Trump Makes Familiar, Unexpected Promises at La Crosse Rally

Frederica Freyberg:
Former president Donald Trump was in La Crosse last night for a town hall event. “Here & Now” reporter Steven Potter was there and has this report.

Crowd:
USA! USA!

Donald Trump:
We love our country. We love our country. No way. It’s amazing and it’s a great country, but we have to take it back.

Steven Potter:
In an uncharacteristically short campaign event of just over 30 minutes, Donald Trump returned to Wisconsin and the city of La Crosse Thursday night to again make his case for the presidency.

Donald Trump:
We’re going to bring it back, and we’re going to make it healthy and beautiful and better than ever.

Steven Potter:
With most arriving early in the morning, thousands stood in long lines outside the La Crosse Center hoping they’d get a seat. Trump superfan Stella Guy arrived a full day early. She was the first person in line.

Stella Guy:
I got here last night about 4 p.m. and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve stayed out all night long and I’m ready to see him today.

Steven Potter:
What about his political stance and specific issues do you support?

Stella Guy:
The wall being built, he — bring our taxes down, help our economy out. I mean, he’s just for everything.

Steven Potter:
These were issues that also resonated with Onalaska resident Sharyl Huskamp.

Sharyl Huskamp:
I’m against what happened at the border. I’m — we need our economy to turn around. And it doesn’t look like the Democrats are going to do that. Our country needs to run as a business, pay our bills, pay our debt, take care of American people first.

Steven Potter:
In all, more than 7,000 attendees made it into the arena. Unlike other Trump campaign rallies, yesterday’s event was billed as a town hall where he was joined on stage by a moderator and took questions from pre-selected crowd members.

Male audience member:
What’s your plan to make life more affordable and bring down inflation for someone like me?

Donald Trump:
It’s probably the question I get most. You know, they say you’re going to vote with your stomach. I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but it’s a little bit true. And groceries, food has gone up at levels that nobody’s ever seen before.

Steven Potter:
Another of only a handful of questions asked Thursday night was about immigration.

Female audience member:
My concern is that illegal immigration is threatening opportunities for my children. I worry that it’s taking away jobs from Americans. I’m wondering what will you do about that?

Steven Potter:
Though he didn’t get into specifics, Trump ultimately said he would find a way to fix immigration issues.

Donald Trump:
They’re pouring in at levels never seen before. They’re coming in by millions and millions, and a lot of them are taking the jobs for the Black population, the Hispanic population and unions are going to be very badly affected.

Steven Potter:
And he made more promises.

Donald Trump:
So we’re going to win this election. We’re going to turn this country around. We’re going to become an unbelievable growth country. And your boy is going to have the greatest job.

Steven Potter:
Democrats said not to believe any of it and urged voters to vote for Trump’s opponent.

Sara Rodriquez:
Kamala Harris is the only one in this race to put forward a plan that would actually lower costs for working families.

Steven Potter:
In the heart of a Democratic city in a swing state, Trump also made an eyebrow-raising promise to cover the cost of in vitro fertilization.

Donald Trump:
The government is going to pay for it, or we’re going to get or mandate your insurance company to pay for it, which is going to be great. We’re going to do that.

Steven Potter:
With that, Trump’s short campaign stop made big government waves with the announcement that in vitro fertilization would be funded by taxpayers, or a mandate on private insurance to cover it, something that Democrats called “unserious.” Reporting from La Crosse for “Here & Now,” I’m Steven Potter.