'No time for wimpy Republicans,' Indiana's Jim Banks tells RNC

MILWAUKEE ― By the time U.S. Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana took the stage during a prime-time slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday ― also his 45th birthday ― the audience's energy was starting to wear a little thin.

But the Indiana delegation was with the Columbia City resident on every word as he sang former President Donald Trump's praises and said President Joe Biden has been "an embarrassment."

"We went from the strongest president of my lifetime to the weakest in history," Banks said.

Banks, Indiana's Republican nominee for an open Senate seat , was among 10 U.S. Senate candidates allotted speaking time during the second day of the RNC under the theme of "Make America Safe Once Again." The son of a factory worker and nursing home cook, Banks centered his short speech around working-class Americans.

It's Trump, he asserted, who will secure the border, hold China accountable for "taking our jobs" and save the "American Dream."

"But if we have Biden four more years, that dream won’t be there for my three daughters," he said. "We are going to take our country back, for them, for you, your children, your grandchildren and for every American."

Who's in Milwaukee: Which Indiana politicians are attending the Republican convention, and which aren't

Banks painted the GOP, rather than the Democratic Party, as the party that is proud of America and considers it the "greatest country in the history of the world."

A Navy veteran who deployed to Afghanistan during the war, Banks also jabbed at Biden for his administration's frenzied withdrawal of troops in 2021, during which 13 service members died. Banks said he'd "never been more ashamed."

Since his election to the U.S. House in 2016, Banks has become known as a culture warrior against "wokeism" in education and in favor of impeaching Biden, tough-on-China foreign policy and crackdowns on illegal immigration. This election cycle, Trump endorsed Banks in his Senate race, and Donald Trump Jr. has come to Indiana for at least two public appearances with Banks since November.

Speaking to Indiana's delegation earlier Tuesday, Banks encouraged them to hold accountable the state's top two Republicans who have said they won't support Trump: U.S. Sen. Todd Young and former Vice President Mike Pence, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2024 presidential nomination.

On the convention stage, he also made a passing reference to Republicans who aren't supporting Trump's 2024 candidacy: "This is no time for wimpy Republicans," Banks declared.

The congressman "hit all the right marks," Indiana state Sen. Aaron Freeman said afterward.

Other members of the Indiana delegation also appreciated Banks' speech.

2024 RNC: See full week schedule, how to watch and livestream

"I think Jim has a really, really interesting story to tell in the way he grew up, and how he has come up through the ranks and worked in the party and come through different elected offices: local, state and now running for the Senate," Johnson County GOP chair Beth Boyce said. "So I think it's really inspiring for average everyday Americans to hear that story."

Lawren Mills, a delegate and partner at Ice Miller, counts Banks among a "long line of rock stars in Indiana politics."

"We feel very prideful, and it's a wonderful thing to have somebody from our state on the national stage, per usual," she said. "We get things done here."

"Banks! Banks! Banks!" the Indiana delegation chanted as he left the stage about four minutes later.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17 . Britanny Carloni is a state politics reporter for IndyStar.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'No time for wimpy Republicans,' Indiana's Jim Banks tells RNC