday.
Steve Zalusky/[email protected]
Susan Sweeney, a delegate from Park Ridge, models the Lincoln-Trump stovepipe hat, designed by Winnetka alternate delegate Robin Hans.
Steve Zalusky/[email protected]
‘I could eat two Big Macs’
A replica of Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s franchise in Des Plaines was torn down in 2018, and the original sign put into storage by the corporation.
Daily Herald File Photo
U.S. Rep. GT Thompson, chairman of the House agriculture committee, comes from a long line of dairy farmers, so it’s no wonder he’s a fan of cows.
The rural Pennsylvania Republican was guest speaker at the Illinois delegation’s Wednesday breakfast. He noted significant moments in the state’s history: the first in the nation to ratify the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery; home of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant,; and home to the first McDonald’s in Northwest suburban Des Plaines.
“I remember when I was a teenager, I could eat two Big Macs,” he quipped.
Ray Kroc — then an Arlington Heights milkshake machine salesman — opened his first franchise store at 400 Lee St. in Des Plaines in 1955.