Former President Donald Trump visits Green Bay
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GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Former president Donald Trump visited Wisconsin for the first time since 2022, holding a rally at the KI Convention Center in downtown Green Bay.
Thousands of his supporters braved cold temperatures and a snowstorm to see the former president on Tuesday afternoon.
“Has anybody noticed the weather outside, they said sir were not going to make it and I said we have to, we can’t disappoint Green Bay, we got to make it here,” said Trump.
The former president spoke for about an hour covering a wide range of topics from the economy to the the border. Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 en route to his victory in the presidential election but lost the state in 2020 by about 20,000 votes.
Throughout his Tuesday afternoon speech, Trump repeatedly claimed that he had won the presidential election in 2020.
Local 5 News spoke to several Trump voters at the rally. They all said that they think their daily lives were better when Trump was the president compared to how it is now with Joe Biden as commander in chief citing things like the cost of living.
Voters that Local 5 News spoke with said that the economy and border security were the issues they are most concerned about.
“I like his pro-America message, we’re a great country, we’re going to stay a good country, we need to be the light on the hill for others to see,” said Karl Simandl a Trump supporter from Greenfield who said that he’s a veteran and a law enforcement officer.
He said he also appreciates the support that Trump has shown to veterans.
“My issues were securing all borders, not just the southern border we need to protect the whole country,” said Yvonna Roush a Trump supporter from Amberg in Marinette County. “We need some security, they need to amp it up and it’s not coming from what we have right now.”
The former president spent the biggest chunk of his speech on Tuesday afternoon talking about border security and crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
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“We had the strongest border and the safest border in the history of our country and now we have the worst border in the history of anywhere in the world,” said Trump.
The former president talked about some of the stuff he’d like to do should he get re-elected. He said he’d be able to end the Ukraine/Russia war right away, pass a reciprocal tariff bill to make sure the United States is charging the same amount on tariffs as other countries are imposing on them, and said he wants anybody who murders a police officer to get the death penalty.
He also said he’d crack down on critical race theory being taught at schools and would cut funding to schools that impose vaccine or mask mandates.
He also talked about some of the things he’s done that have directly impacted Wisconsin.
“In my first four years I kept my promise to the workers of Wisconsin, I got you so many contracts including that big shipping contract you remember that one,” Trump said.
He also took some shots at his opponent Joe Biden.
“If you take the 10 worst presidents and add them up, they wouldn’t have done near the destruction to our country as Joe Biden and the Biden administration has done,” Trump said. “We are a nation in decline, we are a failing nation. We’re a nation that has lost its confidence, its willpower and its strength. We are a nation that has lost its way but we aren’t going to let this horror continue. (When I was president) we were a great nation and we will soon be a great nation again.”
The rally attracted top Republicans from around the state including U.S. Senator Ron Johnson and U.S. congressman Glenn Grothman.
Eric Hovde, who is running to unseat U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, also was in attendance. During his speech, Trump gave him his endorsement.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin issued the following statement on that endorsement:
“Eric Hovde and Donald Trump are birds of a feather: two out of touch rich guys running to put themselves first and Wisconsinites last. From banning abortion, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and promoting MAGA conspiracies about January 6 and the 2020 election, Donald Trump and Eric Hovde won’t fight for Wisconsin values.”
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Rapid Response Director Arik Wolk
People from all over Wisconsin, and the country, attended the Trump rally on Tuesday afternoon.
“They’re so exciting and so invigorating that I try to get to as many as I can make,” said Blake Marnell who is from San Diego and has become a social media sensation for the suit he always wears to the rallies that are printed to look like a border wall.
“We need to amp it up, get positive, get America back and make it great again,” said Roush.
“He has the knowledge and we saw how things were different under him, he’s a strong man who makes things happen and I believe we can get there again,” said Lynne Thompson from Cleveland, Wis.
It was Trump’s first visit to the Badger State this campaign season, but likely not his last. The road to an electoral college victory in November will likely run through Wisconsin.
“The most important day in the history of our country will be Nov. 5 (the day of the election),” said Trump.
State GOP chair Brian Schimming said that he believes getting Republicans on board with early voting is going to be a key for the party to win the White House back in November.
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President Biden recently announced that he will be making a campaign stop next Monday in Wisconsin. Both Biden and Trump easily won their primaries in Wisconsin on Tuesday.
There were a few people who braved the cold to protest Trump’s visit. One of them was Mark Howe from Green Bay.
“I love America, love the freedom of speech and got to enjoy your First Amendment rights before some wannabe dictator is about to take them away,” he said. “I’m here to protest Trump and support Ukraine.”
State democrat leaders also held a news conference to discuss Trump’s visit. They talked about how a Trump presidency would impact abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act and criticized the former president for not working with Democrats for a solution at the border.
“At the end of the day, it’s who is showing up with common sense, pragmatic solutions,” said Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski in regards to a recent bipartisan border bill that fell through. “It’s Joe Biden who is reaching across the aisle to get it done, and it was Donald Trump who interfered to stop that from happening.”
The Biden administration released the following statement following Trump’s rally in Green Bay:
“Donald Trump pretends he cares about violence against police officers, but apparently not the ones who lost their lives after being violently assaulted by his supporters. He calls their attackers “hostages” and has promised to release them from prison if he gets reelected. Trump is a fraud, lying about losing the last election to Joe Biden and running a campaign of revenge and retribution all to get power for himself. He will sell out the middle class and American families the first chance he gets — just like he did as president. President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to protect democracy and our freedoms from Trump’s divisive and violent campaign – and they will prevail this November.”
Biden-Harris Campaign Senior Advisor for Communications TJ Ducklo
