Myron Lizer, the vice president of the Navajo Nation, will be speaking during the second day of the 2020 Republican National Convention on Tuesday. His appearance follows President Jonathan Nez, who appeared at last week’s Democratic National Convention, as reported by Indian Country Today .
Lizer has had several meetings with President Donald Trump during his time in the White House. He and his wife Dottie made an appearance in the Oval Office alongside the president in November 2019, during the signing of an executive order that established a task force on missing cases and other violent crimes related to Indigenous women. In May 2020, he and other tribal leaders met with Trump at a mask factory in Phoenix, Arizona. The next month he appeared at an event organized by Students for Trump, which was also in Phoenix.
The details of Lizer’s appearance have yet to be revealed, but the report speculates that he may reference a proposal put forward by Republicans to ensure that Columbus Day remains a federal holiday. Support has grown in recent years to abolish the holiday and instead declare it Indigenous People’s Day.
“The RNC affirms the need to take a strong position in support of our founding ideals, and in solidarity against anti-Italian and anti-Catholic prejudice, by defending Columbus Day as a federal holiday and urging all Republican candidates to do the same,” per the resolution, which encourages continued public celebration and education on Columbus and other “universally complex figures.”
Lizer Has Extensive Experience Working With Fortune 500 Companies
Lizer’s biography by the Office of the President and the Vice President of the Navajo Nation flaunts his decades of experience working in retail management. He has worked for four Fortune 500 companies and is considered a skilled marketer and business developer due to his time as an entrepreneur and accountant. He also owns an Ace Hardware in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation.
As vice president, he hopes to continue addressing community concerns while developing local businesses “with a vision to create more jobs and give opportunity to employees and their growing families.” Lizer’s career has seen him serve on private business boards as well as private school boards. He even spent some time as a bi-vocational pastor.
Critics Have Called Lizer ‘Controversial’
When Lizer was selected by Nez to serve as his running mate in 2018, it wasn’t welcomed by everyone in the Navajo Nation. According to a report by the Navajo Times , critics had concerns due to him not being a New Mexico native. It is usual custom by Navajo presidential nominees from Arizona to choose a vice president from New Mexico, and nominees from New Mexico to look to Arizona. This wasn’t the case on this occasion, as both Nez and Lizer are from the Grand Canyon State, Shonto and Fort Defiance, respectively.
However, Lizer assured New Mexico residents that the Nez administration would not forget about the state, adding that there is “a lot of opportunity out there.”
There have also been concerns over his lack of fluency in the Navajo language, and he has also been referred to as “a controversial Baptist preacher.”
