Trump visits Racine, touts record on immigration, economy (2024)

RACINE — Buoyed by cheers from a crowd of more than 1,000 people, former President Donald Trump held a campaign event in Racine on Tuesday where he emphasized the importance of Wisconsin in this year’s presidential election.

On a sweltering afternoon, Trump talked for about 70 minutes, mainly about the 2024 election, immigration and the economy, at Festival Park, 5 Fifth St.

Trump is the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee, which is expected to be made official next month at the party’s convention in Milwaukee.

He will almost certainly be on ballots opposite President Joe Biden this year, a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump called Biden a “catastrophe” and “the worst president ever,” and he repeated his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

“We’re going to evict weak, failed and incompetent Joe Biden,” Trump said.

Immigration, economy

For the first 30 minutes of his speech, Trump focused on how his immigration plan would be different from Biden.

“Four years ago, we had the strongest border in the history of our country,” Trump said. “Now we have the weakest border in the history of the world.”

Trump also stressed that his economic policies would result in a better economy than under Biden.

“On day one of my new administration, we will throw out Bidenomics and replace it with MAGAnomics,” Trump said.

According to the Trump campaign, inflation has cost the average Wisconsin family about $23,000 during the last four years.

However, U.S. inflation eased this May for the second straight month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Grocery costs remained unchanged, on average, from April to May, after falling by 0.2% the previous month. Food prices have increased by 1% during the last 12 months, but remain up about 20% compared with three years ago.

Wisconsin gas prices have gone up by more than $1 per gallon under Biden, according to the Trump campaign.

Gas prices have dropped 3.6% nationally from April to May, but remain 2.2% higher than a year ago.

Democratic press conference

Trump has made multiple stops in Wisconsin this year. In addition to visiting Racine, he held rallies in Green Bay in April and Waukesha last month.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have also each visited Wisconsin four times in 2024.

The president was in the Racine area last month praising a massive Microsoft investment that could create thousands of jobs in Racine County.

Biden’s visit to Racine County was intended to contrast Microsoft’s investment with Trump’s economic policies.

Microsoft is building on land in Mount Pleasant previously intended for Taiwan-based company Foxconn Technology Group. Trump lauded Foxconn’s plan to build a $10 billion manufacturing facility that was supposed to eventually employ 10,000 people, but that project was never completed.

The Biden for Wisconsin campaign held a press conference Tuesday morning at the Democratic Party of Racine County office, 507 Sixth St.

Speakers included Democratic Party of Racine County Chair Kelly Gallaher, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, and Gilbert Gonzalez, a construction worker and labor union member who has worked in the Racine area for more than 30 years.

Gonzalez said his family and friends struggled to find work during Trump’s presidency and were hit especially hard after the Foxconn project did not go as planned.

Neubauer said that under Biden’s administration, unemployment rates dropped in the county and the state, and she highlighted the number of jobs anticipated with the construction of the Microsoft Data Center, which is expected to create 2,300 union construction jobs by 2025, according to the company.

“Trump may look down on Milwaukee and abandon Racine, but together, we will show him that Wisconsin deserves better,” Neubauer said.

Importance of Wisconsin

Trump and several speakers stressed that Wisconsin is a vital swing state in this November’s election.

“We win Wisconsin, and we win the whole thing,” Trump said.

“We’re the difference between Biden and forward progress under Trump,” former Gov. Tommy Thompson said. “Wisconsin is the difference.”

Racine County will likely be a critical location in the election. All but five of the past 33 winning presidential candidates won it.

Trump is one of the five; in 2020, he won Racine County but lost the election. Biden was the first Democrat since 1976 to win Wisconsin without carrying Racine County, the Associated Press reported.

Trump won Wisconsin in 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton by about 23,000 votes. In 2020, Biden won it after receiving about 21,000 more votes than Trump.

This year, Trump and Biden are seemingly in a neck-and-neck matchup in the state.

According to a FiveThirtyEight polling average, as of Tuesday, 41.4% of Wisconsin voters support Trump, while 41.2% back Biden.

A poll this month from J.L. Partners of 500 likely Wisconsin voters found that Trump and Biden were tied with 44% of people supporting both of them.

A Marquette Law School poll released in April showed 51% of respondents — including both registered and likely voters — backed Trump, while 49% supported Biden, well within the poll’s 4.8% margin of error.

Polling in early November found Biden receiving support from 50% of respondents, compared with 48% for Trump. In February, polling was deadlocked in Wisconsin with both candidates receiving 49%.

‘Make America great again’

In addition to Trump, there were nine other speakers at Tuesday’s event. Most talked about immigration, the economy and public safety, and they praised Trump’s record on those issues.

“If you want to seal the border, vote Trump,” said Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP 2024 presidential candidate. “If you want to fight inflation in this country, vote Trump. If you want to secure free speech in this country, vote Trump. If you want to defeat the deep state in this country, vote Trump. If you want to restore law and order in America, vote Trump. If you want to revive national pride in this country, vote Trump. If you want to make America great again, vote Trump.”

To end his speech, Trump said he and his supporters will make this year’s election “the most important day in the history of America.”

“We are one movement, one people, one family and one glorious nation under God,” Trump said. “Together we will make America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. We will make America free again, and we will make America great again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.