Trump defends, endorses Herbster at rescheduled Nebraska rally

He talked about banning critical race theory — a legal theory taught at the graduate level that examines how race and racism are embedded within systems of power — in all educational settings, including higher education.

Herbster also said he would push for school choice and to bring prayer back into schools.

“We’re going to give parents and grandparents a choice of where they educate their children, whether it’s home school, private school or public school,” he said. “We’re going to quit funding the unions and we’re going to put the money with every single child where it belongs.”

The Conklin CEO also said he would crack down on immigration — an issue typically handled by the federal government — and recited many of Trump’s positions on the issue.

In addition to saying he favored a closed border, Herbster also said he would implement a test for any immigrant seeking to come to Nebraska.

“If you want to come in you need to honor God, you need to honor our flag, and you need to learn to speak English,” he said.

Repeating a claim he made earlier in the campaign, Herbster, who said he sleeps four hours a night, said he would accompany the Nebraska State Patrol on drug busts across the state to ask them “who are you and why are you here?”

“They’ll never see me coming,” he said. “We’re going to drive up in my white pickup with Trump plates on. They’ll never know what hit them.”

Despite being postponed due to severe weather on Friday, several speakers on the program returned to offer their support on Sunday.

Those who couldn’t — Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and a close adviser during his time in the White House, and Mercedes Schlapp, wife of National Conservative Political Action Committee Chairman Matt Schlapp — filmed videos that played to the crowd.

Conway said Herbster, like Trump, would upend the political establishment, which is why he drew opposition from “the old boys and new boys network trying to hang onto their power and hang onto their privilege.”

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, one of a handful of legislators who have endorsed Herbster, said he believed in Herbster’s plans, and dismissed the criticism against him as coming from people who were trying to maintain the status quo.

Matt Schlapp said the allegations made against Herbster were part of a war being waged by “socialists” against those at the I-80 Speedway to support Trump and Herbster.

It summarized many of the culture war themes that resonated most with crowd.

“When they go after Charles W. Herbster, when they go after Donald Trump, who are they really going after?” Schlapp asked the crowd. “You.”