Nathan Denzin on Trump's Final 2024 Wisconsin Campaign Stops

Frederica Freyberg:
With the election in four days, Wisconsin is the place to be tonight. Both presidential candidates are holding rallies in and around Milwaukee. Donald Trump is scheduled to speak within the hour at the Fiserv Forum downtown. That’s where “Here & Now” reporter Nathan Denzin is and hi Nathan.

Nathan Denzin:
Hi, Fred.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what time is Donald Trump scheduled to take the stage? And who have you been hearing from in that crowd until he does?

Nathan Denzin:
Yeah. So Trump is expected to speak here at about 8:00. But we know with a lot of Trump rallies he can show up late. So probably about 8:30 is realistic. In the meantime, people here have heard from a lot of former and current Wisconsin representatives, former Governors Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker were both here, as were Representatives Bryan Steil, Scott Fitzgerald, Senator Ron Johnson and Senate candidate Eric Hovde. So very Wisconsin specific, not a lot of outside people.

Frederica Freyberg:
What’s the energy like there inside?

Nathan Denzin:
It’s very high. It is very high energy in here. When we came here at about 7 a.m. this morning, there was a line that was already forming and it’s pretty full in here. The second section in here was curtained off initially, but they’ve been opening up that more and more as we’ve gotten closer to the Trump speaking. There is not an empty seat in here, if that seat is available.

Frederica Freyberg:
Why would Donald Trump visit a Democratic stronghold like Milwaukee once again?

Nathan Denzin:
Yeah, so it harkens back to the advice that former Governor Tommy Thompson had given to Republicans in the state, and that is to really hit these areas of Madison and Milwaukee hard. If you look at it, the percentages, it might say that they’re very, very democratic and that’s true. But there’s still a lot of Republican votes in these cities, and they don’t get to see their presidential candidate very often. So Republicans are trying to hit these areas to drive out those voters because, as we know, in a state like Wisconsin, every vote counts.

Frederica Freyberg:
This isn’t the first trip to Wisconsin this week, as we have mentioned. Where else has Trump rallied?

Nathan Denzin:
Yeah. So Trump was also in Green Bay on Wednesday, where he rallied with former legendary Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre. And he really urged his supporters to get out the vote. Here’s what he had to say.

Donald Trump:
With your vote this November, we are going to fire Kamala and we are going to save America. We will cut your taxes, end inflation, slash your prices, raise your wages and bring thousands of factories back to America. And in fact, we’re going to bring a lot of them right back to Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
So we saw him there in his reflective vest as a prop to highlight a comment that Joe Biden had made earlier this week. But it does sure seem, Nathan, like these campaigns are leaving it all on the field in the final days. Can you sense that from the crowd as well?

Nathan Denzin:
Yeah, absolutely. They’re pulling out all the stops here tonight. The music is loud, as you can probably hear behind me. They’ve had the T-shirt cannon out. They really care about this state.

Frederica Freyberg:
In his many visits to Wisconsin, who is Trump hoping to turn out?

Nathan Denzin:
Well, really, he’s hoping to turn out his base here. He’s probably not changing many minds, but at his rally in Green Bay, he was in the BOW counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago, which is a really strong Republican stronghold. And here the WOW counties of Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha are very close. And those have been trending a little bit blue in recent years but it still can be counted on, as you know, a lot of Republican votes that could be coming to Trump. So he’s trying to drive out his base in these last, last hours of the election here in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Nathan Denzin, we really appreciate your reporting from the Fiserv Forum there in Milwaukee with that loud music, the T-shirt cannons and all the rest. Thanks very much for your reporting.

Nathan Denzin:
Thanks, Fred.