New Mexicans describe 'a lot of energy, electricity' at Republican National Convention

Jul. 17—Steve Pearce showed up on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee with a sense of anticipation after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

"You didn't know how the events of Saturday, two days before [the start of the convention], were going to play out," Pearce, chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said in a telephone interview Wednesday from Wisconsin.

Pearce wondered whether the mood of the convention would be somber.

"But it's been upbeat, energized," he said. "I think people are just filled with relief and thanksgiving that things on Saturday did not turn out much worse, so there's been a very upbeat, positive emotion to the room — a lot of energy, electricity."

Pearce said Trump has been visible at the convention, listening to speeches and walking in the hallways, though he has not yet addressed the crowd.

"He and his family sit and listen to every single word, and the camera is always on him," he said, adding Trump is "composed."

Farmington resident Drew Degner, one of 22 delegates from New Mexico and part of a contingent of about 50 people from the state, said the assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania has been an ongoing topic of conversation at the convention.

"Most of the speakers are talking about it," Degner said in a telephone interview from Madison, where about half of the New Mexico contingent is staying. "What I really like is that before we can 'Make America Great Again,' or 'America First,' we need to turn to God first and bring God back into the picture of things. What happened on Saturday was certainly the hand of God that saved Trump."

Teresa Barncastle, president of the New Mexico Federation of Republican Women, said she "literally cried" when she found out Trump had been shot.

"We're all grateful" that he survived, she said, also in a telephone interview from Wisconsin. "Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, independent, whatever, everyone is an American citizen, and he's a former president. We don't want to see that of any of our leaders."

Barncastle said she was thrilled to see Trump in person, though she hasn't seen him up close.

"I immediately texted [my family] that I'm in the same room as President Trump," she said.

Pearce criticized the Secret Service, calling the assassination attempt "a total failure" on the agency's part.

"When the head of the Secret Service explained that, 'Well, the slope of the roof [where the shooter was positioned] was too much to risk having an agent on,' are you kidding me?" he said. "The kitchen floor in my home in Nadine, New Mexico, had more slope on it than that roof."

Pearce said Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle should resign, not just for failing to protect Trump but for saying agents weren't positioned on top of the building where the shooter was because of the sloped roof.

Pearce also renewed his call that state Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, resign after poking fun of the assassination attempt on X.

In response to a post calling the shooting "the most disgusting thing in the history of the country," Maestas replied: "History of the country? Where do you rank that Ford's Theater incident? Top 5."

Maestas' response ended with a laughing emoji.

Amid immediate backlash, Maestas quickly deleted the response and apologized "profusely" for what he called a "spontaneous" post.

Maestas claimed he "had just landed" and "did not realize in that instance that Trump had been struck."

Maestas remained repentant Wednesday while firing back at Pearce.

"It wasn't productive of me to engage in a dialogue comparing terrible moments in American history. This is clearly a national tragedy that stands on its own," he said in a statement, adding "anyone who rejects cancel culture sees the chairman's grandstanding for what it is."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.