Mahoning GOP Vice-Chair Attends Trump Women’s Event

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The vice-chairwoman of the Mahoning County Republican Party says how President Donald Trump has treated women in his businesses gives her confidence in the way he will address women’s concerns.

Winbush, who chaired the Trump campaign in Mahoning County, was among approximately 150 women Wednesday who attended a women’s empowerment panel at the White House as Women’s History Month concludes this week.

Winbush said she was contacted March 23 about attending the event and received an invitation via email last Saturday. The event was organized by Omarosa Manigault, a Youngstown native who serves as assistant to the president and director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, she said.

Hosted by the president and his wife. Melania, the panel was moderated by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and featured Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; Linda McMahon, administrator of the Small Business Administration; U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley; and Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The panel “was about making sure that we put in mechanisms so women can dream again about becoming entrepreneurial and achieving their goals, whatever they may be, and that they had all of the support systems around them working for them and not against them,” Winbush said.

The Mahoning County GOP official said Trump’s business practices with regard to women give her confidence that he will be good on issues that concern women. His businesses have “always been a place where women can grow and thrive,” she said.

“He has never limited the advancement of women in his private practice,” she added.

“My cabinet is full of really incredible women leaders,” Trump said according to a White House transcript of the event. He also pledged that his administration would work every day “to ensure that our economy is a place where women can work, succeed and thrive like never before,” including fighting to make sure all women and families have access to affordable child care.

During the panel, Winbush recalled, DeVos talked about making sure that young women had access to good education regardless of their income. Speaking with the education secretary afterward, she invited DeVos to come to Youngstown to discuss education.

Winbush said she did not have the opportunity to talk to Manigault because they were on opposite sides of the room most of the time.

Women from states as distant as Florida, Colorado, Utah and Washington state attended the Wednesday afternoon program, which Winbush said lasted about 75 minutes. Each of the attendees received a proclamation from the president, she said.

Pictured: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos greets Tracey Winbush at White House event.

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