you are permitted to record this press call. This press call may be recorded.
They oversee the notification when you signed in saying you may not, but you may.
This is on the record. This call may be recorded. And also to our panelists.
Well, you're not speaking. Could you please mute your microphone?
It's preventing any background or any feedback. That would be an ideal. Thank you.
All righty. We'll go ahead and begin. All right. I'll go ahead and hit the record button and
Chairman and Senator, could you please unmute your microphones when you're not speaking?
We are getting some feedback issues that is interrupting some of the audio. So there we go.
That should hopefully resolve it. Okay.
All right. Well then, I'll just go ahead and hit the record button.
Recording in progress.
Room three, two. Good morning, everyone. And happy Wednesday to you all. Welcome to today's
press call hosted by the Republican Party of Wisconsin. I'm Matt Fisher,
Communications Director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. And joining us today are
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, Congressman Tom Tiffany, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin,
Brian Schimming. I'd like to thank you all for joining us on this morning's press call to discuss
the abysmal record and extreme agenda of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. And why voters deserve better
than four more years of failure. We look forward to taking a few questions as time
allows at the end. As a reminder, everything on this call today is on the record and may be
recorded. Again, everything is on the record and may be recorded. Now, I'll turn the call
over to Senator Ron Johnson. Senator Richard, I'll meet your microphone. Thank you for joining us today.
Well, Matt, and thank everybody for being on this call. I think my reaction to Vice President
Harris naming Governor Tim Walz as her VP running mate, it was just an in-your-face selection.
This is a tag team now that is probably the most radical left
nominees for president and vice president in U.S. history. They are pretty well counting on the
mainstream media, by the way, covering up their radical leftist agenda. But I think most Americans
are suffering under those policies, under that ideology. And hopefully, they won't be able to
get away with the subterfuge. When you take a look at what the Biden administration, what his radical
left policies have done to ordinary Wisconsinites, ordinary Americans, it's literally astounding.
The fact that President Biden and Vice President Harris as borders are, and let's face it, the
mainstream media crowned her borders are, before now they're saying she really wasn't the borders are,
that open border has flooded America with millions of illegal immigrants. We don't know who these
people are. It's obviously concerned people like FBI Director Ray. All the alarms are flashing in
terms of international terrorism. It's a clear and present danger to this nation. It's also going
to cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. I saw one estimate in a news article, more than
400 billion dollars since this border has been opened up. We will be feeling the repercussions
of the open border policy for years if not decades to come. In terms of human trafficking,
sex trafficking, drug trafficking, they've allowed members of some of those brutal gangs in central
and South America into this country. That's the type of crime, the migrant crime that we're
starting to see as well. Again, the open border policy is a catastrophe. It's a clear and present
danger to this nation. The massive deaths of spending to support their radical left agenda.
That's what sparked four-year high inflation. That's why a dollar you held and started the
Biden administration is out only with 83 cents. That's why people can't afford things. That damage
has been done. Even though inflation rates are down, the damage of their massive deaths of spending
has already been done. Then, throw on top of that, the fact that they are engaged in this war on fossil
fuel. We're not using our God-given energy resources to accept what we should. We are artificially
driving up the cost of power. You need power to have a strong economy to create good-paying jobs.
That also is tying into the fact that people can't afford things across the board. Every
policy that the Biden-Harris administration have implemented, have imposed on Americans and
Wisconsinites, have weakened this country. When Americans are weak, the worlds are more dangerous
place. Our adversaries notice that. That's why you have Vladimir Putin taking advantage of
the situation in the Ukraine. While you have Iran boldly sponsoring Hezbollah, the Houthis,
and Hamas, and allowing the butchering of those Israeli citizens on October 7th.
Again, the world is in flames because the weakness of this administration,
and if there's a seminal event, it was the embarrassing and dangerous surrender in Afghanistan
which signaled to the world that America is in retreat, and it's their time to move.
So, across the board, Democrat policies are destroying this country. They put us on a path
of destruction, and I just hope the American people can see past the filter, the censorship,
the bias of the mainstream media to take a look at what the radical left agenda of Vice President
Harris and Governor Tim Walsh would mean in terms of continuation of the destructive policy.
So, again, I'm happy to answer any questions, but I'll turn it back over to Matt.
Thank you, Senator Johnson. I appreciate it. It's for the sake of feedback. If you can mute
your mic so we can guarantee there's no issues there. I appreciate it again.
Congressman Tiffany, thank you again for joining us this morning. The floor is yours, or I should
say the car is yours. I appreciate you joining us. It's great to have you on today.
Yeah, it's really good. It's really good to all hear to
in the Vice President here. First, consequence, consequential. As for President,
she made a decision to Tim Walsh, a great district of Republicans, but she probably lost with
him. When you think about the Western Wisconsin, they're in the 20th media market. I grew up.
We knew more. Listen, St. Paul, we did. We knew a lot. Those people in the district have gone
in Minnesota under Tim Walsh. To think about my district of the whole state of South
Alberta. The people in Hudson, Minneapolis, and for years,
St. Croix County has been set up early from the 20th as a result of time policy in cities. We have
not been in the same way. Then thirdly, I hope you're stuck in our future,
debaupt in Minnesota under governor. Over $2 million in the tax payer in Florida, and
that's Tim. Senator, exactly. Vice President, doubling down crazy, doubling down the
progress and the senior ruling cities, the San Francisco, which is where it comes from. Tim
Walsh plays where they've destroyed the full city here in America. They're doubling down crazy,
and we are going to be in Wisconsin as well, especially in Wisconsin, just gained a whole
with the decision that Kamala had for her vice nominee. I turn it back.
Thank you, Congressman. And next up, Sharon Ryan Schimming. Thank you for joining us this morning.
The floor is yours. Yeah, thanks, Matt. And thanks, Senator Johnson and Congressman
Tiffany. Look, a couple of different things there and pick up on what the congressman said. For those
of you who are familiar with Western Wisconsin, River Falls, Hudson, North, all the way up Burnett
County, a lot of the way over to Menominee. Folks that live in that area watched the fires burn
in Minneapolis fires that Tim Walts decided to wait three days to do something to put out by
not calling out the National Guard. If you were sitting in your house and your house was on fire,
you wouldn't wait three days to call the fire department. You can call when you smelled the smoke
and saw the flames. And Tim Walts decided not to do that. What's interesting is Tim Walts is
nothing more than a Californian with the Minnesota zip code. That's the bottom line on this deal
is he is this is probably the most liberal ticket the Democrats have put up certainly in decades.
So what what the Democrats need here? First of all, I think it's a defensive
pick. And by that, I mean, instead of going for someone who could have broadened the ticket a
little bit ideologically on issues around the world, she decided to go with a hardcore liberal
from the Midwest. And what that tells me politically is that it's a defensive pick. They know they
are in massive trouble, maybe maybe too much trouble in Pennsylvania. So it's a blue wall
pick. She has to figure out a way to put together the old Democrat blue wall in the upper Midwest
of Minnesota of Michigan of Wisconsin. I actually think this pick hurts her in Wisconsin doesn't
help her because Governor Walts's policies. So to me, it's a very defensive pick. They're almost
giving up on some states where the president's been leading states like Georgia, states like
Pennsylvania, not that they won't be competitive, but President Trump is is likely more likely
than not to win there. Secondly, you know, from my perspective as state party chairman,
they have not the Democrats have not a pick like Tim Walts is not one that expands the appeal of
the ticket. It's extremely ideological. So she picked an ideological liberal. She's gone back
to the blue wall that she needs to put brick by brick together in the Midwest instead of trying
to win some of the other big states where they're less likely to do. So this strikes me as a very,
very defensive pick. Thirdly, frankly, this is what what Kamala Harris and Tim Walts need to do
is to get everybody in the country to forget the last four years. Kamala Harris isn't running
against just one person. She's running against two. She's running against Donald Trump, of course,
but she's also running against Joe Biden. If she allows this election to be about the real issues,
what's happened in the last four years answering the question, are you better off than you were
four years ago? We see by the polling that over 70% of the people don't believe they are. They
know that they're worse off than they were four years ago. So it's a defensive pick that doesn't
work. And Kamala Harris and Tim Walts now have less than a hundred days to convince the country
that Kamala Harris had nothing to do with the last the injurious policies on inflation,
on the border, on immigration generally, on violent crime, on all those issues, she needs
people to forget. And I, my only comment would be people are going to remember there's a grocery
store test, a reality test to the economic policies of whatever comes out of Joe Biden's mouth,
whatever comes out of Kamala Harris's mouth, because when people hear all that, and then
they go to the grocery store and reality hits, this is going to be a much different discussion.
All right. Thank you, Chairman Shimming. We will now enter our Q&A portion of today's press call.
This will be about five minutes of Q&A time for attendees. If you are interested in asking
any questions, you use the Q&A feature at the bottom of the screen. It should be next to
the live show captions that could be my side of things from what I was seeing. But there
should be a Q&A feature at the bottom of the screen. Feel free to enter your questions there.
We will give you all about a minute and a half to start posting. And then we will proceed to
start of firing away the questions. So yeah, we will now begin the Q&A.
All righty. We have our first two questions. The first one is from CBS 58. Chairman Shimming
with this one to you. Former President Trump has publicly disavowed Project 2025. Before the
Republican National Convention, Senator Vance said there are, quote, some good ideas in there,
end quote. Does the GOP ticket need to be more clear about which Heritage Foundation ideas they
support and which ones they don't? Well, the President
already said that Project 2025 was not part of the platform, wasn't a part of what is,
you know, ideas and proposals are going forward. I mean, I sat at the Republican Convention all
week long. I didn't have one Republican, Trump supporter, delegate, alternate, anyone talk about
Project 2025 2025. Some folks in the media love it. The Liberals want to push it because they have
their own reasons. But nobody else is talking about Project 2025 within the Trump campaign,
or, you know, within the Republican Party. So to me, that's just a made up issue. The Democrats
need, frankly, if I'm the Democrats, I need people to try to pay attention to these, you know,
things like Project 2025, because if people pay attention to the border, to inflation,
to grocery prices, to interest rates, it's not going to work out well for the Democrats.
And I would note by this, on every single one of those issues, immigration generally, the border,
war, grocery store prices, violent crime, the Democrats are upside down on every single
kitchen table issue facing families in Wisconsin. So whenever I hear things like that,
that's the Democrats trying to push a line.
Awesome. Our next question is for you, Senator Johnson. This is from the Scott Bauer of the
Associated Press. Can you talk about how important the third congressional district is for statewide
candidates, given that Kamala Harris picked Eau Claire for her first stop with Tim Walz?
Let me first just tack on to what Chairman Shimmy said about the agenda 25 being a distraction.
Again, nobody's talking about it. We have think tanks on all sides of political spectrum,
offering policy prescriptions. The fact the mainstream media is focusing on it just, again,
proves the bias. In terms of a district three, it's a bellwether district and a bellwether state.
And so obviously, it's very important. I think what I found interesting in both my 2016,
particularly my 2016 election, when Donald Trump signed the ballot, you know, his appeal
to the working men and women, the agriculture interests, the folks out in the third district,
you know, certainly helped me bolster my vote getting in that area as well. So I think the fact
that, you know, Derek Van Orden will be on the ballot with Donald Trump and JD Vance will
actually help him in the third district. And again, I also have to say, you know, JD Vance,
yeah, I started them for almost two years. It's just bizarre the way everybody's, you know,
trying to say somebody who really is a American success story, you know, came up out of incredibly
difficult circumstances, made themselves a success, has a loving life and children and has an
equally family. They're calling that weird. Again, just speaks to the fact that, you know, Democrats
are the outliers. They have a radical agenda. And unfortunately, it is supported by way too
many people in the mainstream media. Hey, Matt, can I weigh in on? Certainly, yes.
Yeah, I would just say, the presence area from a cleric, we got Jackson County,
that it's going to be correct, that it drives the borders region. It's a
classic Trump area, rural, small town. That's part of the reason I'm at this point, especially
after the laws pick, because people really turn out Trump in those rural areas,
or there in the cross. And then the impasse of President Harris, with a consequent decision,
picking a radical from Minnesota, that we all know about in Western, we're going to win Wisconsin.
Thank you, Congressman Tiffany. And our last question is, the last question comes to you,
Chairman Shimming, and Senator and Congressman, feel free to chime in afterwards, if you have
any additional remarks or thoughts. The question is, Brian said that the walls pick
hurts Kamala's chances of winning in Wisconsin. Why isn't walls the best picked for Wisconsin,
specifically for voters from small and rural towns, which he has touted his ability to appeal to
Congressman? He touched on this a little bit. Chairman, Senator, any thoughts before we close?
Say this about Tim Wells, there's Tim Wells, the image, and there's Tim Wells, the record.
And those are two very different things. And somebody pedaling to me yesterday, oh, he's a hunter,
or he's a, you know, he's this or that of the next thing. And so if that appeal was going to do
it, it actually ends up when he gets shown for his record, not just to the people of his district,
or not just to the people of Minnesota. Now that he's in a national arena, his record is going to
get a little bit more examination. And part of the part of the issue, I think, will be is how does
Tim Wells square what he says with what he's done, and what his record is, and what he agrees with
Kamala Harris on, and what he agrees with Joe Biden on? Now, I want to remind people here that
the Trump campaign has been spending some time on Minnesota. It's kind of been looked at as a
possible pickup state. And that gets to my theory about how this is a defensive pick. I mean,
they're worrying about carrying Minnesota instead of carrying Pennsylvania. So they picked Tim
Walls allegedly to help them in Minnesota and presumably in Wisconsin as well. But when Tim
Walls is record, I mean, these ads write themselves. When Tim Walls's record gets a little more
examination. And frankly, he gets asked, which he doesn't get asked up till now, how much he agrees
with Joe Biden, how much he agrees with Kamala Harris, that is going to be a way different discussion.
Senator Johnson, if we wrap. Sure. I'd like to weigh in a little bit. Again, we'll talk about his
radical left agenda and ideology and generality. But you take a look at the specifics. And for
example, during COVID, I mean, he was one of the most militant governors, assuming taking all this
power and asking Minnesotans to snitch on each other. You see a few people playing basketball
about a mask on, you'll call those people in so law enforcement can can swoop in. The fact that
he he defends literally the mutilation of children. I know this is a very uncomfortable subject,
but it's but it's what he defends. I mean, he's all for abortion up to and beyond the moment of
birth. Check out his record. This this is the extreme position on abortion. That's what Democrats
are for. I know it's what the mainstream media refuses to acknowledge, but he is part of the extreme
extreme and in terms of the abortion issue, unrestricted abortion up to the moment of birth,
and allow, you know, children born alive to just expire. And this is embarrassing to talk about,
but you have to. The fact that his nickname is tampon Tim indicates the fact that he pushed
and signed the bill to force women's feminine hygiene products be installed in boys bathrooms.
Again, that is not where mainstream Wisconsinites are. That is just radical craziness. And he is
part of the radical crazy left as is Vice President Harris. So I don't think that appeals to Wisconsinites
if the mainstream media actually reports on his positions instead of focusing on something
that nobody's talking about at all, agenda 2025. Thank you, Senator Johnson. And thank you again,
Chairman Schimming and Congressman Tiffany for joining us on today's call. And thank you to
members of the press who have joined us as well. We appreciate your participation in this morning's
press call and your questions. If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to
me at mfisher at with GOP.org. You should have my email from the initial, you know, media advisory,
and we'll be sure to help accommodate or find out those answers for you. With that, thank you
again for joining us. And have a great rest of your day, everyone. Take care. Recording stopped.