Former President Donald Trump addressed a rally of thousands in central Wisconsin on Saturday, seeking to maintain the political hold he’s had over rural voters in the state.
The rally was Trump’s first appearance in central Wisconsin since 2020. The campaigns for both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have heavily targeted the state, but the rally was the first high-profile stop in central Wisconsin by either candidate, and it drew attendees from across the region. Some were waiting in line for the 1 p.m. event as early as 5 a.m.
Rural Wisconsin saw the largest Trump margins in the state in 2016, when he narrowly won the state, and again in 2020 when he narrowly lost. In Marathon County where the rally was held, Trump received 58 percent of the vote in 2020, even as he lost the county’s largest city, Wausau.
Stay informed on the latest news
Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.
"*" indicates required fields
In a speech at the Central Wisconsin Airport that clocked in just shy of two hours, Trump used the first 30 minutes or so to discuss his criminal indictments and convictions, which he characterized as witch hunts. Referencing a judge’s decision this week to postpone his sentencing in a New York case, Trump falsely said the postponement reflected the fact that “everyone realizes there’s no case, because I did nothing wrong.”
In fact, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts related to his hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. He will be sentenced on Nov. 26. Criminal cases against the Republican presidential nominee are ongoing in Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.
Trump also said that if elected, he would bring the war between Russia and Ukraine to an end.
“I’ll tell you what,” Trump said. “I will have that war finished and done and settled before I get to the White House. As president-elect, I will get that done.”
Doing so would be a violation of the Logan Act, a federal law that prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.
In speeches introducing Trump, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson offered political red meat to the crowd and made a pitch to attendees to get involved in the campaign. Tiffany said volunteers in his district have knocked on more than 20,000 doors. Trump supporters, he said, should speak with hunters in their lives and let them know that a “Kamala Harris administration will take their guns.” The claim is not based on any policy proposal, and Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have repeatedly said they support hunters’ gun rights.
Johnson asked the assembled crowd to vote early.
“I love the fact that you come out here,” Johnson said. “I love the fact that you’re showing President Trump how much you love him. But it’s not enough.”
The pitch in favor of absentee voting was a contrast to the party’s approach in 2020, when Trump repeatedly said voting outside of Election Day was a method open to fraud.
Trump also brought out Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde during his speech. Speaking of Harris and his opponent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Hovde said that “everything they’ve said has been a lie.”
Before the event, Democrats held a press conference in Wausau, saying that Trump’s proposed blanket tariffs on imports from China and other countries would raise costs for Americans by an average of $4,000 per year.
In a statement from the press conference, ginseng farmer Ming Tao Jiang said the proposal “pose(s) a threat not only to my business, but to all Wisconsin small businesses. Trump is running on a backwards economic plan that would decimate the economy, kill businesses, and raise costs.”
Trump defended the tariff policy in his speech, comparing his policy views to those of the “highly underrated” President William McKinley.
Outside the rally, vendors sold Trump merchandise, including T-shirts depicting the former president’s fist-up pose after the bullet from an attempted assassination grazed his ear at a July rally in Pennsylvania. Inside, a party atmosphere prevailed, including people dressed in head-to-toe American flag suits and a sea of red “Make America Great Again” hats. Before Trump arrived, country singer Gretchen Wilson performed her 2004 hit, “Redneck Woman.”
In the wake of the assassination attempt, the Secret Service reportedly asked Trump not to hold rallies outside. This rally was held outside, though entry included tight security checks. In a concession to safety, Trump and other speakers appeared behind bulletproof glass.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
