Trump appeals to Wisconsin voters in traditional Democratic strongholds

Former President Donald Trump made his first-ever campaign visit to Dane County Tuesday, one of two trips in the same day to core Democratic strongholds in battleground Wisconsin.

Trump spoke to about 500 people at a manufacturing facility in Waunakee, outside of Madison, while an overflow of thousands were turned away outside.

The event was promoted as remarks on the economy, but Trump hit on a range of issues including foreign policy and immigration.

He extensively criticized his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, blaming her for escalating warfare in the Middle East and the state of the economy, and poked fun at President Joe Biden. And he repeated debunked claims about the integrity of American elections and made broad promises about what the country would look like if he took a second term.

“You bring Trump back, there won’t be any problems anywhere,” he said.

Trump was also scheduled to speak in Milwaukee later in the day, at a downtown science museum, hours before a debate between his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, and the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Speaking for about 73 minutes, Trump hit on familiar themes from his campaign appearances, including promising to end taxes on tips and impose a mass deportation of immigrants.

“We want borders. We want fair elections. We want honest elections. And if you don’t have those two things, you don’t have a country,” he said.

Trump’s two appearances in Democratic strongholds hint at a strategy to try to eke out every last vote in a state where four of the last six presidential races were decided by less than a percentage point, and both campaigns are working to “lose by less” in polarized regions.

Speaking beforehand, former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson said it was important for Trump to be in Dane County because he has to “go where the opposition is.”

“Democrats, get the hell out of our way,” Thompson said, to cheers.

Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker also spoke, saying those in the crowd had to work to get out the vote in a state where Trump’s last two presidential elections were decided by about 20,000 votes.

“So you might have friends and neighbors, coworkers, family members will tell you, ‘I don’t like everything he says, everything he does.’ But in the end, they cannot deny life was better (under Trump),” Walker said.

Many of the hundreds of attendees gathered among tall shelves of materials at Dane Manufacturing wore red Make America Great Again hats and shirts. Jodi Bauer, of Green Lake, wore a multi-tiered dress with Trump’s name sewn throughout. She said it was her 16th time attending a Trump rally in Wisconsin.

Bauer said she supports Trump’s work on the economy and immigration, and that she has been working in her community to register voters for November.

“I love everything about him. I love how blunt he is. I love how he’s accomplishing everything that we want,” she said.

“I’m hoping someday to have (Trump) sign the gown,” she added.

Julie Peterson flew out from Bend, Ore., for the rally, because her husband is related to Dane Manufacturing’s CEO, Troy Berg.

“So we were flown here, and we’ve been cleaning and prepping the facility since Sunday,” she said. “We’ve just been working our tail off for a bigger cause.”

Peterson said her faith as a Christian is central to her politics, and so is her opposition to abortion.

“It’s time to step up for the for the unborn children, for Christians, for … the factory workers keeping jobs here in America,” she said.

They were just a handful of attendees who made it inside the building. Thousands waited outside in lines that snaked around the manufacturing facility’s campus. A small handful of protesters stood across the street, holding signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and denouncing Trump’s campaign and rhetoric.

In a statement, Kristi Johnston of the Wisconsin Democratic Coordinated Campaign called Trump’s term in office “a disaster for Wisconsin.”

“If Trump is reelected, his extreme Project 2025 agenda would give him virtually unchecked power to do whatever he wants, including his plans to enact a Trump Sales Tax that would spike costs for families,” Johnston said.

Trump addresses school choice event in Milwaukee

A few hours later, Trump spoke to a small group of press and campaign staff at Milwaukee’s Discovery World museum. The visit — his first to the city since the Republican National Convention — was meant to highlight the issue of school choice, or private school vouchers.

Before former Trump spoke, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, moderated a panel on school choice with former Republican state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck of Clinton, a private Christian school principal, a member of the conservative group Moms for Liberty and several Milwaukee-area choice school students.

Sam Seefeld, the Executive Director of Trinity Lutheran School of Freistadt in Mequon, thanked Trump’s campaign for “caring about education“ and said that “the government should not be interfering with curriculum.”

Coming onstage after the panel, the GOP’s candidate focused on border security, saying that “we can’t sustain” the current level of migration to the United States. He also mentioned his plan to nominate Elon Musk to run a new cost-cutting government efficiency commission.

Trump pivoted to school choice after about thirty minutes.

“School choice is the civil rights issue of our time,” he said, appearing to read from prepared notes after going largely off-script for the first half hour. He praised Milwaukee for having the country’s “oldest” school choice program and for hosting “such a great convention.”

Trump pivoted to border issues by claiming that “the illegal migrants are taking the Black population’s jobs, and the Hispanic population’s jobs, and that’s not fair. That’s not a good thing.”

Responding to reporters’ questions, Trump said he would “let you know in about 33 days” about whether he trusts the early voting process that began in Wisconsin last week.

He said his campaign would announce rallies in Milwaukee and Green Bay in the coming weeks.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff visits Milwaukee

While Trump made stops in Dane and Milwaukee counties, second gentleman Doug Emhoff also made an appearance in Milwaukee Tuesday afternoon on behalf of Harris’ presidential campaign.

Emhoff visited manufacturer Diamond Discs International on the city’s far northwest side to promote Harris’ “Opportunity Economy” plan.

That plan includes extending a $6,000 child tax credit to families for the first year of a child’s life, and a $25,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.

“If companies are not acting the right way, such as price gouging on food, well, she has a plan for that too,” Emhoff said. “She believes in business, but she’s also going to hold companies accountable, just like she’s done her whole career.” 

Emhoff, who owned a law firm from 2000 to 2006, said Harris knows the value of small business for the economy and communities. 

“Kamala Harris is a capitalist, she is pro growth, she is pro innovation, she is pro technology, but she also supports workers,” Emhoff said. “Guess what? All of that can be true at the same time.” 

Emhoff said Trump has tried to give speeches on the economy, but most of the time he says things that are “racist and misogynistic.” 

“When you can parse out what he is saying on the economy, it appears that he will continue these massive tax cuts for those who don’t need it,” Emhoff said. 

Before diving into Harris’ economic plan, Emhoff addressed Hurricane Helene and the continued clean-up efforts and the Iranian attack on Israel Tuesday.

Emhoff said he spoke to Harris before taking the stage in Milwaukee and she wanted the crowd of about 150 people to know she condemned the event. 

“The United States will continue to work with our allies to hold Iran accountable,” Emhoff said, during his 25-minute speech. 

“Let’s stay mad for the next 35 days, channel that anger into action, because we have no other choice,” Emhoff said. 

In a warm-up speech before Emhoff, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said a Harris presidency would create an economy that bolsters middle class families and small businesses. 

“She wants to bring manufacturing back to Wisconsin, back to the United States from overseas, to make sure products are made right here in America,” Johnson said. 

United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo introduced Emhoff, saying this election really matters. 

“(Harris) is running with a plan to bring down costs of groceries and housing and health care,” Raimondo said. “She is pro-business, but she is also pro-worker. You can be pro-business and pro-environment.” 

Presidential candidates and their surrogates have crisscrossed the state and are expected to continue to do so with only 35 days left before Election Day. 

During an earlier visit to Wisconsin in July, Emhoff attended the Hmong Wausau Festival and a voter canvassing event in Stevens Point.