(MILWAUKEE, WI) – North Dakota’s National Committeewoman for the Republican National Committee has been boots on the ground since even before delegates arrived at Fiserv Arena in Milwaukee, Wisc.
Lori Hinz, who serves on the Platform Committee of the RNC, sat down with The Flag’s Scott Hennen to talk about her work and the work of Governor Doug Burgum.
Platform
Hinz is serving on her second platform committee.
“In 2020, when I was elected National Committeewoman for the Republican Party for North Dakota, I was also on platform in 2020 for the national convention,” she said. “I went in really excited. I had done my homework, and I was practiced and ready to go.”
This year’s platform looks somewhat different than 2020’s did. But in a way Hinz differs from.
“My thought was at the time, I would like to trim it every four years, bring it down by half, and then make it condensed as we went along, rather than chopping and changing from one to the other,” she said. “I think incrementalism would’ve been a better way of doing it.”
Hinz said having a platform matters.
“I do think it matters because very many legislators will be following the platform, and they should. That is the plan. It is a set of principles and values that are shared by all Republicans, and that’s what the platform is,” she said. “Also, many policymakers can go to that platform and look at it and look through the lens of the platform and all the votes that they’re doing, too. So, I do think it is, it’s valuable. I think it’s very germane to what’s going on in the country.”
Criticism of Burgum
Hinz, at times throughout campaign season, has been a vocal critic of Governor Burgum.
She said it’s time to put the fight aside.
“I do not have any problem with Trump being friends with Burgum. They have a lot in common. I totally get that. I absolutely understand that,” Hinz said. “I thought it was important for Donald Trump to understand that people hadn’t really vetted Doug Burgum properly before he was looked at.”
She said she wanted Trump to know Burgum ‘has some differing views from him.’
“Things like on surveillance. He (Burgum) was fine with COVID surveillance, with the Care 19 app, and I didn’t think that Trump was very into surveillance,” Hinz said. “He (Trump) was very unhappy with the surveillance.”
Burgum’s future
Burgum’s name is now surfacing as a potential cabinet secretary.
Hinz said it would be a good move.
“I think that’s fantastic. He has such fabulous connections with billionaires,” she said. “He has connections with tech people. He has connections with energy people, and those all should be used and brought to bear, particularly to get Donald Trump elected in 2024.”
