Here & Now

On the Issues: Trump

Shawn Johnson:
For Democrats and Republicans alike, President Donald Trump himself will either be a winning or wedge issues for voters. The controversial president won Wisconsin in 2016 by fewer than 23,000 votes. Two years later, how much of an impact will the Trump factor have in the state’s U.S. Senate race? Here are the candidates on that subject. First, Leah Vukmir followed by Tammy Baldwin.

Leah Vukmir:
President Trump is succeeding. I don’t want to look for ways to bring him down. I think that when President Trump succeeds, that America succeeds. And his record is showing that he is doing policies that people want and our country is turning around. The economy is turning around. The deregulatory reforms are making a difference. He’s standing up to foreign leaders in a way that people really are thirsting for in leadership and picking Supreme Court and other judicial nominees that adhere to the Constitution. So those are the things that I am focused in on. I’m not looking for ways to bring him down.

Tammy Baldwin:
We saw one set of guilty verdicts in a trial of his former campaign manager and another, his personal lawyer, plead guilty on several counts including two where he directly implicated the president. On the other hand, I would tell you that my approach to the president and I think I had the chance earlier to tell you the story of my first time meeting with him, where I said, I’m going to talk about buy America policies because that’s clearly something that we agree on and we can work together on. And so the bottom line is, if he is proposing something that helps Wisconsin, I’m probably going to work with him. And if he’s proposing something or has done something to harm Wisconsin, I’m going to stand up, just as I always do.

Frederica Freyberg:
As for Donald Trump, is he a help or a hindrance to Leah Vukmir? We know she said she’s all in on Donald Trump and she fully supports his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Baldwin of course does not. But a help or a hindrance?

Shawn Johnson:
I mean I guess if you look at every midterm election, whoever is in control of Congress and the White House can tend to have a tough time of it in the midterms, right? So just from that perspective, no matter if the president is controversial or not, it’s not a great time to be a Republican if that historic pattern holds. You know, as far as Trump, the more — the controversial outspoken figure, I don’t think Vukmir has any choice but to embrace him to some degree. I mean he obviously struck a nerve here a couple years ago and is still, you know, supported by most of the Republican Party.

Laurel White:
I think it’s interesting to note that in the latest poll we got from Marquette University, Trump’s approval rating in Wisconsin has ticked down a little bit. So that could be a little bit of a liability for Vukmir. I think what’s important here is she does need to be reaching out to independent voters as Baldwin does as well, and how those independent voters feel about Trump is incredibly important.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because 54% of independent voters in that poll disapproved of President Trump and again, those independent voters I understand are really key in this midterm election.

Shawn Johnson:
Yeah. And you look for that movement at the end. And movement is shifting away from the president right now.