Donald Trump and Kamala Harris' differing styles were on full display during dueling rallies Friday night in Milwaukee, the largest city in one of the nation’s most important swing states.
The two held late night rallies roughly six miles apart in Wisconsin's largest city, with Harris generally sticking to the script in a speech that lasted 24 minutes, while Trump gave a signature rally speech, veering off-script and rambling on odd topics including his audio equipment, while touching on a wide-range of issues over nearly 90 minutes.
Trump spoke to a packed Fiserv Forum, the home of Milwaukee Bucks, spending time on staples of his stump speeches like immigration as well as non-traditional topics that had little to do with the 2024 election.
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Early in his speech, Trump gave a shout-out to Milwaukee Bucks’ star player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was born in Greece. The Republican presidential nominee mused to the crowd if he was more Greek than the athlete whose nickname is the “Greek Freak.”
“I would say the Greek,” the term Trump used when talking about the NBA star, “Is a seriously good player. Do you agree? And tell me who has more Greek in him. The Greek, or me? I think we have about the same.”
Trump also hit on the themes that have come to define his rallies in recent weeks and his cobbled-together closing message: He will crack down on illegal immigration and use tariffs as a weapon to punish foreign adversaries, and he has continued to focus on baseless allegations the 2020 election was stolen, including the idea he won Wisconsin that year, which he did not.
Decision 2024
“I actually won it twice,” Trump said. “But these are minor details.”
Meanwhile, at the Wisconsin State Fair Park, Harris stuck to her usual underlying message, painting herself as a leader who will work for Americans of all political stripes, versus Trump, who she described as “increasingly unstable” and “consumed with grievance.”
“It’s either going to be him there on Day One walking into that office, stewing over his enemies list, or when I am elected, walking in on your behalf with my to do list,” the vice president said in her speech.
As Trump has stoked new controversy with his recent comments about Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney, Harris again emphasized that she would listen to people who disagree with her.
“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail, I’ll give them a seat at the table,” Harris said.
She has embraced the support of anti-Trump Republicans on the campaign trail, and Harris said that she would like to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet.
Harris also urged her supporters to “be intentional about building community.”
The Trump era, Harris said, has “been powered by this idea that Americans should be pointing their fingers at each other,” but added that “we all know that we all have so much more in common than what separates us.”
Trump, too, brought up his comments about Cheney, which prompted a firestorm earlier in the day. During an event with Tucker Carlson Thursday night, he talked about how Cheney would not be such a “war hawk” if she had guns “trained on her face.”
Democrats hammered Trump for what they saw as threats of violence against the former Republican congresswoman who has since become a prominent "Never Trump" voice, but Trump said he was simply making the point that Cheney would not be so supportive of foreign conflicts if she had to fight in them. He blamed the media for the misunderstanding.
Cheney has been to Wisconsin twice with Harris, appearing in counties where former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s final Republican primary foe, overperformed during Wisconsin's presidential primary. Cheney has been a key surrogate for the Harris campaign since announcing her support for the vice president in September.
The two events in the same city also offered a split screen of the race’s celebrity effect.
Trump’s opening speakers were largely elected Republican politicians and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former presidential candidate who has backed Trump and will likely play a health care role in his administration if Trump returns to the White House. Trump's rally attendees chanted "Bobby, Bobby" as Kennedy gave introductory remarks.
Harris continued to flex her star appeal, featuring musical artist Cardi B at her Milwaukee rally. Reading most of her speech directly from her phone, the rapper said she was not planning on voting when President Joe Biden was running for re-election, but that changed when Harris became the nominee in August.
“Most of all, she is not delusional,” she said, taking an apparent jab at Trump. She later added: “Do we really trust this man with our economy?”
Trump and his Republicans allies have made fun of and downplayed Harris' support from entertainment-world A-listers. His campaign, however, did tout a regional celebrity during his Wisconsin swing, featuring legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre at a rally he held in Green Bay on Wednesday, while also touting Favre's endorsement again during the Milwaukee stop.
“He never did it before…as an athlete it’s hard to do it, you lose some fans, who knows,” Trump said of Favre, who has been investigated for alleged welfare fraud in his home state of Mississippi. “He could really rip that ball.”
Both candidates have spent considerable time in Wisconsin over the past two weeks, a testament to the state's importance on the 2024 electoral landscape.
It’s among a handful of states, also including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, likely to decide the election.
The race has generally been seen as a tossup in the state, with several recent public polls showing it within the margin of error, making Wisconsin a must-stop for both campaigns in the final days of the race.
“Thrilled to be back in this beautiful state,” Trump said. “We have a country going to hell, but we are going to turn it around very fast.”
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