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Announcer:
The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production. You’re watching “Here & Now” 2024 election coverage.

Brian Schimming:
Madam secretary, the great state of Wisconsin proudly casts all of its 41 votes for Donald J. Trump.

Frederica Freyberg:
The Republican National Convention is a wrap.
I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight we bring all the local coverage of the event that put Milwaukee on the national stage. It’s “Here & Now” for July 19.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
Wisconsin is perhaps the most important battleground state in the presidential election, with both campaigns saying the other can’t win if they don’t win Wisconsin. That put even more emphasis on the city of Milwaukee hosting the Republican National Convention. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz was on the ground all week and kicks off our coverage tonight.

Zac Schultz:
The culmination of every convention is Thursday night, when the nominee takes the stage and basks in the adoration of the party faithful.

Donald Trump:
Thank you very much.

Zac Schultz:
In some ways, the defining moment of the 2024 Republican National Convention didn’t come in the host city of Milwaukee. It occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday when a 20-year-old with a gun nearly took Donald Trump’s life. By the time Trump took the stage Thursday night, his supporters had already declared the near miss as a sign of divine intervention.

Scott Walker:
We just thank you for sparing the life of our president Donald J. Trump

Zac Schultz:
And Trump agreed.

Donald Trump:
I felt very safe because I had God on my side.

Zac Schultz:
The first question of the week was whether it was even safe to come to the convention. These ladies from Eagle River had to decide if the violence would continue in Milwaukee.

Valorie Mack:
For a split second, I mean you have to. You have to — you need to be prudent to reflect, but it’s really more about now I know the police and security and Homeland Security and everything will probably even step up even more.

Zac Schultz:
UW La Crosse Professor Kristina LaPlant saw the shooting on TV and canceled a trip with her students, who planned to survey delegates for a class on political parties.

Kristina LaPlant:
Immediately, my mind starts thinking about what on earth is going to happen at the convention now? And I’m immediately thinking about my safety, my students’ safety. Is the political violence going to escalate at the RNC?

Zac Schultz:
Monday morning, the message from Republicans was one of unity.

Ron Johnson:
This is a moment to rise above their behavior and realize that it is our task to save and preserve this nation.

Zac Schultz:
But later that evening, on the main stage, Johnson was back to calling Democrats a threat to the nation.

Ron Johnson:
… are a clear and present danger to America.

Zac Schultz:
And the unity referred to the Republican Party unifying around Trump.

Tommy Thompson:
We have the greatest opportunity I have ever seen for a Republican victory.

Zac Schultz:
Democrats hoped to tie Donald Trump to a policy plan called Project 2025, a 900-page document created by the Heritage Foundation that creates a plan to give Trump unprecedented executive powers to remake the federal government. But there was no mention of the plan at Heritage’s Policy Fest event, and Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy refused to talk about Project 2025, instead hinting that if Trump had been killed, it would have led to a second civil war.

Vivek Ramaswamy:
But I think the nation came within a hair’s breadth of, God forbid, a second kind of civil war in this country and we missed it.

Zac Schultz:
He wasn’t the only one talking that way. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the Wisconsin delegation the same thing.

Newt Gingrich:
We were right at the brink of falling apart as a country and potentially drifting towards a civil war.

Zac Schultz:
Other Republicans tried to turn down the rhetoric.

Eric Toney:
I don’t see our country on a pathway to a civil war, and we need to just continue to have that dialog, to listen and exercise our voice at the ballot box.

Zac Schultz:
Trump’s speech was supposed to focus on unity.

Donald Trump:
We unite this evening more determined than ever.

Zac Schultz:
But there were times when the teleprompter didn’t move as Trump went off script and returned to his favorite topics.

Donald Trump:
Crazy Nancy Pelosi, the whole thing, just boom, boom, boom.

Zac Schultz:
He did find time to pander to the home state.

Donald Trump:
And by the way, Wisconsin, we are spending over $250 million here creating jobs and other economic development all over the place. So I hope you will remember this in November and give us your vote. I am trying to buy your vote.

Zac Schultz:
As the speech stretched out to the longest in convention history, those who started off shouting “fight” were now sitting quietly looking at their phones. But eventually the speech wrapped up.

Donald Trump:
And quite simply put, we will very quickly make America great again.

Zac Schultz:
The balloons dropped and the 2024 Republican National Convention came to an end.

Frederica Freyberg:
The state Republican Party is riding high after the big event in Milwaukee. Its chairman, Brian Schimming, is here, and you do look like a pretty happy guy. A little exhausted.

Brian Schimming:
Yeah, I’m a little exhausted but I have to tell you. I’m so proud of Milwaukee. I’m so proud of the state of Wisconsin. We were able to pull off an excellent, four-day convention right here in Wisconsin. And as you know, Fred, I’m a native here. I’m a homer. So I wanted this to be good for the state, for the city of Milwaukee and it was. The security considerations, they were just — security was great. The cooperation between the city and the county, and of course, all the law enforcement agencies, the chamber, the visitors’ bureau, just fabulous. So I’m just so excited. And I had people after the RNC meeting this morning from other states — big, you know, convention states like Chicago and LA and Atlanta, whatever, coming up and saying this was the best convention they’d ever been to. So I’m so proud of Wisconsin this morning.

Frederica Freyberg:
Yeah, super high praise. So a month ago, could you ever have foreseen everything that has happened in this race for president?

Brian Schimming:
Right. I said at our press conference yesterday that they’ll be writing books, not about the campaign, but the last three weeks, you know, alone, much less the whole campaign. Of course, the tragedy of the shooting in Pennsylvania, which, which really pulls at you, you know. I mean, you have people that were there to support a candidate. It’s not a partisan thing. It’s people who came out to this rally. So the tragedy of that rally and then obviously the debate were within 90 minutes a, a political party, my friendly adversaries on the other side, the Democrats and their candidate completely collapsed within 90 minutes. I’m not sure I can think of a parallel to this in recent history. Anyway so the Democratic Party and Joe Biden went from the kind of confidence that Joe Biden would be the candidate to the calamity of that debate, to the crisis they now sit in, all within a couple of weeks. I honestly, I can’t think of another time in recent history where so much was packed into so little time. And then to top it off for us, having a successful convention, I think by any account, it’s really, it’s — we’ll be talking about it for years.

Frederica Freyberg:
What’s your comments on Wisconsin Congressman Democrat Mark Pocan telling Joe Biden it’s time to pass the torch?

Brian Schimming:
Well, what I would say to my friend Mark Pocan is, “Where have you been?” I think the truth of the matter is, my adversaries on the other side of the aisle have known all of this about Joe Biden for a very, very long time. And he’s incapable of being their candidate’s candidate. Frankly I’m not sure he’s capable of being president right now. And I don’t make that, I have relatives of my family who have memory and other issues, so I don’t make that charge lightly. I think you have an incapable candidate and an incapable president right now. And the dilemma that, that the Democrats find themselves in here is that we’re in July of the election year. We’re not in July of last year. We’re in July of this year. And the challenge that they face right now is we walk out of this convention unified and they’re spending the weekend not knowing what they’re going to do next. Historically, it’s an amazing moment.

Frederica Freyberg:
What would be your reaction to, say, Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket?

Brian Schimming:
Right. So I have been saying about the vice presidential — potential vice-presidential debate between her and J.D. Vance, that if people see me walking down the streets of Wisconsin with a folding table, it’s because I’m going to sell tickets to that debate. And so I think that would be the same case no matter where she is on the ticket. So here’s the Democrats dilemma. They have a four-year president who, you know, won every primary and caucus, is a sitting four-year incumbent, where now well over 70% of the people say he shouldn’t be running. The difficulty is, is Vice President Harris’ numbers are very, very similar. So they don’t really get some huge advantage.

Frederica Freyberg:
Brian Schimming. We leave it there. Thanks so much for your time.

Brian Schimming:
Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
With so many people coming into Milwaukee and opening their wallets through the week, there was an expectation for a $200 million economic boost to the city. But as Steven Potter reports, while some businesses made out, others fell flat.

Steven Potter:
For some, the restaurant business this week in Milwaukee has been booming.

Marla Poytinger:
From the minute we opened our doors yesterday, all the way through, we have been slammed busy. We have been packed full for.

Steven Potter:
For Marla Poytinger from the New Fashioned bar and restaurant, which is right across from the Fiserv Forum, the increase in traffic from the Republican National Convention has more than exceeded expectations.

Marla Poytinger:
We told our team to expect about the equivalent of one Bucks game every day this week, which would have been fantastic four days in a row. Yesterday alone, we did five Bucks games.

Steven Potter:
But for others who are further away from the convention activity, business has been significantly different and disappointing.

Anita Marx:
We’ve been hearing people haven’t been coming down because restaurants are not getting enough business.

Anne Marie Cieri:
It seems like there are just so many events going on. Just — we’re also kind of on the outskirts of where everything’s taking place. So, I mean, people sometimes — seems like they’re forgetting, like, the little local spots. We had, like, you know, extra staff on ready standby, but we’ve actually called off a few people here and there just because numbers have not been what we expected.

Steven Potter:
In the months preceding the convention, there was a lot of talk and excitement about a substantial financial bump coming from the infusion of the 50,000 convention attendees.

Omar Shaikh:
I think originally the thought was it would be a $200 million in economic impact.

Steven Potter:
Omar Shaikh of the high-end steakhouse Carnivore says business at his restaurant has been slower than he’d like.

Omar Shaikh:
Yesterday we were decent, not crazy by any means, not really overly busy.

Steven Potter:
Normally, Shaikh says, conventions that come to town for company meetings and trainings are busy, but the Republican National Convention isn’t a normal convention.

Omar Shaikh:
There aren’t restricted areas and security and things of this nature. So I would say this is — political conventions are certainly different.

Steven Potter:
Shaikh says he’s also talked to some restaurant owners who decided not to open at all during the week of the convention.

Omar Shaikh:
And they said, “Well, look, I don’t really have a lot of reservations on the books.” So if I don’t have business, if I order a lot of the product, you know, it’s perishable, right? And they don’t do business and they actually lose money.

Steven Potter:
One person keeping a close eye on the economic impact of the RNC is Dale Kooyenga. He’s the president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

Dale Kooyenga:
The Milwaukee brand is known and it’s things like this. It’s like the Bucks, the Brewers, events like this where you could go around the world and people say, “Oh, I know Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”

Steven Potter:
As for the lack of business some spots are seeing during the convention, Kooyenga says…

Dale Kooyenga:
You can’t just look at your four days. You have to look at the longer impact of tourism in Milwaukee.

Steven Potter:
For Shaikh, he may have wanted more of an economic impact from the RNC, but he also understands it’s a long game.

Omar Shaikh:
The greater hope is, like, that everyone that came here from around the world and around the country to say this is an incredible city. I want to return to that city. I want to go back to that restaurant. I want to go back to — stay in that hotel. And hopefully that a lot of people and a lot of organizations will see how great of a city it is that they’ll book large scale conventions here with us.

Frederica Freyberg:
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson welcomed tens of thousands of Republican faithful to his Democratic city. Did it pay off? He joins us now. And mayor, thanks very much for being here.

Cavalier Johnson:
Happy to see you.

Frederica Freyberg:
So we reported on the economic impact of the convention. Did it meet your expectations?

Cavalier Johnson:
Well, as I’ve mentioned, we’re not, you know, in control of economic projections for the convention. What I can tell you is that there were a lot of people, tens of thousands that came to Milwaukee, that stayed at our hotels, that ventured into restaurants, that spent money with local vendors and left a significant amount of money here in our economy. We’ll have to go back and check in with Visit Milwaukee and those other folks to see exactly what the economic impact was. I anticipate that it was pretty hefty though.

Frederica Freyberg:
After Donald Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city,” do you think that had any influence on convention goers?

Cavalier Johnson:
On the convention goers, no. I mean, these are folks that were coming from, you know, far across the country. I don’t know if they paid attention to his comments, like we paid attention to them here. That’s, you know, unfortunately because Donald Trump, Mr. Trump unfortunately has a history of saying these wild, outlandish things. And so people tend to not really pay them much attention, although they should because sometimes some of the things that he says can have a detrimental impact on individuals’ rights, on the direction of the country, and so forth. So things can be outlandish, but that doesn’t mean they’re not important for us to listen to. We certainly listened when he said that Milwaukee was a “horrible city.”

Frederica Freyberg:
So following the rally attack, kind of going back specific to the convention itself, following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, how tense were security considerations in your city now that it’s wound up and maybe we can talk about it a little more?

Cavalier Johnson:
Well, first let me just say that, that attempt, that assassination attempt on Mr. Trump was terrible. That was actually horrible. That should never happen. That is just — there’s no place for that sort of action in our politics at all whatsoever. And after it happened, I did have the opportunity to wish Mr. Trump very well in his recovery, had the chance to speak to him and told him the same thing. So, in terms of individuals being here in Milwaukee, and having the chance to follow up after that incident with security here, we took the opportunity to make sure that the city was safe. And we had an NSSE. That was a designation here. It’s a National Special Security Event in Milwaukee. That’s the highest designation you could possibly get for an event of this magnitude. So by definition, it was a secure event than what the rally was that Mr. Trump held last week Saturday.

Frederica Freyberg:
So there were definitely concerns though and criticisms of so many out of state police officers in the city and on the streets, including those from Ohio, who as you know, shot and killed a man outside the perimeter. What is your response to that shooting?

Cavalier Johnson:
Well, as it relates to the number of officers who were here from out of state, I mean, look, Milwaukee won the Democratic National Convention in 2020. And now, unfortunately, it didn’t pan out because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, had it actually taken place the way that we envisioned, you would have seen the same sort of security footprint with officers coming in from outside the state of Wisconsin, and in from across the country. In terms of the officers from the outside, Milwaukee Police would not have been able to make sure the convention was secure all by themselves and still provide policing services to the balance of the city. So there was a need to bring in officers from the outside. This was a collaboration not just with Milwaukee Police, but with Secret Service and law enforcement agencies from across the country. And I’m thankful for their assistance. It was tragic that, that there was an incident that happened where a man was killed, outside of the security perimeter. The officers from Columbus, Ohio, they were there not in a patrolling, front facing mode. They were actually doing a briefing, a debrief, and one of the officers happened to notice that there was an altercation taking place, noticed that one of the individuals had a knife. Later on, we would find that there were two knives. Officers approached the individual, made numerous commands to drop the weapons, to drop the weapons. That didn’t happen. Instead, the individual lunged in a threatening manner at an unarmed man, and, you know, and possibly could have caused him serious bodily harm or death. And the officers took action. And I’m saddened that life was lost there but I’m also thinking about the individual who possibly could have lost his life. And what’s more is that when I talked to officers, including officers at the local level here, I’m told that any officer in that situation would have taken the exact same action in order to make sure they preserved the life of the unarmed person who was being attacked.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right, we leave it there. Mayor Cavalier Johnson, thanks very much.

Cavalier Johnson:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
Community advocates say the city should be held accountable in the fatal shooting of a man who had been living in a tent less than a mile from the security perimeter during the RNC. The Columbus, Ohio Police Department released body cam footage of its officers shooting and killing Samuel Sharpe as he wielded a knife in an apparent street fight.

Police Officer:
Stop! Drop the knife.

Another Police Officer:
Drop the knife. Drop the knife!

Police Officer:
Please drop your knife.

Another Police Officer:
Drop. Drop the knife now!

[shots being fired]

Frederica Freyberg:
But why were out of state police patrolling city neighborhoods beyond the security zone? Angela Lang from Black Leaders Organizing for Communities calls Sharpe’s death devastating. Angela, thanks very much for being here.

Angela Lang:
Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So you blame the RNC for the death of Samuel Sharpe. Why?

Angela Lang:
I do. I, I fully believe that had the RNC not been hosted in Milwaukee, we wouldn’t have even had those out of state police even over there. And I think there is calls and questions of why they were over there in the first place. And I’ve seen accounts from friends and family members that all have said that if this was a local police officer, it probably would not have resulted in his death because they knew him. And they would be more trained in de-escalation.

Frederica Freyberg:
Have you gotten any answers as to the question as to why those officers were there?

Angela Lang:
I have not. I did see some commentary from law enforcement trying to explain why they were out there. And I know that there was a response that on the last day of the RNC, if there were out of state cops patrolling some of those areas, they would be accompanied with a Milwaukee Police Department officer, which doesn’t quite answer the question. And I don’t think actually really solved or got to the heart of the issues.

Frederica Freyberg:
Just ahead of the convention, there were sweeps downtown of unsheltered people. How did that play into this?

Angela Lang:
Yeah, I mean, I think with any convention, and we had similar concerns if we were to host the DNC about unhoused folks and the additional security. And when you have a large convention or a large event like this, a lot of folks, they want to beautify their city and make it look as attractive as possible. And so a lot of folks were told, I believe, by last week Saturday that they had to find a different place to go. Folks have said that law enforcement did provide resources, but there’s only so many shelters and so many beds that I can imagine it pushed folks to go to other areas, away from maybe where they typically were.

Frederica Freyberg:
Before the convention you said that you felt betrayed by the mayor for, “rolling out the red carpet for people who hate us.” How about now, after the convention?

Angela Lang:
I’m even more betrayed and saddened that this is actually what happened in our city. And there had been years of warnings from community members and residents that said we did not want this hateful language and this hateful party but have also been saying about the increase in law enforcement would have been a concern. And it goes to show what happens when you don’t actually listen to community members and actually listen to our concerns, because unfortunately, now we’re having to deal with this tragedy and losing a Milwaukee community member.

Frederica Freyberg:
In a city that Donald Trump called “horrible,” do you feel like so many eyes on Milwaukee helped show it in a different light?

Angela Lang:
You know, I’m not sure. You know, we’ve seen reports and commentary that some of the folks weren’t, you know, necessarily seeing some of the great, amazing places of Milwaukee. There are restaurants, beloved restaurants and attractions that were closed and didn’t have as many reservations. So I’m curious of how much the participants actually saw of Milwaukee. I hope that they left with a different perspective, but I will say that even tweeting about the shooting that happened and seeing some of the comments in my mentions, I’m not sure if people have any sympathy for Milwaukee. And I think some folks still consider it a place of murder and crime and these terrible stereotypes and statistics.

Frederica Freyberg:
What would you like people to know about the city of Milwaukee?

Angela Lang:
Oh, I want people to know that Milwaukee is an incredibly beautiful and special place. And I say this as a lifelong resident by choice. I chose to live here and to work here. One of my favorite things is the summer, but also the people and the resilience. And that in the face of tragedy, we always find a way to center joy and come together and find a way to make things work, even under really tremendous circumstances.

Frederica Freyberg:
Angela Lang, thanks very much for joining us.

Angela Lang:
Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
Security was always planned to be tight around the convention and the assassination attempt on the eve of it only heightened awareness for the thousands of law enforcement from across the state and nation assigned to the city. Planned protests added to the mix. “Here & Now’s” Steven Potter has this report.

Protesters:
Got to fight back.

Chanter:
We got to do what?

Protesters:
We got to fight back.

Chanter:
We got to do what?

Protesters:
We got to fight back.

Man:
I came here to loudly and proudly oppose the racist and bigoted agenda of the Republican Party.

Steven Potter:
With thousands of delegates, attendees and guests arriving for the first day of the convention

[protesters chanting]

protesters also showed up in Milwaukee to denounce the Republican Party and its policies.

Ranay Blanford:
We’re being led down a dangerous path with the Republican Party. I’m concerned. I’m nervous. I’m a 20-year Army veteran, and I consider the direction that the — our Republican Party is going and, and particularly their nominee Trump is super dangerous and I consider him a bit of a traitor. You know, he’s out for himself. He’s not out for the citizens and that’s what we need.

Steven Potter:
As you can see, there are hundreds, even thousands of protesters here at the Republican National Convention. Many different groups are represented with many different reasons to protest.

Omar Flores:
We’re looking to defend immigrant rights. We’re looking to defend LGBTQ rights. We’re looking to defend reproductive rights as well. I mean, the list could really go on. And they have had attack on civil liberties, on civil rights for too many years now, and we’re here to oppose it.

Steven Potter:
Omar Flores is a lead organizer with the Coalition to March on the RNC. He says that despite the intense heat earlier this week, a wide range of protesters made their voices heard.

Omar Flores:
We’re seeing a lot of folks from the student movement, from the Palestinian movement, from the antiwar movement, and from the movement against police crimes.

Steven Potter:
Flores says that it was no small task to organize the protest, rally and march.

Omar Flores:
It takes a lot of time and a lot of very hard work and honestly, the city did not make it any easier up until recently. You know, we shouldn’t have had to file a lawsuit to get to where we are today.

Steven Potter:
Protest organizers filed a lawsuit in federal court to move their march route closer to where most of the convention activity will be held. They lost in court but came to an agreement with the city to march through downtown and within a block of the convention. Milwaukee resident Jackie Clark says attending the protest was a chance to express her right to free speech.

Jackie Clark:
That’s democracy. That’s America.

Steven Potter:
Another protester thought of the past and worried for the future.

Ray Dall’osto:
And I guess, it’s like the circle has turned and I don’t want the progress that we fought hard, both in our professions and as students and as demonstrators 50 years ago, to be undone. Why? Why?

Steven Potter:
While most who attended the protests were there to show their disgust with the Republican agenda, some counter-protesters also brought their megaphones to Red Arrow Park.

Man with bullhorn:
God can save you right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Steven Potter:
And a handful of Trump supporters also showed up to watch. Milwaukee resident Phillip Reitz wasn’t impressed.

Phillip Reitz:
Well, it’s to be expected. It happens at every convention in every town.

Steven Potter:
Protest organizer Flores says he doesn’t expect Monday’s rally and march to sway any Republicans, but he still thinks protesting serves a purpose.

Omar Flores:
We don’t think that we’re going to be changing any minds, but we do know that we can put the pressure on and make it so politically inconvenient for them to continue with business as usual.

Steven Potter:
Reporting from downtown Milwaukee for “Here & Now,” I’m Steven Potter.

Frederica Freyberg:
In the 2020 election, Donald Trump received just 7% of the Black vote nationwide, which is comparable to what Republican presidential candidates have received dating back to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s. But Republicans in Wisconsin think that’s going to change this fall. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz has this story about the GOP’s Black voter outreach program in Milwaukee.

Zac Schultz:
There are 50,000 visitors in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. But around the secure perimeter, it’s a sea of white, save for people working security or selling Trump merchandise. Inside the Fiserv, the GOP delegates are overwhelmingly white, but Republicans like Bob Spindell say Black voters look back at the first Trump presidency with fondness.

Bob Spindell:
Well, I’ll tell you I’ve been involved in the Black community and I noticed during his time people were happy.

Gerard Randall:
Well, we’re going to have a big splash this election cycle so get ready.

Zac Schultz:
Gerard Randall is first vice chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Gerard Randall:
Well, good afternoon everyone and welcome.

Zac Schultz:
He hosted an event Tuesday at the GOP’s Black Community Center just a few blocks north of the convention, where pictures of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan hang next to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.

Gerard Randall:
We’re really excited for this opportunity to showcase a couple of our really outstanding efforts to extend outreach into the African-American community here in Milwaukee.

Zac Schultz:
The headliner of the event was South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who is promoting the “Opportunity Zones” created in Milwaukee, designed to bring investment to the area.

Tim Scott:
The goal isn’t simply to lift African-Americans out of poverty. The goal is to lift all of Americans out of poverty who are living in poverty. It just so happens that disproportionately African-Americans live in poverty more so than any other demographic in this country.

David Crowley:
I mean, they’re there. They just want to be able to show a presence. It’s not like they’re doing a lot in the entire community.

Zac Schultz:
David Crowley is the Milwaukee County executive and a Democrat. He says the GOP putting a building with a billboard in a Black neighborhood isn’t enough to win Black votes.

David Crowley:
Sometimes folks don’t know how to actually address, you know, Black folks. And we’ve seen, you know, a glad Senator Tim Scott was in a Black neighborhood. But let’s face it, one of the first things he said on the convention floor was that racism doesn’t exist. And whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican and happen to be Black living in one of the most segregated communities in the United States like Milwaukee County, then you have to go, “Uhhh, not quite. Not so fast.”

Zac Schultz:
The Black Conservative Federation held a barbecue later that evening, hoping to draw in and engage potential voters. Turnout was low, but the Reverend Harold Turner showed up, saying he was willing to listen.

Harold Turner:
I always believe that it’s important to know where you come from, and then you possibly can go forward. You need to know your opponents as well. So if the Republican is an opponent, we need to know if a Democrat is doing a lot for us. We need to know that too, and we should hold them accountable to address some of the real needs that we are in diehard of the Black community.

Zac Schultz:
Aside from being an alternate delegate, Bob Spindell is also a Republican appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. After the 2022 election, he sent out an email praising lower turnout in Black neighborhoods in Milwaukee saying, “We can be especially proud of the city of Milwaukee casting 37,000 less votes than cast in the 2018 election, with the major reduction happening in the overwhelmingly Black and Hispanic areas.” Spindell says getting Black people to not vote for Democrats was the first step to voting for Republicans.

Bob Spindell:
Take a look at what the Dems have done for the community over the last 50 years. Nothing has changed. Very little has changed from what the Democrats have been doing.

Zac Schultz:
Democrats called it more evidence of voter suppression.

Gerard Randall:
There was no effort on the part of the Republican Party either nationally, locally or statewide to depress the African-American vote. Voters may have stayed home on their own volition because, frankly, the message just wasn’t resonating with them.

Zac Schultz:
Randall says the proof will come this November, when he says Trump will double his support among Black voters in Wisconsin.

Gerard Randall:
We are going to get better than 15% of the African-American vote statewide here for President Trump.

David Crowley:
I don’t know where he’s getting those numbers from.

Zac Schultz:
Crowley says the RNC will be old news by November, and Black voters remember which party supports their community.

David Crowley:
It’s about investments. You can be here all you want and say, “I support you,” but I tell people all the time, it’s not about being an ally. You know, we needed an accomplice. I need you to be right next to me, with me going down and fighting for the things that directly affect not just me, but affects my family as well.

Frederica Freyberg:
President Joe Biden is off the campaign trail for now with a case of COVID. There was already what’s described as rising anger and panic among many of his supporters about his ability to go on. What must this be like for state party leaders who help deliver Wisconsin to Joe Biden in 2020? We ask Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler, and thanks a lot for being here.

Ben Wikler:
Thanks so much for having me on, Frederica.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what is this like to watch the Republican National Convention with the growing number of Democrats calling for your candidate to step aside?

Ben Wikler:
What’s so striking this week is that the Republican Party has been completely subsumed by MAGA. There’s total unity within the Republican Party leaders around a candidate who selected one of the most outspoken proponents of a 100% national abortion ban as his vice-presidential candidate. There’s unity with people like Eric Hovde around Project 2025, Trump and J.D. Vance, their staffers going out and writing this playbook for not only ripping away access to abortion and emergency contraception, but eliminating the Department of Education, shredding any kind of protections for the environment and climate change. It’s a wholesale plan to kind of repeal the last 50 years of progress in this country. They didn’t talk about it from the convention stage, but they have written down what they want to do. And in this election, it’s a choice between a future where Trump’s vision of being a dictator on day one becomes a reality, or the vision that Biden and Harris have laid out that President Biden laid out in his speech in Detroit right before the RNC, of signing Roe v. Wade into law, of signing the PRO Act so workers can organize and unionize, of expanding Social Security and Medicare. I think I know which future most Wisconsinites and most Americans want.

Frederica Freyberg:
What is your message to Wisconsin voters about Joe Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump with his poll numbers and money slipping?

Ben Wikler:
We’re at a moment where so much conversation in the press and, you know, around the state and around the country, it’s not about whether Democrats want to defeat Donald Trump. It’s about the best way to do it. And what I know from so many conversations is that there’s an enormous level of intensity and focus on making sure that we defeat MAGA this fall, and that President Biden’s vision for the next term is enormously popular in a way that unites Democrats. So I feel like, you know, debates happen, conversations happen. I think Democrats are going to come together. And I think that when we do that, we’re going to reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris and reelect Tammy Baldwin and flip House seats. And I think flip the state Assembly and break the supermajority in the state Senate, because what we are fighting for is much, much more popular than what Republicans are trying to inflict on the country.

Frederica Freyberg:
What do you personally know about Joe Biden’s decision to stay in or step aside?

Ben Wikler:
I was speaking with my friends on the Biden campaign yesterday and others this morning. He is full steam ahead and organizing and working to make sure that this message carries out across the country. And, you know, of course, many people are trying to game out how the whole thing comes together. What we know is that when Democrats speak with one voice about the stakes for voters in their lives, then from President Biden down to local, state legislative candidates, we’re going to defeat MAGA this fall.

Frederica Freyberg:
So regardless of who is at the top of the ticket?

Ben Wikler:
Well, President Biden’s at the top of the ticket and Biden-Harris as a team won Wisconsin last time. We overcame the odds and Democrats won the governor’s race in 2022. We flipped the Supreme Court in the course of 1820 and 2023. And on the ground, we have volunteers going out every week, knocking on tens of thousands of doors, having conversations with voters. Ultimately, voters care about how politics affects their lives. And they know that President Biden isn’t trying to get into their doctor’s offices and override their personal medical decisions. They also have reason to fear J.D. Vance and Donald Trump. J.D. Vance has flirted with the idea of tracking menstrual cycles to figure out whether people are accessing abortion care against the law. Trump has floated the idea of punishing women who access abortions. Those ideas are politically toxic, and we have to defeat them this fall.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right, Ben Wikler, thanks very much.

Ben Wikler:
Thanks so much for having me on.

Frederica Freyberg:
Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde snagged a speaking slot at the convention, but he also sat down with reporter Steven Potter for this interview.

Eric Hovde:
Well, first of all, I think Wisconsin put on a great show for this convention. I’m very proud of our state and the people have been so nice. The weather accommodated all the rest. But look, I’ve been talking about the issues all along. How we need change in our country. We have major problems with our economy. The inflation that’s impacting people’s lives. Our open border, the problems that has created, crime in our communities, our health care system, the cost, the accessibility of our health care system. You know, there was a whole discussion about how the world’s in chaos right now. So I’m just staying focused on the issues.

Steven Potter:
Senator Tammy Baldwin has been tough to beat in the past. Do you expect to get any kind of a bump from the top of the ticket?

Eric Hovde:
Well, right now it looks like President Trump is doing very well. You know, I don’t get caught up in the daily swings and polls, but I think the message that’s come out of the convention has been very favorable. You know, and a message that I’ve been talking about long before what happened this past Saturday is that we need to bring this country together, that the politics of division, personal destruction has been so toxic for our country and, you know, I’ve been saying it and I’ve talked about it in my speech. We need to come together, you know, in the world of business, you’re never going to get much done if you take the path that most politicians do. They just camp themselves in their own party and fight amongst themselves, you know. In the world of business, you have to compromise. That’s become a dirty world — word in politics, which I think is wrong.

Steven Potter:
What issues do you think there can be compromise on between Republicans and Democrats?

Eric Hovde:
Well, let’s start with the fentanyl crisis. I cannot believe Washington, D.C. has really done nothing about this for a decade, and we’re losing 100,000 young people every single year. Fentanyl is created in China. It’s sent to the drug cartels in Mexico, brought up over our southern border. We have to attack it at every single level and how it’s distributed here in our country. So that’s a big one. Look, there’s philosophical differences on health care, but there’s issues we can come together. Drug prices. Look, I have M.S. You know, to see how drug prices have just gone like this in almost every area. That is an area that I think we can find common ground on. So I think you can find common ground with people if you’re willing to sit down and talk with them and engage with them.

Frederica Freyberg:
Did Wisconsinites tune in to the convention? Special projects journalist Murv Seymour went to west central Wisconsin this week to gauge voter interest.

Murv Seymour:
Hundreds of miles from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, patriotism runs high in the La Crosse area. You can tell by the American flag that waves throughout this community in front of homes and on the streets.

Woman:
To be the next vice president of the United States.

Murv Seymour:
With the convention so far away, we had to wonder

Speaker at convention:
Drill, baby, drill.

Michael Eve:
Honestly, I think it’s overkill on the TV.

Murv Seymour:
is anybody out there watching? We made stops at a local park where people told us off camera they know nothing about a convention and didn’t care. Later, they said they identify as Democrats. Just up the road at Viterbo Sports Complex, it’s Little League night. We spoke with just about everyone in the stands behind home plate and along third base line. Many admit they’re Republican and they don’t overly care about the convention and they don’t care to say so on television.

TV Announcer:
Night two of the RNC. Speeches tonight from primary rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

Murv Seymour:
Like everyone else around here, talk of the Republican National Convention tops the local news. Surely a supporter with signs of who they support as nominee will talk. After a knock on the door, they told us, “No thank you. We’re not interested.” Back in La Crosse, across the tracks, below Grandad’s Bluff near Forest Hills Golf Course, right on Main Street, we find Dominic Roswell at Bluffside Tavern, having a drink with a friend. Bluffside has been around for a long time, a really long time. Dominic grew up here. When it comes to voting, he considers himself part of a key voting demographic: the independent voter. When it comes to watching the Republican convention…

Dominic Roswell:
It appeals mostly to the base. I think really that’s where the target audience is is strengthening the base. I don’t know if the independents like me really care much about it.

Murv Seymour:
So no intention at all of keeping up with any of it this week?

Dominic Roswell:
Only because it’s in Wisconsin and everything that’s happened recently with the assassination attempt on Trump.

Murv Seymour:
Way up on Grandad’s Bluff, you can enjoy a $1 million view for free or an enhanced one for less than a dollar.

Michael Eve:
I hope there’s a lot of hoopla for the Republican Party. I myself, I’m not decided yet on who I want to vote for.

Murv Seymour:
We found a viewpoint with granddad Michael Eve, who admits to watching some of the Republican convention. He says he enjoys watching the political analysis more.

Michael Eve:
Because, I mean, these guys, these politicians just go on and on and on and say what you want to hear. And then, reporters in a nutshell say, well, this is what the guy said, you know. So why should I watch hours of them?

Murv Seymour:
Michael and Dominic don’t know each other, but both have the same view on talking politics these days.

Michael Eve:
What turns into like, a nice discussion all of a sudden turns into psssh, you know. They’re at each other’s throat and they don’t talk to each other again, and it’s really not worth it.

Dominic Roswell:
I’m old enough to remember where you could go to parties and be of different political affiliations, and you could still exist at a party and converse with each other. It doesn’t seem that case anymore. People just don’t want to talk about — They, in fact, if they find out that you’re of another party affiliation, you won’t get invited to the party.

Murv Seymour:
Welcome to Fathead Steve’s in downtown La Crosse. We were there during prime-time coverage of the convention and at other bars. What’s showing on TV at Fathead Steve’s? Not the convention.

Ariel Malvitt:
Politics and religion are two topics that just — the conversation can’t be had.

Murv Seymour:
Bartender Ariel Malvitt says from her experience, politics and drinks don’t mix well.

Ariel Malvitt:
It gets a little escalated and it divides people immediately, right? It’s one side or the other. So it’s not, it’s not a healthy conversation at the bar at least.

Murv Seymour:
And from what we could tell, in some cases, outside the bar either. Reporting for “Here & Now,” I’m Murv Seymour.

Frederica Freyberg:
Now that the convention is over, the mandate from Republicans to their delegates is to carry the momentum into the fall. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz has the story of one group trying to do just that, while changing the image of the Republican Party.

Zac Schultz:
Thousands of volunteers are needed to make the Republican National Convention a success. Most of those in red shirts have gray hair, but there are some young people getting their first taste of political organizing, and Republicans are hoping to keep them involved into the fall.

Kyle Schroeder:
I think they see it firsthand and they’re going to be involved. A lot of them, most of them are from Wisconsin. They’re going to be here. They’re going to be knocking on doors, and that’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we do best.

Zac Schultz:
Kyle Schroeder is the chairman of the Wisconsin Young Republicans, a group focused on recruiting, training and electing young conservatives.

Kyle Schroeder:
We are the young professional arm of the Republican Party of Wisconsin here in the state. And that’s where we fit in. And we want to grow the conservative movement for young people because our message resonates directly with them.

Zac Schultz:
The Wisconsin chapter was created in 2017 as the party realized students involved in College Republican groups often didn’t have a political home after graduation.

Nik Rettinger:
People would get involved in College Republicans and kind of trail off and then come back to the GOP in their, like 50s or 60s when they’re upset about property taxes or something like that. And that’s years, decades of lost engagement.

Zac Schultz:
Nik Rettinger represents Mukwonago in the state Assembly and sits on the board of the National Young Republicans. He says they’re not content waiting for middle age to take office.

Nik Rettinger:
A lot of folks like to say we’re the leaders of tomorrow. That’s not the case. We’re leading the way today.

John Beauchamp:
When I was at college, I was the president of the College Republicans at UW-Whitewater.

Zac Schultz:
John Beauchamp is an alternate delegate at the RNC and says without Young Republicans, a lot of people his age might not feel comfortable going to party events.

John Beauchamp:
Let’s face it, a lot of the county parties have a very traditional way of running things, very traditional, structured that the median age of the individuals that are in the county parties tends to be a little older. So the goal with the Young Republicans is to kind of provide a sense of more camaraderie amongst young Americans, young Wisconsinites.

Olivia Kurth:
I’ve been involved with the party since I was very small.

Zac Schultz:
Olivia Kurth comes from a politically active family and is working security at one of the delegate hotels during the convention.

Olivia Kurth:
We are kind of in charge of just being the eyes and ears here.

Zac Schultz:
She’s involved in both College Republicans and Young Republicans, and says the groups provide a safe space for young conservatives to speak their minds.

Olivia Kurth:
In younger groups, you kind of have to test the waters a little bit. You’re like, if I throw out my opinion, is this going to go sour real fast?

Kyle Schroeder:
We have a lot of Illinois implants coming here in Wisconsin, and they moved to Milwaukee, or they moved to Madison and they’re like, are there even conservatives here? There are. It’s the Young Republicans. And if you’re in that 20 to 30 year range, we’re here.

Zac Schultz:
They all plan to be active on the campaign trail this fall. And their experiences at the RNC will help them power through to November.

Olivia Kurth:
The excitement is kind of palpable. In a way, I feel like being a part of this and seeing how much energy and excitement people have for being here and for the party and everything.

John Beauchamp:
And there is nothing quite like being in that room and feeling that energy on the floor of the Republican National Convention. So bringing that energy, bringing a boost back into our communities and into our other grassroots individuals is going to be key for us.

Frederica Freyberg:
Senior political reporter Zac Schultz brought live analysis from Media Row at the convention all week. And tonight wraps it up with our political panelists, Republican Bill McCoshen and Democrat Scot Ross. Zac?

Zac Schultz:
Thanks, Fred. Well, I am back once again. End of the week. Bill McCoshen, Scot Ross. Thanks again for all this week and for today. Let’s start with the big speech last night. Bill, what did you think? Was this Trump’s unity moment? Did he sail it through?

Bill McCoshen:
I think he did what he needed to do as it related to unity. CNN had a focus group of females afterwards, and they thought they heard a different tone from him and they liked it. They responded to it. Personally, I think the speech was too long. It should have been 45, 50 minutes, not 90 minutes. I think he got into rally mode there and that’s a different beast altogether. But I think as far as the unity message, the different tone, I think he was a different man last night. Whatever, whatever happened last Saturday night with the assassination attempt had a pretty profound impact on him.

Zac Schultz:
Scot, did you hear two speeches at once? One with the prompter and one without?

Scot Ross:
What I heard was, you know, I don’t want to say I disliked the speech because the Abraham Lincoln, you know, adage, which is I never heard a short speech I didn’t like because it went on a long time. But what I heard from the speech was, you know, his delivery wasn’t great, but it just, you know, it culminated the most divisive, the most extreme, the most alarming national political convention I think we’ve seen. And again, embodied by the fact that for the first time in American history, a major political party has nominated a convicted felon to be its presidential nominee. That really says something.

Zac Schultz:
Being in the arena last night, we were all there listening to it. What was your reaction of the people listening to it as it went on? Was he losing the audience? Was he losing the crowd as it kind of got into the old, old hits?

Bill McCoshen:
It came and went, right? There were certain lines, bringing back the American Dream that got huge applause. Eliminating the EV mandate got huge applause. There were a lot of those throughout the night, and I think that may have caused him to go off script a few times when he thought that the crowd was a little subdued. I would have preferred he just go with the speech that was in the prompter, and I think that would have been just fine. The good news for us is it was a great convention. I’ve been to five national conventions. My former boss, Tommy Thompson, has been to 12. We both think it’s the best we’ve ever seen. Milwaukee looked great. They showed great. That’s going to lead to more business for Milwaukee and Milwaukee County going forward.

Scot Ross:
I would definitely agree with that. Milwaukee did a terrific job. The facilities were fabulous. You know, they — everybody was courteous. You know, I know there were some incidents and stuff outside of the perimeter.

Bill McCoshen:
We proved we could do this as a state.

Scot Ross:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And you know, so what was going on sort of outside of what was being talked about in Fiserv was good. But what was being talked about in Fiserv, I think was alarming. Some of the biggest lines I heard that got applause was, you know, the attack on Nancy Pelosi, you know, which is, you know, red meat to the base. It’s not under — it’s not unexpected but towards the end, he got into a rant against trans people. That got so much applause and that was really disturbing. And I think you know, it sent the message that I think they wanted to say, which is, again, this is going to be a very divisive person if we put him back in the White House. I think we need to do — in terms of performance, I’ll say this. You know, I think that he kind of yawned through it. You know, it was stumbling and long. And I think in the end, you know, he performed the announcement speech version of Joe Biden’s debate performance.

Bill McCoshen:
Yeah. I think one of the most notable things is he only mentioned Joe Biden by name one time.

Zac Schultz:
And that was an accident.

Bill McCoshen:
In 90 minutes.

Zac Schultz:
He acknowledged it was an accident.

Bill McCoshen:
Well, he sort of walked into it so he had to name him and said, “I won’t name him again tonight” and I think that was smart.

Scot Ross:
Whoa, one mention of Joe Biden. Zero mentions of abortion, which I think was the most telling thing about the night. The thing that he bragged about getting rid of the right to choose and making women second class citizens and he doesn’t say anything about it in the biggest audience he’s going to get.

Zac Schultz:
Well now the attention will shift to Biden. Earlier today, Congressman Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Madison, announced he can no longer support Biden on the ticket, asked for him to step down. Scot, is this all unraveling here in front of us?

Scot Ross:
I don’t know if the word I would use is unraveling. What it is it’s a challenging campaign because when — it’s a — when you’re, when the focus becomes a referendum on your weaknesses, that is a problem. It happened in 2016. It was a referendum on whether or not Clinton should be around still. In 2020, it was a referendum on Trump because of his performance. Now that it’s a referendum on Joe Biden’s age, that’s problematic because he’s not going to get younger. You know, the thing is, is that if the Democrats, you know, if Joe Biden decides he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to be the nominee and steps down, this goes back to focusing on Donald Trump, which I think is great for the Democrats, because they know what they get with Trump. They got 3 million lost jobs. They got, you know, COVID being bungled, you know. And again, Joe Biden’s going to put country first. He always has. I think we can agree with that. He always has put country first. On the other hand, you got Trump. You know you got Trump. Ivanka had 18 new — I’m sorry, if you need to, if you need to — yeah, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to go on that.

Bill McCoshen:
If Dems are in disarray for the next month leading into Chicago, we’re totally good with that. The fact that this guy has — he earned 14 million votes in the primary. Dems cleared the field for him so that he didn’t have a primary with Robert Kennedy, Jr. and now they’re trying to push him off. I mean, so much for democracy.

Zac Schultz:
So we’re going to have a big test coming up because Kamala Harris, the vice president, is coming to Milwaukee on Tuesday. What does that look like? What are you expecting to hear?

Bill McCoshen:
I think she’ll promote the Biden agenda as she has in the past. And if she ends up being the nominee, we’ll see if there’s an open convention, if she can actually win it. I think the Biden agenda is what’s dragging them down. Yeah, Joe Biden’s age is a big negative for them. No question about that. Yes, his debate performance has lingered on for three weeks after, and we’ve never seen that in our lifetime. But I think she’s going to have to answer for those same policies.

Zac Schultz:
Will she be announcing she’s a candidate at that time, or is she still the VP?

Scot Ross:
I’m still waiting for my call, but I don’t know what’s going to happen with that. I have to say, I — you know, again, there’s lots of talk. I mean, you know, it was — there was a buzz, you know, amongst media last night about what is going to happen here. You know, and I have to disagree with Bill. I think it’s going to come back. I do think it’s going to come back to policy. But I think Biden, Biden and Democrats win on that. 16 million jobs created, 21 million more people put on health care. And again, you go back to the Republicans: anti-democracy, anti-abortion, anti-worker, giving $5 trillion in tax breaks to rich people.

Bill McCoshen:
Says the party trying to push their guy out with a backroom deal.

Scot Ross:
He gets to…

Bill McCoshen:
…by the influence peddlers.

Scot Ross:
The president gets to make his own decisions. He will make the decision. And I believe he will put country first.

Zac Schultz:
All right. Just a couple of seconds for each of you. Absolute chaos in Chicago or orderly convention?

Bill McCoshen:
Oh, I’m going to have fun.

Scot Ross:
In Chicago?

Zac Schultz:
Yes.

Scot Ross:
Well, as Nietzsche says, out of chaos comes order.

Zac Schultz:
All right. Bill McCoshen, Scot Ross. Thank you so much. We will be all together in Chicago for the whole week. Can’t wait. Thanks again.

Frederica Freyberg:
Starting August 19, “Here & Now” will be in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention with daily live analysis streamed online at 2 p.m. Daily updates from Wisconsin on our air at 8:30 p.m. and a “Here & Now” one hour special. To view all of our coverage, including web extras from the RNC, visit our web site at PBSwisconsin.org, and then click on the news tab. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.