When the balloons and confetti began to drop from the ceiling at the Republican National Convention last night, Kathleen Moore said she broke out into tears. Donald Trump's speech, combined with the cheers, music and thousands of balloons, was overwhelming — but overwhelming in a good way.
Kathleen, an 18-year-old sophomore in communications, said the RNC was one of the best experiences she's ever had. This week, Kathleen served as a delegate for Trump at the convention. She was the youngest Alabama delegate and one of the youngest of all the delegates in Cleveland.
"I thought it was an awesome experience, probably one of the coolest and most tiring weeks I've ever had in my life," Kathleen said.
Kathleen represented Auburn University and the rest of Alabama's 3rd Congressional District, which spans from Lee County all the way north to Cherokee County. She was elected as the delegate for the district back during the primaries on March 1.
"I got involved with the Trump campaign on Auburn's campus through College Republicans," Kathleen said. "Had I had an opponent, I would have been on the ballot during the primary election, but I ran unopposed. So it was a really easy campaign."
Kathleen's dad, State Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, was also a delegate in Cleveland. Barry represents portions of Elba, New Brockton and Enterprise, Alabama.
"It was really awesome," Kathleen said. "I liked having him next to me because it wasn't so overwhelming. I could look at him if I felt nervous or anxious or something, and he'd be there. Also, it was really nice because while I was getting interviewed by people he could take pictures."
Kathleen said she never felt uncomfortable at the convention, despite her age.
"Everyone was so friendly, and they actually thought it was super cool that I was so young," Kathleen said. "Actually, a lot of people in my delegation made fun of me because I was always the first one to go to bed at night. I could not hang with them. I was so exhausted. My voice was kind of raspy."
It didn't happen at the convention, but she said that when she looked at the comments on some of the articles about her this week, she saw people who didn't believe she was qualified because of her age.
"I did a couple of interviews with people, and a lot of the times in the comments, the trolls, they would say that I didn't know what I was talking about because I was so young," Kathleen said. "I think that's just really against everything that's going on right now. I'm serving as a delegate in Cleveland, Ohio right now, among thousands of people. I've done my best to be educated, although I'm only 18. I think it was really hateful of them to discriminate against me because I'm only 18."
Trump was a long shot candidate when he launched his campaign last summer. Kathleen said she started out supporting Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, but transitioned to Trump soon after he announced.
"Things in the Middle East started picking up, and I knew that we needed a person that could get in there," she said. "He wasn't scared of the media. Trump obviously doesn't fear what the media makes him out to be. He could get in there, and he wouldn't be bribed because he's already a billionaire. He's an outsider, so I knew that he would be able to get in there and get the job done because he really just didn't care what other people thought. I liked that."
According to Kathleen, Supreme Court vacancies and the appointments the next president will be required to make was one of the main reasons she supports Trump.
"I got to thinking about the Supreme Court appointments," Kathleen said. "That's huge. You know, the next president is going to have a lot responsibility when it comes to appointing Supreme Court justices that are going to uphold the Constitution and uphold our rights, and I think Trump is going to do that."
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's speech was Kathleen's second favorite, behind Trump, obviously.
"There were a lot of excellent speeches," Kathleen said. "I think a lot of people really nailed it. I think [Giuliani] did an awesome job. And then hearing Gov. Mike Pence speak, I teared up. I feel like he's such a sincere person. I just feel like he really means what he says."
Women and young voters like Kathleen tend to skew toward the Democratic Party, but Kathleen said she wasn't worried about that challenge.
"There was a video they played at the convention," she said. "It was a video of all of his women executives. As it turns out, he has more female executives than almost any other corporation in America, and also, he pays women equally. There are no glass ceilings to break in the Trump Organization because they're already being paid equally."
Trump's daughter introduced him last night at the convention, but before she did that, she gave her own impassioned speech in support of her dad. She also spoke on equal pay for women, maternity leave and affordable child care.
"Ivanka spoke on this, and she promised that she would work alongside her dad to help the rest of America catch up with the Trump Organization and start paying their women equally, and I think that's awesome," Kathleen said. "The way that his daughters spoke about him, it shows that they respect him and it shows that he loves them, and that he raised them to believe in themselves. I just don't think someone that hates women could raise such strong women."
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