Right? you for your time today. Thank
you. In state news, the Wisconsin Supreme Court
suspended a lawyer for Donald Trump's campaign from his spot
on the Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee. Jim Troupis was a
lawyer for the Trump campaign in 2020, and was a key figure in
the conspiracy to get fake electors to claim Wisconsin's
electoral votes for Trump. Troupis and two others were
recently charged by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul for
forgery in their roles in the plot. Troupis was reappointed to
the Judicial Committee in 2023 by the Wisconsin Supreme Court
when it was still controlled by conservatives, liberals took A43
majority last year with the election of Janet Protasiewicz.
However, control of the court in the future will be determined by
an election next April for the seat of retiring Liberal Justice
Ann Walsh. Bradley. This week, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford
announced she is officially running for the court and was
immediately endorsed by liberals on the court. Crawford joins
former Republican Attorney general and current Waukesha
County Judge Brad Schimel, who previously announced he was in
the race. Sticking with election news, the Wisconsin Elections
Commission chose attorney Ann Jacobs as its chairperson this
week. Jacobs, a Democrat, last held this role back during the
presidential election of 2020. The vote to elect her as chair
was unanimous, and in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Common Council
approved Paulina Gutierrez to lead the city's election
commission. Speaking of Milwaukee, we are just one month
away from the city hosting the Republican National Convention
and here to discuss all of the election optics, our political
analyst Scot Ross and Bill McCoshen. Thank you, gentlemen,
for your time today. Great to be here. So let's start with the
biggest X factor in this election, Donald Trump bill.
Yesterday it's reported he told the House GOP conference that
Milwaukee was, quote, a horrible city. Since then, we've seen 100
different explanations of what he meant. Does it even matter at
this point if he says something like that?
>> Well, first of all, I want to say I love Milwaukee. I can't
wait to show it off to 50,000 Republicans from around the
country. There's a lot to do in Milwaukee. Great restaurants,
brewers. I mean, it's a great city. They've got some
challenges. Sure. People who are in the conference yesterday said
that isn't exactly what he said. The president himself has said
he was talking about crime and election integrity. You know, my
advice to the Trump campaign would be be very precise in your
language from this point forward. He's never going to get
the benefit of the doubt. We know that sometimes his words
are taken out of context. The congressmen who were in there
from Wisconsin all said that isn't what he said. So I'll take
him at his word that he did not say that. But I think he's going
to love Milwaukee when he gets here.
bashing Milwaukee forever. So is this really out of context for
them to say it's a horrible city?
>> Absolutely not. And you know, again, we saw yesterday the
chaos that results from Donald Trump owning the Republican
Party. And you saw, I think, seven different stories from the
six Republican members of Congress as to why they all, you
know, why they all think Milwaukee is a horrible city.
And I think it's just going to play terribly. I think it's, you
know, again, I think it's a sign of what's going to happen
because as we get closer to the election, Donald Trump's tour
of, you know, revenge, retribution, Bryan and doing
whatever he can to stay out of prison is going to involve more
of these incidents, I think. And Republicans then having to
scramble to answer, let's not forget he's going to be in
Racine on Tuesday of next week. >> So he'll have an opportunity
to answer this directly. And my hope is that he comes to
Wisconsin and tells all voters and why he wants to win here.
>> So you said the magic word prison. July 11th is the date in
which he is set to be sentenced in New York for criminal
convictions. Do you think he's accepting the nomination from
Wisconsin, or is he in a jail cell? Home confinement? What's
your prediction? the prosecution, so I can't tell
you where he'll be for it. But I can tell you this, you know,
being sentenced for 34 felonies related to a hush money that you
were paying, you know, for an affair for, you know, while your
third wife was having your fifth kid, I don't think is a message
that Trump wants to wants to go forward with. The problem is, is
that when he tries to distract from it, he does things like
Horrible city. You know, it just keeps getting worse. And we're
not even talking about the issues abortion, health care,
infrastructure, all those sorts of things which the Republicans
are on the wrong side of. >> Does it matter if Trump's
here? mean, the way he does
conventions, he's on the stage every night. That's very unusual
in our lifetime to see that usually the final night where
the nominee gives the big speech, I expect him to be here.
I expect him to be on the stage in some shape or fashion every
single night. And again, I'm looking forward to showcasing
Milwaukee. I think he's going to find it to be an unbelievably
cool city with a lot of opportunity to grow.
>> So I want to switch to Wisconsin elections. We're going
to have new maps this fall. Democrats are contesting every
possible race that they can get out there. Are we going to see
something like 2016 where Ron Johnson ran ahead of Trump?
Where are there going to be distance between the Assembly
and the Senate? Republicans down ballot versus Trump up ballot,
or how do they affect each other?
guess is Tammy Baldwin will run ahead of Joe Biden here in the
state of Wisconsin. Ron Johnson did that with Donald Trump in
2016. It's not unusual for the candidate to who's more
relatable here locally to do better and how that plays down
ballot. What we knew from 2016 and 2020 was Republican
candidates for the legislature did better than the top of the
ticket across the state. I expect that to continue. We do
have new boundaries this time around, all the races will be
more competitive. My guess is Democrats will pick up seats in
both houses of the legislature. I don't think they're going to
have an opportunity to get a majority, because the top of the
ticket is too close. That's where things do come into play.
As it relates to the top of the ticket. If Biden were to run
away with Wisconsin, could Democrats get one house?
Probably. He's not going to run away with Wisconsin.
>> Does Biden need Democrats down ballot to help him win
statewide? of bouillabaisse together to
what brings victory to Joe Biden and to Tammy Baldwin. And I
think Bill was right. You know, we are going to pick up seats.
Democrats are going to pick up seats in the in the Senate and
the Assembly. But what I think is going to happen is you have a
you have a guy at the top of the ticket, Donald Trump, who has to
win Wisconsin to win the presidency. And I think he has
put himself out of running for winning Wisconsin Democrats have
resources. The Democratic Party is all over the place. I think
they've got 46 coordinated campaign offices. They've hired
they outraised the Republicans 15 to 1, in terms of
fundraising. And, you know, over and over and over again,
Democrats are right on the issues. I think it's important
that Democrats are going to have competitive races in a lot of
these areas. So it will drive out more turnout. Whether or not
that affects the top of the ticket, I don't know, because
the money is going to be spent at the top of the ticket. To
reinforce those messages again about abortion and health care
and infrastructure. >> I agree with Scott. The
Democrats will have a significant cash advantage from
top to bottom and money is a factor. There's no question
about that. Organizationally I think will be about even and on
the message, I think it's an advantage for Republicans this
cycle. All right. >> A few seconds for each of
you. What are you watching the next four weeks in the run up to
Milwaukee? >> I'm watching the most viewed
presidential debate in history, a week from now or two weeks
from now, between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the first
presidential debate in history before national nominating
see how that plays out. And does it impact the race, because we
know all the court cases to date have not shook the numbers. What
about you? >> I'm going to be watching the
issues, be watching the way Democrats articulate the
Republicans offer and what they offer. And I think, again, on
those Democrats win. >> Do you think there will be a
debate? Trump is going to bail. I think
Trump's going to bail on it. >> Do you think there will be a