The following program is a PBS
Wisconsin original production.
You're watching Here and Now,
2024 election coverage.
Madam Secretary,
the great state of Wisconsin proudly
casts all of
its 41 votes for
Donald J.
Trump.
The Republican National Convention
is a wrap.
I'm Frederica Freiberg.
Tonight we bring all the local
coverage of the event that put
Milwaukee on the national stage.
It's here and now for July 19th.
Funding for Here and Now is provided
by the Focus Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
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 and now, senior political
reporter Zach Schultz was on the
ground all week and kicks off
our coverage tonight.
The culmination of every convention
is Thursday night, when the nominee
takes the stage and basks
in the adoration of the party
faithful. Thank you very much.
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.
Thank you for sparing the life of
our presidents, Donald J.
Trump. And Trump agreed.
I felt very safe because
I had God
on my side.
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.
For a split second, I mean, 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.
UW-La Crosse professor Christina
LaPlante saw the shooting on
TV and canceled a trip with
her students who planned to survey
delegates for a class on political
parties.
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 student
safety, is the political violence
going to escalate at the RNC?
Monday morning, the message from
Republicans was one of unity.
This is a moment to rise above
their behavior
and realize it is our task.
To save and preserve this nation.
But later that evening, on the main
stage, Johnson was back to calling
Democrats a threat to the nation.
Are a clear and present danger to
America.
And the unity referred to the
Republican Party unifying around
Trump.
We have the greatest opportunity
I have ever seen for
a Republican victory.
Democrats hope 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 PolicyFest 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. 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.
He wasn't the only one talking that
way. Former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich told the Wisconsin
delegation the same thing.
We were right at the brink of
falling apart as a country and
potentially drifting towards a civil
war.
Other Republicans tried to turn down
the rhetoric.
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. Trump's speech was supposed to
focus on unity.
We unite this evening more
determined than ever.
But there were times when the
teleprompter didn't move as Trump
went off script and returned to his
favorite topics.
Grazie, Nancy Pelosi, the whole
thing, just boom, boom,
He did find time to pander to the
home state 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!
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.
And quite simply put,
we will very quickly
make America
great again.
The balloons dropped and the 2024
Republican National Convention came
to an end.
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.
Yeah, I'm a little exhausted,
but I have to tell you, I
am so proud of Milwaukee.
I'm so proud to 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, I have a
native here.
I'm Homer.
So I, wanted this to be
good for the state, for the
city of Milwaukee And
it was the security considerations
where 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 that I, 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.
Yeah, super high praise.
So a month ago, could you ever have
foreseen everything that has
happened in this race for president?
I said at a 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 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 debates were within
90 minutes,
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 that 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 it off for us having
a successful convention.
I think by any account
It's really, we'll
be talking about it for years.
What's your comment on Wisconsin
congressman, Democrat Mark Pocan,
telling Joe Biden it's time to pass
the torch?
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.
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
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 been an amazing
moment.
What would be your reaction to, say,
Vice President Kamala Harris at
the top of the ticket?
Right, so I have been
saying about the vice presidential
potential, vice presidential
debate between her and JD Vance,
that if people see me
walking down the streets of
Wisconsin with a folding table,
it's because I'm gonna 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.
You know, on every primary
and caucus is
a sitting four-year incumbent
where now well
over 70 percent of the people say
he shouldn't be running.
The difficulty is Vice President
Harris's numbers are
very, very similar.
So, they don't really
get some huge advantage.
Brian Shemin, we leave it there.
Thanks so much for your time.
Thanks for having me.
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 Stephen Potter reports, while
some businesses made out, others
fell flat.
For some, the restaurant business
this week in Milwaukee has
been booming.
From the minute we opened our doors
yesterday all the way
through, we have been slammed
busy. We have been packed full.
For Marla Poytinger, from the new
fashion 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.
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.
But for others who are further away
from the convention activity,
business has been significantly
different and disappointing.
Well, we've been hearing people
haven't been coming down
because the restaurants are not
getting enough business.
It seems like where just
so many events going on
just were also kind of on the
outskirts of where everything's
taking place.
So I mean, people sometimes seems
like they're forgetting the little
local spots.
We had extra
staff on ready standby,
but we've actually called off.
Few people here and there just
because numbers have not been
what we expected.
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.
I think originally the thought
was it would be $200 million in
economic impact.
In steakhouse carnivores,
says business at his restaurant has
been slower than he'd like.
Not crazy by any means, not really
overly busy.
Normally, Sheik says, conventions
that come to town for company
meetings and trainings are busy,
but the Republican National
Convention isn't a normal
convention.
There aren't restricted areas and
security and things of this nature.
So I would say this is, political
conventions are certainly different.
Sheik says he's also talked to some
restaurant owners who decided not to
open at all during the week of the
convention.
And they said, 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,
it's perishable, right?
And they don't do business, then
they actually lose money.
One person keeping a close eye on
the economic impact of the RNC
is Dale Coyenga.
He's the president of the
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association
of Commerce.
The Milwaukee brand is known.
And it's things like this, it's like
the Box to Brewers, events like
this where you could go around the
world and people say, oh, I
know Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
As for the lack of business some
spots are seeing during the
convention, Koyanga says
You can't just look at your four
days. You have to look at the
longer.
Impact of tourism in Milwaukee.
For Sheik, he may have wanted more
of an economic impact from the RNC,
but he also understands it's
a long game.
The greater hope is that
everyone that came here from around
the world and around the country to
say this is an incredible city.
I wanna return to that city, I wanna
go back to that restaurant, I wanna
stay in that hotel.
And hopefully that a lot of people
and a lot organizations will see
how great of a city it is that
they'll book large scale conventions
here with us.
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.
Happy to see you.
So we reported on the economic
impact of the convention.
Did it meet your expectations?
Well, as I mentioned, we're not
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 our hotels, that
ventured into restaurants,
that spent money with local vendors
and left a significant amount
of money here and 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.
After Donald Trump called Milwaukee
a horrible city, do you think
that had any influence on convention
goers?
On the convention goers, no,
I mean, these are folks that were
coming from 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.
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?
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 in.
Having a chance to follow up after
that incident, with
security here, we took the
opportunity to make sure that this
city was safe.
And we had an NSSC, 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.
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?
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
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.
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.
Notice that one of individuals had a
knife.
Later on, we will find that there
were two knives.
Officers approached the individual,
made numerous commands to drop the
weapons, to drop weapons.
That didn't happen instead.
Um the individual lunged
in a threatening manner at an
unarmed man and you
know and and and possibly could have
caused him a serious bodily harm or
death and the ox and the officers
took action and i'm saddened
that uh life was lost uh
there but i'm also uh
thinking about the individual who
possibly could have lost his life
and what's more is that when i talk
to officers um including law
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.
Alright, we leave it there,
Mayor Cavalier-Johnson, thanks
very much.
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 Sharp as he wielded
a knife in an apparent street
fight.
Stop!
Drop the knife!
Drop your knife!
Drop the Knife!
Police! Drop your Knife!!
Drop! Drop Your Knife Now!
But why were out-of-state police
patrolling city neighborhoods beyond
the security zone?
Angela Lange from Black Leaders
Organizing for Communities calls
Sharpe's death devastating.
Angela, thanks very much for being
here.
Thanks for having me.
So you blame the RNC
for the death of Samuel
Sharp. Why?
I do.
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.
Have you gotten any answers as
to the question as to why those
officers were there?
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 the
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.
Just ahead of the convention there
were sweeps downtown of unsheltered
people. How did that play into this?
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 folks were told I believe
by last week's 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.
Now, before the convention, you said
that you felt betrayed by
the mayor for, quote, rolling
out the red carpet for people
who hate us.
How about now after the convention?
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 hate full
party, but had 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.
In a city that Donald Trump
called horrible,
do you feel like so many eyes on
Milwaukee helped show it in
a different light?
You know, I'm not sure.
You know we've seen reports
and commentary that
some of the folks weren't
necessarily seeing some of
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.
Um 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 um have
any sympathy for Milwaukee and I
think some folks still can see
consider it a place of
murder and crime in these terrible
stereotypes and Thanks for watching,
and I'll see you in the next one.
What would you like people to know
about the city of Milwaukee?
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 and 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.
Angela Lang, thanks very much for
joining us.
Thanks for having me.
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 and now, Stephen
Potter has this report.
We've got to do what?
We've gotta fight back!
I came here to loudly and
proudly oppose the racist
and bigoted agenda of
the Republican Party.
With thousands of delegates,
attendees, and guests arriving for
the first day of the convention,
N-N-NATO RACIST U.S.
Protesters also showed up in
Milwaukee to denounce the Republican
Party and its policies.
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
our Republican Party is going,
and particularly their nominee,
Trump,
is super dangerous.
And I consider him a bit of a
traitor. He's out for himself.
He's not out for the citizens, and
that's what we need.
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.
We're looking to defend immigrant
rights, we're looking to defend
LGBTQ rights, we're look 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, all for
too many years now, and we're here
to oppose it.
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.
We're seeing a lot of folks from the
student movement, from the
Palestinian movement, from the
anti-war movement, and from the
movement against police crimes.
Flores says that it was no small
task to organize the protest,
rally, and march.
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.
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.
That's democracy.
That's America.
Another protester thought of the
past and worried for the future.
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?
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.
God can save you right here
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And a handful of Trump supporters
also showed up to watch.
Milwaukee resident Philip Reitz
wasn't impressed.
Well, that's to be expected.
It happens at every convention in
every town.
Protest organizer Flores says
he doesn't expect Monday's rally in
March to sway any Republicans,
but he still thinks protesting
serves a purpose.
We don't think that we're gonna 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.
Reporting from downtown Milwaukee,
for Here and Now, I'm Stephen
Potter.
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
Acts in the 1960s.
But Republicans in Wisconsin think
that's going to change this fall.
Here and now senior political
reporter Zach Schultz has this story
about the GOP's voter
outreach program in Milwaukee.
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 Spindel
say black voters look back at the
first Trump presidency with
fondness.
Well, I'll tell you, I've been
involved in the black community,
and I noticed during his time,
people were happy.
Well, we're going to have a big
splash this election cycle.
So get ready.
Gerard Randall is first vice
chairman of the Republican Party of
Wisconsin.
Well, good afternoon, everyone, and
welcome.
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.
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.
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.
That 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.
I mean, they're there.
They just want to be able to show a
presence. It's not like they are
doing a lot in the entire community.
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.
Sometimes folks don't know
how to actually address black
folks. We've seen 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 most segregated
communities in the United States,
like Milwaukee County, then you
have to go, not quite,
not so fast.
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.
I would 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 if the Democrat is
doing a lot for us, we need know
that too. And we should hold them
accountable to address
some of the real needs that
we are in heart
of the black community.
Aside from being an alternate
delegate, Bob Spindel is
also a Republican appointee to
the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
After the 2022 election,
he sent out an email praising lower
turnouts 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 a major reduction
happening in the overwhelmingly
black and Hispanic areas.
Spindel says getting black people to
not vote for Democrats was the
first step to voting for
Republicans.
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.
Democrats called it more evidence of
voter suppression.
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.
Randall says the proof will come
this November, when he says Trump
will double his support among black
voters in Wisconsin.
We're going to get better than 15%
of the African-American votes
statewide here for President Trump.
I don't know where he's getting
those numbers from.
Crowley says the RNC will be
old news by November,
and black voters remember which
party supports their community.
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 need to accomplish.
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.
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 helped deliver
Wisconsin to Joe Biden in
2020?
We asked Democratic Party of
Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wickler, and
thanks a lot for being here.
Thanks so much for having me out,
Farika.
So what is this like to watch the
Republican National Convention with
the growing number of Democrats
calling for your candidate
to step aside?
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 100%
national abortion ban as his vice
presidential candidate.
There's unity with people like Eric
Hovde around Project 2025.
Trump and JD Vance, they're
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 vs.
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.
What is your message to Wisconsin
voters about Joe Biden's
ability to beat Donald Trump
with his poll numbers
and money slipping?
We're in a moment where so much
conversation in the press and around
the state and around 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 a 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 super majority 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.
What do you personally know about
Joe Biden's decision to
stay in or step aside?
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 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.
So regardless of who is at
the top of the ticket.
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 JD
Vance and Donald Trump.
JD Vant 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 punishing
women who access abortions.
Those ideas are politically toxic,
and we have to defeat them this
fall.
All right, Ben Wickler, thanks very
much.
Thanks so much for having me on.
Wisconsin Republican U.S.
Senate candidate Eric Hovde snagged
a speaking slot at the convention,
but he also sat down with reporter
Stephen Potter for this interview.
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 healthcare system,
the cost, the accessibility
of our healthcare system.
You know, there was a whole
discussion about how the world,
the world's in chaos right now.
So I'm just staying focused on
on the issues.
This Sir Tami 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?
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.
The politics of division, personal
destruction has been so
toxic for our country and
you
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 gonna 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 word of business you
have to compromise.
That's become a dirty word in
politics, which I think is wrong.
What issues do you think there can
be a compromise on between
Republicans and Democrats?
Let's start with the fentanyl
crisis.
I cannot believe Washington DC
has really done nothing about this
for a decade and we're losing
a hundred thousand 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 tack 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
MS, 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.
Did Wisconsinites tune in to
the convention?
Special Projects journalist Merv
Seymour went to West Central
Wisconsin this week to gage
voter interest.
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.
To be the next Vice President
of the United States.
With the convention so far away,
we had to wonder.
Drill, baby, drill.
Honestly, I think it's overkill on
the TV.
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 a long third baseline.
Many admit they're Republican, and
they don't overly care about the
convention, and they do not care
to say so on television.
Night 2 of the RNC.
Speeches tonight from primary rivals
Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
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 on La Crosse, across the tracks
below Grand Dance Bluff near Forest
Hills Golf Course right on Main
Street, we find Dominic
Roswell at Bluffside Tavern having
a drink with a friend.
Bluffsite 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...
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.
So no intention at all of keeping up
with the video this week.
Only because it's from Wisconsin,
I know everything that's happened
recently with the
assassination attempt on Trump.
Way up on Grandad's Bluff,
you can enjoy a million dollar view
for free, or an enhanced
one for less than a dollar.
I hope there's a lot of hoopla for
the Republican Party.
I myself am not decided
yet on who I want to vote for.
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.
Because these politicians just
go on and on and say what you want
to hear.
And then reporters in a nutshell
said, well, this is what the guy
said.
So why should I watch hours of them?
Michael and Dominic don't know each
other, but both have the same
view on talking politics these days.
Discussion, all of a sudden turns
into, 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.
I'm old enough to remember where you
could go to parties and be at
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
it. In fact, if they find out that
you're of another party affiliation,
you won't get invited to the party.
Welcome to Fathead Steves in
downtown La Crosse.
We were there during primetime
coverage of the convention and at
other bars.
What's showing on TV at Fathead
Steeves?
Not the convention.
Politics and religion are two
topics that just the
conversation can't be had.
Bartender Arielle Malvitt says from
her experience, politics
and drinks don't mix well.
It gets a little escalated and
it divides people immediately,
right? It's one side or the other,
so it's not a healthy
conversation, at the bar
at least.
And from what we could tell, in some
cases, outside the bar
either.
Reporting for Here and Now, I'm
Merv Seymour.
Now that the convention is over,
the mandate from Republicans to
their delegates is to carry
the momentum into the fall.
Here and now senior political
reporter Zach Schultz has the
story of one group trying to do just
that, while changing the
image of the Republican party.
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.
I think they see it firsthand and
they're gonna be involved.
A lot of them, most of them are from
Wisconsin.
They're gonna here, they're going to
be knocking on doors and that's what
we're gonna do. That's what do best.
Kyle Schrader is the chairman of the
Wisconsin Young Republicans,
a group focused on recruiting,
training and electing young
conservatives.
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.
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.
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.
Nick Redinger represents McWanago
in the state assembly and sits on
the board of the National Young
Republicans.
He says they're not content waiting
for middle-aged to take office.
A lot of folks like to say we're the
leaders of tomorrow.
That's not the case.
We're leading the way today.
When I was at college, I was the
president of the College Republicans
at UW-Whitewater.
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.
Let's face it, a lot of the county
parties have a very traditional way
of running things.
Very traditional structure.
The median age of the
individuals that are in the county
party 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.
I've been involved with the party
since I was very small.
Olivia Kurth comes from a
politically active family and is
working security at one of the
delegate hotels during the
convention.
We are kind of in charge of just
being the eyes and ears here.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
gonna be key for us.
Senior political reporter Zach
Schultz brought live analysis from
Media Row at the convention all week
and tonight wraps it up
with our political panelists,
Republican Bill McCoshin and
Democrat Scott Ross.
Thanks Fred.
Well, I am back once again.
End of the week. Bill McCaush and
Scott Ross. Thanks again for all
this weekend 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?
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 you 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 happened last
Saturday night with the
assassination attempt had a pretty
profound impact on him.
Scott, did you hear two speeches at
once? One with the prompter and one
without?
What I heard was,
you know, I don't want to say I
disliked the speech because the
Abraham Lincoln 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, his delivery wasn't great,
but it just culminated
the most divisive, the most
extreme, the more 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.
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 loosing the crowd as it kind
of got into the old hits?
Uh, it came and went, right?
There were certain lines, uh,
bringing back the American dream
that, uh...
Got huge applause.
Uh, eliminating the E.V.
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.
Um, I would have preferred he just
go with the speech that was in the
prompter, and I would 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 gonna lead to more business
for Milwaukee and Milwaukee County
going forward.
I would definitely agree with that.
Milwaukee.
Did a terrific job.
The facilities were fabulous.
Everybody was courteous.
I know there were some incidents and
stuff outside of the apartment.
Well, we probably could do this as a
state. Exactly.
Exactly.
So what was going on sort
of outside of what was being talked
about in Fiserv was good, but what
was talked about in Fyserv I think
was alarming.
Some of the biggest lines I heard
that got applause was the attack
on Nancy Pelosi.
You know, which is, you know red
meat, 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 and that got so
much applause and that was really
disturbing. I think, you now, it
sent the message that I think they
wanted to say, which is again, this
is gonna 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,
I think that he kind of yawned
through it. It was stumbling
and long, and I think in the end,
he performed the announcement
speech version of Joe Biden's debate
performance.
I think one of the most notable
things is he only mentioned Joe
Biden by name one time.
And that was an accident.
In 90 minutes.
He acknowledged it was an accident.
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.
I'm sorry.
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 gonna get.
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. Scott, is this all
unraveling here in front of us?
I don't know if the word I would use
is unraveling.
What it is is it's a challenging
campaign because 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 referendum on Joe
Biden's age, that's problematic
because he's not gonna get younger.
You know, the thing is, is that if
the Democrats, If Joe
Biden decides 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 three million lost jobs.
They got COVID being bungled.
And again, Joe Biden's going to put
country first.
He always has. I think we can agree
with that. He always is put
country-first.
On the other hand, you got Trump,
you know, you've got Trump.
Ivanka had 18 new, I'm sorry,
if you need to, yeah, I am
ready to go on that.
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.
So we're gonna have a big test
coming up because Kamala Harris, the
Vice President's coming to Milwaukee
on Tuesday.
What does that look like?
What are you expecting to hear?
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 he's gonna have to
answer for those same policies.
Will she be announcing she's a
candidate at that time or she's
still the VP?
Still waiting for my call, but I
don't know what's going to happen
with that. I have to say, 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 is going to
come to policy, but I think 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.
An anti-worker given $5
trillion in tax breaks to rich
people.
Says the party trying to push their
guy out with a backroom deal he gets
to do by the influence
The president gets to
make his own decisions.
He will make the decision and I
believe he will put country first.
All right, just a couple seconds for
each of you.
Absolute chaos in Chicago or orderly
convention?
Oh, I'm going to have fun.
In Chicago?
Well, as Nietzsche said,
says out of chaos comes order.
All right, Bill McCaushan, Scott
Ross, thank you so much.
We will be all together in Chicago
for the whole week.
Can't wait. Thanks again.
Starting August 19, Here
and 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 and now one hour
special.
To view all of our coverage,
including web extras from the
RNC, visit our website
at pbswisconsin.org
and then click on the news tab.
That's our program for tonight.
I'm Frederica Freiburg.
Have a good weekend.
Funding for Here and Now is provided
by the Focus Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin.