Trump pledges to ‘make Wisconsin great again’ in RNC acceptance speech

Partway through his speech formally accepting his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, former President Donald Trump shouted out the host city of Milwaukee. 

Pledging to invest millions in Wisconsin, he asked the crucial swing state to remember that in November. 

“I am trying to buy your vote!” he said, to applause. 

In a 93-minute speech that began in softened tones describing a failed attempt on his life less than a week before, Trump hit on familiar themes, including critiquing the economic policies of the current administration of President Joe Biden and pledging to crack down on immigration and expand American manufacturing. 

About 35 minutes in, he connected those issues to Wisconsin, telling the state’s 41 state delegates — bedecked in bright orange cheeseheads — that he was working to “make Wisconsin great again.” For good measure, he even predicted the Packers would have a good team this year.

It was a clear indication of the importance Wisconsin will play this fall, even as the state of the race has taken on a new tenor, with some Democrats in other states formally calling on President Joe Biden to drop out.

Throughout his speech, Trump also referred to the 2020 election, when he last faced off against Biden and narrowly lost, reiterating debunked claims that there was widespread fraud in that election. Some big applause lines included calls to unwind investments in alternative energy, and nods to conservative culture war topics, such as transgender students playing sports. 

But the biggest cheers took place as Trump recounted his experience Saturday when a would-be assassin targeted him during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania.  

Saying he would not speak about the attack again because recounting the details was “painful,” he recalled feeling “very safe because I had God on my side.” 

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he said, to which the crowd chanted, “Yes, you are.” 

And Trump returned to that idea at the end of the speech, arguing that the attempt would be the momentum fueling the rest of his campaign and second term in office. 

Speaking to WPR from the floor afterward as balloons fell from the ceiling, Wisconsin’s delegates said they were moved by Trump’s recollections of the shooting. 

“It just feel like I have a more deeper connection with President Trump and I just feel more connected to him,” said Lawrence Schneider, an alternate delegate from La Crosse. 

Delegates also celebrated the special attention that their home state got during the remarks. 

“This is one of the benefits of being a swing state. We’re going to get national attention from both parties, from the government,” said delegate John Leiber, the state treasurer. “So it’s great to have that focus, and I think it’s going to bring a lot of economic benefit to the people of Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin delegates also reacted to rumors swirling that Biden’s candidacy could be up in the air. Tim Michels, a delegate and the Republican candidate for governor in 2022, said that if Biden stays in the race, he expects Trump to win in November.

“President Trump will crush him because people see how weak Joe Biden is,” he said. “This is not an election about who’s gonna be president for the month of November or the rest of this year. This is about who’s gonna be president for the next four years.”

After the speech, Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler released a statement calling Trump’s promises in the night’s speech “extreme.”

“With Trump’s coronation on stage in Milwaukee tonight, the Republican Party is now fully committed to an anti-freedom, pro-dictatorship agenda — a promise Wisconsinites will reject in full this November,” Wikler said.

Shortly before the convention’s attendees filtered back out into the Milwaukee evening, a Wisconsinite played one last pivotal role. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson officially adjourned the night’s proceedings.

“Thank you, all of you for coming,” he said. “Drive safely home.”