Republicans are working hard to turn out the vote in Wisconsin come Nov. 3. And President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is trying to stay in the spotlight here this week during the virtual Democratic National Convention, which originally was planned as an in-person event in Milwaukee.
On Tuesday, day two of the DNC, the president’s son Eric Trump held a rally in support of law enforcement at the Milwaukee Police Association offices in Milwaukee. Trump told the room of around 40 people, many involved with law enforcement, that they are some of the bravest people he’s ever met.
“We’re a family that bleeds red, white and blue. There’s no greater group of people than law enforcement in this country. We absolutely love them. We love what they do. And it breaks our heart honestly, the way that they’ve been mistreated, especially the last six months,” Trump says.
Trump blasted calls to “defund the police” – something that many people involved in racial justice marches have pushed for the last few months. He told the audience that crime increased in New York within days of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to take $1 billion from the police budget and spend it elsewhere.
“Crime in New York has jumped 250% in the last three months in New York because guess what, they’re disbanding undercover agents and they’re going out there and they’re rallying against police officers. And you know what? People don’t want to work in that profession when people are attacking them every single day. And honestly, my father has been the one person that stood up for it. He’s the one person who’s always been there to say listen, we have law enforcements back because guess what … we love you, our family loves you but this entire country loves you," Trump says.
Trump told those in attendance not to listen to the media because he says most outlets are getting this wrong. He added that Democrats also are getting it wrong by not criticizing protesters in Seattle, Portland and Chicago, where some demonstrations have morphed into unrest and vandalism.
Outside the police union building in Milwaukee, protesters gathered to counter Trump’s message. Bruce Fealk drove up from Fenton, Mich. He criticized President Donald Trump on several fronts, including blaming him for not getting a better handle on the coronavirus pandemic. Fealk says it’s the president's fault that he hasn’t been able to see his grandkids over the past five months. He also accused the president of attempting to steal the election.
“He’s removing post office boxes from the street so that people can’t vote by mail. They’re going to have to risk their lives to vote to get him out of office and they’re going to have to go to the polls or turn their ballots in hopefully personally to the clerk's office this year because we can’t trust the U.S. mail anymore,” Fealk says.
On Tuesday, Wisconsin joined a federal lawsuit challenging changes to the postal service that some say could undermine the election in November. Also Tuesday, amid growing pressure, the postmaster general said he’d halt some operational changes and cuts that have disrupted mail delivery until after Election Day.
