Meet two RNC guests visiting Milwaukee: an immigrant delegate and a 40-year GOP advocate

Some convention guests stepped into Fiserv Forum on Monday as seasoned veterans of political conventions. Others are embarking on their first-ever Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.

We spoke to two RNC guests: one has been coming to the convention for decades and another who not just new to the RNC, but new to the U.S. Here's what they had to say about convention week so far.

Meet Asif Shahzada, an immigrant and first-time Wisconsin delegate

Asif Shahzada immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan several years ago and is attending the RNC for the first time this year. He currently lives in La Crosse, where he owns and operates The Sushi Pirate, a downtown La Crosse restaurant.

Shahzada said he was excited when the state's Republican Party chose him as a delegate this year, and the energy was "wonderful" inside Fiserv Forum when Donald Trump was confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee.

“I love Trump’s policies,” Shahzada said. “Everybody is energetic."

As a fairly new resident of Wisconsin and the U.S., Shahzada said he's particularly enjoyed meeting delegates from other states.

"I've met people from maybe five, six other states," he said. "It's so fun."

Meet Floyd Brown, an RNC guest for nearly four decades, and Mary Beth Brown

For other convention-goers, it’s far from their first rodeo: Floyd Brown, a Phoenix resident, said he’s attended every RNC since 1984, save for the mostly virtual convention during the pandemic. The energy inside Fiserv Forum was palpably different from past years, he said.

“The party is more unified than I’ve seen in decades,” Brown said after the delegate roll call. “It’s more somber this year, but people are also very upbeat.”

Brown, who is an invited guest at the convention, is also a political commentator and author of  “Counterpunch , ” a 2023 book advocating for peaceful resistance against leftist movements. He said he feels the Republican party has unified in the face of rising political division, especially given the assassination attempt on Trump just days before the convention.

Wisconsin Republicans opened the convention by calling for political unity, and Trump said he has rewritten his RNC speech to call for national unity in the wake of the assassination attempt. The former president will take the stage at Fiserv Forum on Thursday to accept his party's nomination.

"I'm excited to hear Trump and his re-written unity speech," Brown said. "I think he really has the potential to bring America together, to heal the country this week."

Brown is attending the RNC with his wife, Mary Beth, who said she was excited by Trump’s announcement of J.D. Vance as his running mate this afternoon.

“I think he’s going to do an excellent job,” Mary Beth Brown said of Vance.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meet two RNC guests visiting Milwaukee: an immigrant delegate and a 40-year GOP advocate