Members of Illinois Delegation Turn Their Backs on Rep. Matt Gaetz During his Primetime Speech at the RNC Convention

By Illinois Review

The theme at the Republican National Convention taking place this week in Milwaukee, Wisc., has been “unity.” The Republican presidential nominee and 45^th President Donald Trump is expected to triumph unity at his acceptance speech Thursday night. And just as members of the Illinois GOP have fought against Donald Trump every step of the way, tonight their disdain for the MAGA movement was on full display for the world to see as they physically turned their backs on Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL-1, R) during his primetime speech at the national convention.

Gaetz, a close ally of Donald Trump and personal friend of Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller (IL-15, R), is an outspoken member of the Freedom Caucus who led last year’s ouster of former Speaker of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA-20, R, ret.). The ouster was a big upset to establishment Republicans, including McCarthy’s personal friend, Richard Porter, who just finished two terms as the RNC national committeemen from Illinois.

The ouster also paved the way to bringing in the current Speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-4, R), who is arguably the most conservative Speaker we have had since Newt Gingrich.

Earlier this year, Speaker Johnson released more than 5,000 hours of video footage of the U.S. Capitol taken on January 6, 2021. That evidence flipped the Democrat’s “insurrection” narrative on January 6^th. Three weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the U.S. Department of Justice had overstepped its authority by imprisoning hundreds of January 6^th protestors the past three years, reducing the charges to nothing more than trespassing.

So who are these Illinois delegates who embarrassed our entire delegation during our 15 minutes of national attention? One of them is IL GOP State Central Committeewoman Laura Pollastrini (Dist. 11), who has served as the IL GOP treasurer since 2022. At the December 10, 2022 State Central Committee meeting in Bolingbrook, Ill., where more than 200 grassroots supporters showed up from all across the state, Pollastrini feverishly kept time during the public comment portion, yelling “Time!” exactly 90 seconds after each grassroot supporter began speaking.

Another person who turned her back on Gaetz is Beth Findley Smith, the estranged wife of State Central Committeeman Larry Smith (Dist. 14), the former chair of the so-called Grassroots Committee. Larry Smith gained the attention of Illinois Grassroots supporters when he became one of the deciding votes to keep Don Tracy as Chair last year. Findley Smith is chair of a LaSalle County conservative organization called You Are Not Alone (“YANA”) that has about 2100 members on Facebook.

Gaetz was one of a few who very strongly and publicly endorsed Darren Bailey over Mike Bost this past primary election for Illinois’ 12^th congressional district. Rep. Mary Miller also came out with a strong endorsement of Bailey. President Trump maintained his endorsement for Mike Bost, chair of the Veterans Affairs committee, who won the primary.

Donald Trump, who survived an assassination attempt last Saturday night in Pennsylvania, is set to take the RNC stage Thursday night to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States.