MILWAUKEE — Serving as North Dakota governor under former President Donald Trump was like having “a beautiful breeze at our back,” Doug Burgum said Wednesday, July 17, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The GOP governor, who was considered a top contender to be Trump’s vice president, contrasted that to President Joe Biden, saying being governor during the Democrat’s administration was like “a gale force wind in our face.”

“Biden’s war on energy hurts every American because the cost of energy is in everything that we use or touch every day,” Burgum said.

The governor took to the stage Wednesday night at the Fiserv Forum during the third day of the RNC. The governor from the second top-producing oil state in the U.S. criticized Biden’s policies on energy, claiming they have raised the price of gas, food, clothes and rent.

“Biden’s green agenda feels like it was written by China, Russia and Iran,” Burgum said.

Burgum was passed up on Monday as Trump’s vice president pick for U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, though there is speculation the North Dakotan could be a part of Trump’s administration.

The governor has spent time campaigning for Trump and looks to continue that. Burgum praised Trump as a friend of energy and a champion of innovation over regulation.

“Unleashing American energy dominance is our path back to prosperity and peace through strength,” Burgum said. “Teddy Roosevelt encouraged America to speak softly and carry a big stick. Energy dominance will be the big stick that President Trump will carry.”

Burgum joked that the last time he was in Milwaukee, he had to stand on one leg behind a podium for the first Republican presidential debate for the 2024 election. The night before the August debate, which was also held in the Fiserv, Burgum tore his Achilles tendon during a pickup basketball game, sending him to the emergency room and putting him in a walking boot.

During the speech, he asked who would make America energy dominant, to which the crowd yelled twice, “Trump!”

On the third time, he asked the crowd to yell it loud enough to wake Biden up, an insult playing into reports that the Democrat is a 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. president and is in cognitive decline. The crowd replied “Trump” loudly.

“When Trump unleashes American energy, we unleash American prosperity and we ensure our national security,” Burgum said

Burgum, who is from the small town of Arthur, North Dakota, also said rural America and small towns feed, fuel and defend the world.

“Rural America is Trump country,” Burgum said.

In a statement issued after the speech, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Chair Adam Goldwyn called Burgum “a billionaire cosplaying as a cowboy with an undirected Carhartt.”

“Burgum signed one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, and that is wreaking havoc on North Dakotan women,” Goldwyn said. “After supporting bills to promote equality in North Dakota, he threw LGBTQ folks under the bus when he signed laws that discriminate against them. Will Burgum finally return to North Dakota now, or will he continue to neglect his gubernatorial duties? Either way his time in the national spotlight is over and he is no longer a ‘top priority.’”

Trump secured the Republican nomination for president. He is expected to face Biden in the general election.