Former President Trump Takes Center Stage in Milwaukee, Aims to Reclaim Key Battleground State

MILWAUKEE, Wis (Civic Media) – Across America in the 2024 campaign, former President Donald Trump and his opponent logged thousands of miles. Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump found themselves six miles apart in Milwaukee County Friday night as the rallying winds down in a Wisconsin heavy campaign.  A final stop for Trump was at the Fiserv Forum, with the VP ‘straight down Wisconsin Avenue’ for a star-studded event at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis.

Milwaukee Police, along with Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Deputies and Secret Service, had the Deer District surrounded, in one of the final events of a campaign in which former President Trump was the subject of two assassination attempts.

The Milwaukee Bucks home court is the same place where the former President accepted his party’s 2024 nomination.  It’s also the same venue the Harris campaign held an event on the same night former President Barack Obama spoke at the DNC in Chicago. 

The top rows of the Fiserv Forum were initially curtained off, but were opened as supporters kept filing in the venue.  Each of the seats had a sign placed on it, some with campaign slogans, some with a text message directive.

President @realDonaldTrump en route to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/w1DykiNbGL

— Margo Martin (@margommartin) November 2, 2024

Former Governor Scott Walker urged people to bring friends and family to the polls.   Former Governor Tommy Thompson said every 4 years Democrats pretended to be Republicans and reiterated the ‘no tax on tips’ promise from the Trump campaign. 

1st District Congressman Bryan Steil,  running for reelection against former Wisconsin Revenue Secretary Peter Barca, said his party backs the blue, “as I was driving up Interstate 94 this way, I was reminded of four years ago when President Donald Trump came to Kenosha after our Democratic governor Tony Evers failed to provide the resources that were needed for the community of Kenosha, you know who answered the call, Donald J. Trump”

The crowd came to their feet for U.S Senate candidate Eric Hovde.  Within about a minute, he had mentioned his opponent, current Senator Tammy Baldwin, contrasting their views and telling supporters he would be better for business and safety. “They bankrupted our country causing the worst bout of inflation in 40 years… they’ve jeopardized our safety by defunding the police and opening our Southern borders.”

Worlds collided when the entrance music for WWE performer John Cena played as a theme for Senator Ron Johnson.  Johnson got a standing ovation, thanked the crowd for showing up, and spoke about his recent political observations. “What President Trump does not get enough credit for is the complete realignment of our politics.  Have you noticed now the Democrats are the party of the elite? They’re the ones that have all the billionaires. President Trump has made the Republican Party the party of the working men and women of America that make this country great”.

Johnson did not claim Democrats would cheat in the election, as he had proffered without proof in other recent campaign events.  

After Senator Johnson, about an hour went by without any speakers, with a t-shirt gun, Sweet Caroline, and other music keeping the crowd involved.

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flew with Trump into Milwaukee on his plane, with all three taking the stage.

What a great crew on Trump Force One tonight! 🇺🇸 @realDonaldTrump @RobertKennedyJr @MarkwayneMullin @Eric_Schmitt pic.twitter.com/MKi4gwjHBe

— Margo Martin (@margommartin) November 2, 2024

RFK Jr. was given a standing roar and applause, with chants of “Bobby” breaking out.  He told people that despite seeing his name on the ballot, they shouldn’t vote for him, instead giving instructions to vote for Trump.  “When you go to the voting booth on Tuesday, you’re going to see my name on the ballot, I do not want your vote. I want you to vote for Donald Trump.”

Kennedy this week lost an appeal to have his name removed from Wisconsin and Michigan ballots. 

Kennedy also recounted an early meeting between himself and Trump, which delved into foreign policy. “We met for two and a half hours and he said I want you to join my campaign and unify our efforts and I’m going to end the Foreign Wars, the addiction to war, the $200 billion that we sent to Ukraine, we’re going to spend it here in the United States.”

Trump started his address by asking the same question he’s led with for the past week, asking attendees if they were better off now than they were four years ago. He reminded people there’s early voting through Sunday in Milwaukee, Madison, and Racine.  

At one point, people in the upper seats chanted that they couldn’t hear, with Trump riffing about a bad microphone setup. “I am up here seething. I’m working my ass off with this stupid mic”.

There were laughs in the crowd when Trump talked of previous elections, falsely claiming again he won Wisconsin in 2016 and 2020. “I actually won it twice, but these are minor details.”

Trump again called for the CBS broadcasting license to be pulled and told the crowd about his new lawsuit in connection to claims 60 Minutes edited a Kamala Harris interview. “If a conservative broadcaster ever did what they did it would be the end of their lives, everybody would be in jail… and so in honor of you, we sued them yesterday for a lot of money. We sued them.  I sued them and we call it election interference fraud”.  The network says the lawsuit is meritless and plans to fight.  

The crowd went silent when Trump stopped speaking and played a campaign video featuring the mother of a 12 year old girl from Texas, allegedly killed by two undocumented men from Venezuela.  

As the speech started towards 10:30pm, 90 minutes in, some in the crowd started to leave, with most staying until the final recitation of Trump’s campaign slogan, “We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again and we will make America great again, thank you”.

Cream City campaigning continues Sunday when former President Barack Obama visits Milwaukee.  Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance has a stop in LaCrosse Monday.