Here & Now

Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Milwaukee and the 2024 RNC

Frederica Freyberg:

In an interview with WISN in Milwaukee, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said former president Donald Trump called him last week, pressuring him again to decertify Wisconsin’s 2020 election after the state high court ruled absentee ballot boxes are illegal. Vos says he, once again, told Trump, decertifying is not legally possible, and that the court ruling doesn’t reach back, but forward. Trump subsequently posted on social media: The Democrats would like to sincerely thank Robin and all of his fellow Republicans In Name Onlys for letting them get away with murder. That’s who could be coming to Milwaukee for the 2024 Republican National Convention, after the city got the nod over Nashville for the event. The Republican Convention represents an economic windfall for Milwaukee and Wisconsin. We check in with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson for his reaction. And thanks for being here, mayor.

Cavalier Johnson:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what is your reaction to the news that Milwaukee is almost certainly a lock for the RNC convention in 2024?

Cavalier Johnson:

Well, as I’ve been saying for weeks and months perhaps, even, I think this is a win for Milwaukee for a host of reasons. One, winning the second presidential nominating contest in as many presidential cycles just shows the fact that people are starting to pay attention to Milwaukee, but of course we didn’t have the opportunity to fully execute the Democratic National Convention. Now we’re having the opportunity to execute the Republican National Convention. And when convention goers come here, when an event actually happens, I think it will open up the eyes of the country and the world to this best-kept secret in the Midwest that is Milwaukee. It will generate opportunities — I’m sorry.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of financial windfall does it represent?

Cavalier Johnson:

Certainly millions of dollars of economic impact. You’ll have tens of thousands of individuals who descend upon Milwaukee, staying at our hotels, eating at our restaurants, so it will be a boon to our convention as well as our tourism industry here in Milwaukee, putting money into the pockets of people who have been mostly battered over the course of the last two years due to the pandemic.

Frederica Freyberg:

Is the infrastructure still in place from the planned DNC convention of which you just spoke though that was mostly remote?

Cavalier Johnson:

Yeah, there were plans obviously for it to be in person before it turned to be a remote-mostly event, but the police department did all of its planning for the event. I feel they’re still in a strong position to be able to work with the plans that they put in place, build off of those for 2024 to have a safe event. Obviously, we’ve expanded our capacity for hotel space since 2020, and we’ll continue to do so leading up until 2024 as well. We’re in a really good spot to host the convention.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you’re a Democrat and mayor in a democratic city that won the state for Joe Biden in 2020. Do you have misgivings about highlighting the other side of the aisle, especially in these extraordinary contentious times?

Cavalier Johnson:

No, look, I am a Democrat, and proudly so, and I campaigned very hard for Joe Biden to win the presidency in 2020 and will do so again in 2024, when he runs for re-election. This is a thing. We can be opposing parties but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to be welcoming. We can put on a great convention. Bring on, again, the eyes of the country, the eyes of the world to Milwaukee, to move Milwaukee from best-kept secret status to known commodity and a place where people want to go and do business category, having millions of dollars invested into our local economy, providing resources to thousands of workers in our tourism and hospitality industry, and still keep our principles. The Republican National Convention coming here presents Democrats here in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin with the largest stage in the world to combat the platform of the Republican Party. So I am a Democrat. I will continue to hold democratic principles, democratic values, and I’m going to campaign for Joe Biden to win re-election in 2024. That doesn’t change a thing.

Frederica Freyberg:

What if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, what will that be like for you?

Cavalier Johnson:

If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, and I don’t know if Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee or not, that doesn’t change anything. I think that President Joe Biden has proven to not just residents of the state of Wisconsin, which he won, but to citizens across the United States that he is the person to lead the country. He characterized his campaign about the soul of America. And it was against Donald Trump. And obviously he was victorious in that election as well. This same thing will stand to hold true in the 2024 election. And so I’ll be campaigning with the president, with President Joe Biden, on that same basis, and I believe that we’ll have the same result we had in 2020, which is Joe Biden victorious in the presidential election and were Donald Trump to be the nominee, another loss.

Frederica Freyberg:

I know that there is one more vote to secure for sure the convention, and I believe that’s in early August. Do you expect that vote to also give to Milwaukee?

Cavalier Johnson:

I do.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Good news. Mayor, thank you very much for joining us and congratulations on getting the convention.

Cavalier Johnson:

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Frederica, for having me.