President Donald Trump thanked the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin during his speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, joking that he was trying to “buy” their votes.
Noting the $250 million the Republican Party spent on the convention, Trump urged Wisconsin voters to remember that investment when they go to the polls in November, a key battleground state that played a crucial role in Trump’s victory in 2016.
“I’m trying to buy your vote, I’ll be honest with you,” Trump joked, to cheers and applause from the audience.
The joke was an attempt to undo damage from a June report that Trump said “Milwaukee is a terrible city” – a claim he denied – after a spokesman for Trump said he was referring to crime and voter fraud, not the city.
Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes could play a decisive role in the closely contested presidential election, with Trump narrowly losing the state in 2024 after trailing far behind in opinion polls.
The Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home of the Republican National Convention, July 15-18, 2024. (Joel Pollack/Breitbart News)
During his speech, Trump praised the city and the Green Bay Packers, whose fan base spans the state, predicting a good year for the Packers and joking that no one else in the arena would be happy to hear that.
And he praised the hats worn by Wisconsin’s delegation – “Cheeseheads,” a familiar theme in Wisconsin sports that celebrates the state’s dairy industry.
The city enjoyed good weather all week, and as the tournament continued, the weather got increasingly mild and dry through Thursday. “It was a perfect day for Milwaukee,” said a local restaurant manager.
Police and federal agents patrol the Milwaukee River during the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 17, 2024. (Joel Pollack/Breitbart News)
The city is overwhelmingly Democratic, but even residents who don’t like Trump seemed to enjoy the convention.
The manager of one bookstore that had anti-Trump rhetoric in its window told Breitbart News that Usha Vance, the wife of vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), had been shopping for her children at the store but had entered through a back door for safety reasons.
“She was a really nice person,” the manager said, in typical Wisconsin niceness.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
