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Jim Banks praises Trump in prime-time speech at Republican National Convention

A screenshot of Jim Banks speaking at the Republican National Convention. Banks is a White man with dark, graying hair. He is wearing a dark suit.
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U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) delivered remarks at the Republican National Convention during an hour dedicated to U.S. Senate candidates.

Indiana U.S. Senate candidate Jim Banks used his prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention Tuesday to lavishly praise former President Donald Trump.

Banks spoke during an hour dedicated to Senate candidates and called Trump the greatest and strongest president of his lifetime.

“We need President Trump back in the White House if we’re going to make America great once again,” Banks said.

Banks touched on his own background — “born in a trailer park, the son of a factory worker and a nursing home cook.”

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He also briefly mentioned policy, focusing on immigration and mass deportation.

“If you came here illegally under Joe Biden, you’re going back to where you came from under Donald Trump,” Banks said.

Banks’s opponents in the open U.S. Senate race are Democrat Valerie McCray and Libertarian Andrew Horning.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.