Republican presidential candidates have started arriving in Milwaukee ahead of Wednesday night's GOP debate at Fiserv Forum. Protests have started, and more are expected.
Eight GOP contenders are expected to take the stage in Milwaukee at the event run by the Republican National Committee (RNC.)
Former President Donald Trump — ahead in some polls, but facing a slew of criminal charges — has chosen to skip the debate in favor of an interview with a former Fox News host.
Carroll University Political Science Professor Lily Goren says no Trump means a lot for the debate.
"I think it does matter. Some of the candidates having greater exposure on the national level. And also to some degree, what they may say in regard to former President Trump," Goren says.
Goren says the eight will have a better chance at defining themselves with Trump not on the stage.
At least one of the GOP candidates did a little campaigning in Milwaukee last night. Businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy spoke to supporters at a downtown bar.
He says when he leaves the presidency in 2033, he wants to have accomplished several things, including getting rid of most federal employees.
"That we laid off 75% of the employee headcount in the federal bureaucracy," Ramaswamy said to cheers.
Supporter Charles Batson says Ramaswamy stands up for traditional American values.
"Any of the Republicans is better than Joe Biden. But within the field, my wife and I both like Vivek the best. Maybe DeSantis second, and reluctantly Trump. We prefer not to see Trump in there," Batson told WUWM reporter Eddie Morales.
DeSantis is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who cancelled a promised campaign event in Mequon. But Ramaswamy is one of the contenders with many controversial stands on issues. A large electronic sign at his gathering said, "There are two genders."
Critics have called Ramaswamy rabidly anti-transgender.
Just blocks away from his event, Miley Cyrus's song Rainbowland, which is about inclusivity, played from a speaker as about 30 members of the Coalition to March on the RNC protested outside the Pfister Hotel. They were primarily focused on an appearance inside by swimmer Riley Gaines, who has criticized transgender athletes competing in women's sports.
But Coalition spokesperson Ryan Hamann says given that Gaines has prominently endorsed DeSantis, it's legitimate to expand the coalition's concern to the GOP lineup.
"She (Gaines) is very much here because the Republicans are coming to Milwaukee. She wouldn't be here otherwise. So, there's no way you can separate Riley Gaines from the RNC stuff," Hamann says.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has also been taking on the RNC. DNC Chair Jaime Harrison took part in a Biden-Harris campaign press call Tuesday saying America will get an eyeful at Wednesday's debate.
"They're going to see the most extreme, the most chaotic, most divisive slate of presidential candidates in history when these MAGA 2024 Republicans take the debate stage here in Milwaukee," Harrison says.
MAGA is, of course, Make America Great Again, a Trump campaign slogan that Democrats derisively link to the other GOP candidates.
Wednesday afternoon, Milwaukee U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D) will take part in a labor union rally against the Republicans just west of Fiserv Forum, and the Coalition to March on the RNC plans a protest east of the Forum at Red Arrow Park, says co-leader Omar Flores.
Flores says the promised economic benefits of having the Republicans in town this week and at next July's Republican National Convention won't reach many people.
"For the average, everyday citizen, and lot of us in the coalition are working class, we don't really see the benefits in terms of economics with the RNC coming here, whether it's for the debate or the convention," Flores said at a Monday news conference.
But at midday Wednesday, the RNC plans to showcase a partner fair, where up to 300 state and local vendors can present their services and products to those attending an RNC business meeting later this week and the July 2024 convention.
WUWM's Eddie Morales reported on the Ramaswamy event.
