Trump To Hold April 27 Campaign Rally In Green Bay

President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Wisconsin on the night of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C.

Trump’s re-election campaign announced Tuesday that the rally will be held April 27 at Green Bay’s Resch Center.

James Fitzgerald chairs the Brown County Republican Party. He said he’s been fielding calls from people who want to be involved in the event.

“It is a wild house here,” Fitzgerald said, describing the scene at the party’s headquarters. “We have media getting set up outside of my office for interviews and what have you and the phones have been ringing constantly for people who want to volunteer their time.”

Trump’s presence in Wisconsin points to the state being a crucial battleground in the 2020 presidential election. Trump eked out a narrow victory in the state in 2016.

David Helpap, an associate professor of political science and public administration at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, suspects Trump’s choice of venue sends a message to Democrats who will hold their convention in Milwaukee in 2020.

“Democrats clearly think that Wisconsin is a swing state that needs to be won in the 2020 election,” Helpap said.

Helpap said the crowded field of Democratic candidates will also continue to make the rounds in Wisconsin. Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders visited Madison last week, Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar came to the state in February and former Texas U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke has made two stops here, one in Madison and another in Milwaukee.

“You also have a number of Democratic primary candidates that are also going to be making their way through the state. So I think this is the president’s response to that,” he said.

Jim Simmons, a professor of political science at UW-Oshkosh, agrees.

Simmons said Trump is in “perpetual campaign mode” and he sees this month’s Green Bay appearance as a strategic choice.

Simmons pointed out that even though Democrat Gov. Tony Evers won over Republican incumbent Gov. Scott Walker, state voters opted for a conservative-leaning candidate, Brian Hagedorn, for the state’s Supreme Court.

“Basically the president is going to have to carry the ‘blue wall’ that he did in 2016,” Simmons said, adding that “conservatives are relatively optimistic about the president’s chances given the outcome of the last state Supreme Court election.”

The event coincides with the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which, for his third year as president, Donald Trump will not attend.

The president has bucked tradition and skipped the annual black-tie affair every year since taking office. He recently said he’s skipping this year’s dinner for the third year in a row because it’s “so boring” and “so negative.” He said he would hold “a very positive rally instead.”

Presidents and first ladies have traditionally attended the dinner. It’s a fundraiser for college scholarships and an occasion where politicians, journalists and celebrities mingle. Journalism prizes are also awarded.