Wisconsin original production.

2024 election coverage.

>> Madam Secretary, the great state of Wisconsin proudly casts all of its 41 votes for Donald J. Trump.

>> The Republican National Convention is a wrap.

I'm Frederica Freyberg.

Tonight we bring all the local coverage of the event that put Milwaukee on the national stage.

It's "Here& Now" for July 19th.

>> Funding for here and Now is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS.

Wisconsin.

important battleground state in the presidential election, with both campaigns saying the other can't win if they don't win Wisconsin.

That put even more emphasis on the city of Milwaukee hosting the Republican National Convention "Here& Now" Senior political reporter Zach Schultz was on the ground all week and kicks off our coverage tonight.

>> The culmination of every convention is Thursday night, when the nominee takes the stage and basks in the adoration of the party faithful.

>> Thank you very much.

>> In some ways, the defining moment of the 2024 Republican National Convention didn't come in the host city of Milwaukee.

It occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday when a 20 year old with a gun nearly took Donald Trump's life.

By the time Trump took the stage Thursday night, his supporters had already declared the near miss as a sign of divine intervention.

the life of our presidents, Donald J.

>> Trump and Trump agreed.

>> I felt very safe because I had God on my side.

I felt that the first question of the week was whether it was even safe to come to the convention.

>> These ladies from Eagle River had to decide if the violence would continue in Milwaukee for a split second.

>> I mean, you have to you have to you need to be prudent to reflect, but it's really more about now, I know the police and security and homeland security and everything will probably even step up even more.

>> I think it's the right move.

>> UW lacrosse Professor Kristina LaPlant saw the shooting on TV and canceled a trip with her students, who planned to survey delegates for a class on political parties.

>> Immediately, my mind starts thinking about what on earth is going to happen at the convention now, and I'm immediately thinking about my safety, my students safety.

Is the political violence going to escalate at the RNC?

>> Monday morning, the message from Republicans was one of unity.

above their behavior and realize that it is our task to save and preserve this nation.

>> But later that evening, on the main stage, Johnson was back to calling Democrats a threat to the nation.

danger to America, and the unity referred to the Republican Party unifying around Trump.

>> We have the greatest opportunity I have ever seen for a Republican victory.

>> Democrats hope to tie Donald Trump to a policy plan called project 2025, a 900 page document created by the Heritage Foundation that creates a plan to give Trump unprecedented executive powers to remake the federal government.

But there was no mention of the plan at Heritage's Policy Fest event, and Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy refused to talk about project 2025, instead hinting that if Trump had been killed, it would have led to a second civil war.

But I think the nation came within a hair's breadth of.

>> God forbid, a second kind of civil war in this country.

And we missed it.

>> He wasn't the only one talking that way.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the Wisconsin delegation the same thing.

falling apart as a country and potentially drifting towards a civil war.

turn down the rhetoric.

>> I don't see our country on a pathway to a civil war, and we need to just continue to have that dialog to listen and exercise our voice at the ballot box.

>> Trump's speech was supposed to focus on unity.

>> We unite this evening, more determined than ever.

>> But there were times when the teleprompter didn't move as Trump went off script and returned to his favorite topics crazy Nancy Pelosi, the whole thing just boom, boom, boom.

He did find time to pander to the home state.

>> And by the way, Wisconsin.

We are spending over $250 million here creating jobs and other economic development all over the place.

So I hope you will remember this in November and give us your vote.

I am trying to buy your vote.

>> As the speech stretched out to the longest in convention history, those who started off shouting fight were now sitting quietly looking at their phones.

But eventually the speech wrapped up and quite simply put, we will very quickly make America great again.

The balloons dropped and the 2024 Republican National Convention came to an end.

>> The state Republican Party is riding high after the big event in Milwaukee.

Its chairman, Brian Schimming, is here, and you do look like a pretty happy guy.

A little exhausted.

>> Yeah, I'm a little exhausted.

But I have to tell you, I'm so proud of Milwaukee.

I'm so proud of the state of Wisconsin, we were able to pull off an excellent, four day convention.

Right here in Wisconsin.

And as you know, Fred, I'm a native here.

I'm a homer.

So I wanted this to be good for the state, for the city of Milwaukee.

And it was the security considerations were they were just security was great.

The cooperation between the city and the county, and of course, all the law enforcement agencies, the chamber, the visitor's bureau, just fabulous.

So I'm just so excited.

And I had people after the RNC meeting this morning from other states, big, you know, convention states like Chicago and LA and Atlanta, whatever, coming up and saying this was the best convention they'd ever been to.

So I'm so proud of Wisconsin this morning.

>> Yeah, super high praise.

So a month ago, could you ever have foreseen everything that has happened in this race for president?

conference yesterday that they'll be writing books, not about the campaign, but the last three weeks, you know, alone, much less the whole campaign, of course, the tragedy of the shooting in Pennsylvania, which which really pulls at you, you know, I mean, you have people that were there to support a candidate.

It's not a partisan thing.

It's people who came out to this rally.

So the tragedy of that rally and then, also obviously the debate were within 90 minutes a, a political party, my friendly adversaries on the other side, the Democrats and their candidate completely collapsed within 90 minutes.

I'm not sure I can think of a parallel to this, in recent history.

Anyway so the Democratic Party and Joe Biden went from the kind of confidence that Joe Biden would be the candidate to the calamity of that debate, to the crisis they now sit in all within a couple of weeks.

I honestly, I can't think of another time in recent history where so much was packed into so little time, and then to top it off, for us, having a successful, convention, I think by any account, it's really, it's will be talking about it for years.

Wisconsin congressman, Democrat it's time to pass the torch?

>> Well, what I would say to my friend Mark Pocan is, where have you been, I think the truth of the matter is, my adversaries on the other side of the aisle have known all of this about Joe Biden for a very, very long tim.

And, he's incapable of being their candidate's candidate.

capable of being president right now.

And I don't make that, I have relatives of my family who have memory and other issues, so I don't make that charge lightl, I think you have an incapable candidate and an incapable president.

Right now.

And the dilemma that that the Democrats find themselves in here is that we're in July of the election year.

We're not in July of last year.

We're in July of this yea.

And the challenge that they face right now is we walk out of this convention unified and they're spending the weekend not knowing what they're going to do next.

Historically, it's an amazing moment.

reaction to, say, Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket?

>> Right.

So I have been saying about the vice presidential potential vice presidential That, if people see me walking down the streets of Wisconsin with a folding table, it's because I'm going to sell tickets to that debate.

And so I think that would be the same case, no matter where she is on the ticket.

So here's the Democrats dilemma.

They have a four year president who, you know, won every primary.

And caucus, is a sitting four year incumbent.

Where now now well over 70% of the people say he shouldn't be running.

The difficulty is, is vice president Harris's numbers are very, very similar.

So they don't really get some huge advantage.

Bryan chairman, we leave it there.

>> Thanks so much for your time.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> With so many people coming into Milwaukee and opening their wallets through the week, there was an expectation for a $200 million economic boost to the city.

But as Stephen Potter reports, while some businesses made out, others fell flat.

>> For some, the restaurant business this week in Milwaukee has been booming from the minute we open our doors yesterday, all the way through, we have been slammed busy.

We have been packed full for Marla Poytinger from the new fashioned bar and restaurant, which is right across from the Fiserv Forum.

The increase in traffic from the Republican National Convention has more than exceeded expectations.

about the equivalent of one Bucs game every day this week, which would have been fantastic four days in a row.

Yesterday alone, we did five Bucs games.

>> But for others who are further away from the convention activity, business has been significantly different and hearing people haven't been coming down.

not getting enough business.

>> It seems like there are just so many events going on, just we're also kind of on the outskirts of the where everything's taking place.

So, I mean, people sometimes seems like they're forgetting, like the little local local spots we had, like, you know, extra staff on, on ready standby, but we've actually called off, a few few people here and there just because numbers have not been what we expected in the months preceding the convention, there was a lot of talk and excitement about a substantial financial bump coming from the infusion of the 50,000 convention attendees.

>> I think originally, the thought was it would be a $200 million in economic impact.

>> Omar Shaikh of the high end steakhouse carnivore says business at his restaurant has been slower than he'd like.

>> Yesterday we were decent, not crazy by any means, not really overly busy.

>> Normally, Shaikh says, conventions that come to town for company meetings and trainings are busy, but the Republican National Convention >> There aren't restricted areas and security and things of this nature.

So I would say this is political conventions are certainly different, Shaikh says he's also talked to some restaurant owners who decided not to open at all during the week of the convention, and they said, well, look, I don't really have a lot of reservations on the books.

So if I don't have business, if I order a lot of the product, you know, it's perishable, right?

And they don't do business and they actually lose money.

>> One person keeping a close eye on the economic impact of the RNC is Dale Kooyenga.

He's the president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, the Milwaukee brand is known and it's things like this.

>> It's like the box, the Brewers events like this where you could go around the world and people say, oh, I know Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

>> As for the lack of business, some spots are seeing during the convention, Kooyenga says, you can't just look at your four days.

>> You have to look at the longer impact of tourism in Milwaukee.

more of an economic impact from the RNC, but he also understands it's a long game.

>> The greater hope is like that.

Everyone that came here from around the world and around the country to say, this is an incredible city.

I want to return to that city.

I want to go back to that restaurant.

I that hotel, and hopefully that a lot of people and a lot of organizations will see how great of a city it is that they'll book large scale conventions here with us.

>> Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson welcomed tens of thousands of Republican faithful to his Democratic city.

Did it pay off?

He joins us now.

And mayor, thanks very much for being here.

>> Happy to see you.

>> So we reported on the economic impact of the convention.

Did it meet your expectations?

>> Well, as I mentioned, we're not, you know, in control of economic projections for the convention.

What I can tell you is that there were a lot of people, tens of thousands that came to Milwaukee, that stayed at our hotels, that ventured into restaurants, that spent money with local vendors and left a significant amount of money here in our economy.

We'll have to go back and check in with Visit Milwaukee and those other folks to see exactly what the economic impact was.

I, anticipate that it was pretty, hefty, though, after Donald Trump called Milwaukee a horrible city.

influence on convention goers, on the convention goers?

>> No, I mean, these are folks that were coming from you know, far across the country.

I don't know if they paid attention to his comments, like we paid attention to them here.

That's, you know, unfortunately, because Donald Trump, Mr. Trump unfortunately, has a history of saying these wild, outlandish things, and so people tend to not really pay them much attention, although they should.

Because sometimes some of the things that he says, can have a detrimental impact on individuals rights, on the direction of the country, and so forth.

So things can be outlandish, but that doesn't mean they're not important for us to listen to.

We certainly listened when he said that Milwaukee was a horrible city.

>> So following the rally attack, kind of going back specific to the convention itself, following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, how tense were security considerations in your city now that it's wound up?

And maybe we can talk about it a little more?

>> Well, first let me just say that, that attempt, that assassination attempt on Mr. Trump was terrible.

That was actually horrible.

That should never happen.

That is just there's no place for that sort of action in our politics at all whatsoever.

And after it happened, I did have the opportunity to wish, Mr. Trump, very well in his recovery, had the chance to speak to him and told him the same thing.

So, in terms of, individuals being here in Milwaukee, and having the chance to follow up, after that, that incident, with security here, we took the opportunity to make sure that the city was saf, and we had an nSac that was a designation here.

It's a national special security event designation you could possibly get for an event of this magnitude.

So by definition, it was a secure event, then what the rally was that Mr. Trump held last week, Saturday.

>> So there were definitely concerns, though.

And criticisms of so many out of state police officers in the city and on the streets, including those from Ohio, who, as you know, shot and killed a man outside the perimeter.

What is your response to that shooting?

>> Well, as it relates to, the number of officers who were here from out of state, I mean, look, Milwaukee, won the Democratic National Convention in 2020, and now, unfortunately, it didn't pan out because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

But, had it actually taken place the way that we had envisioned, you would have seen the same sort of security footprint with officers coming in from outside the state of Wisconsin, and in from across the country, in terms of, the officers from the outside, Milwaukee police would not have been able to make sure the convention was secure all by themselves.

And still provide policing services to the balance of the city.

So there was a need to bring in officers from the outside.

This was a collaboration not just with Milwaukee police, but with secret Service and law enforcement agencies from across the country.

And I'm thankful for their assistance, there was tragic that, that there was an incident that happened where a man was killed, outside of the security perimeter, the officers from Columbus, Ohio, they were they're not in a patrolling, front facing mode.

They were actually doing a briefing, a debrief, and one of the officers happened to notice that there was an altercation.

Taking place, notice that one of the individuals had a knife, later on, we would find that there were two knives, officers approached the individual, made numerous commands to drop the weapons, to drop the weapons.

That didn't happen.

Instead, the individual lunged in a threatening manner at an unarmed man, and, you know, and possibly could have caused him serious bodily harm or death.

And the and the officers took action.

And I'm saddened that, life was lost, there.

But I'm also, thinking about the individual who possibly could have lost his life.

And what's more is that when I talk to officers, including officers at the local level here, I'm told that any officer in that situation would have taken the exact same action in order to make sure they preserved the life of the unarmed person who was, being attacked.

>> All right, we leave it there, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, thanks very much.

Thank you.

Community advocates say the city should be held accountable in the fatal shooting of a man who had been living in a tent less than a mile from the security perimeter during the RNC.

The Columbus, Ohio, Police Department released body cam footage of its officers shooting and killing Samuel Sharpe as he wielded a knife in an apparent street fight.

Stop!

Drop the knife.

>> Drop the knife.

Drop the knife!

Please drop your knife.

Drop.

Drop the knife now!

Drop it now!

>> But why?

We're out of state police patrolling city neighborhoods beyond the Black Leaders Organizing for communities calls Sharp's death devastating.

Angela, thanks very much for being here.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> So you blame the RNC for the death of Samuel Sharpe?

Why >> I do, I, I fully believe that had the RNC not been hosted in Milwaukee, we wouldn't have even had those out of state police even over there.

And I think there is calls and questions of why they were over there in the first place.

And I've seen, accounts from friends and family members that all have said that if this was a local police officer, it probably would not have resulted in his death because they knew him, and they would be more trained in de-escalation.

as to the question as to why those officers were there?

>> I have not, I did see some commentary from law enforcement trying to explain, why they were out there.

And I know that there was a response that on the last day of the RNC, if there were out of state cops patrolling some of those areas, they would be accompanied with the Milwaukee Police Department officer, which doesn't quite answer the question.

And I don't think actually really solved or got to the heart of the issues.

>> Just ahead of the convention, there were sweeps downtown of unsheltered people.

How did that play into this?

>> Yeah, I mean, I think with any convention, and we had similar concerns if we were to host the DNC about unhoused folks and the additional security.

And when you have a large convention or a large event like this, a lot of folks, they want to beautify, their city and make it look as attractive as possible.

And so a lot of folks were told, I believe, by last week, Saturday, that they had to find a different place to go.

Folks have said that law enforcement did provide resources, but there's only so many shelters and so many beds that I can imagine it push folks to go to other areas, away from maybe where they typically were before the convention.

betrayed by the mayor for, quote, rolling out the red carpet for people who hate us.

How about now, after the convention, I'm even more betrayed and saddened, that this is actually what happened in our city.

warnings, from community members and residents that said we did not want this hateful language.

And this hateful party, but have also been saying about the increase in law enforcement would have been a concern.

And it goes to show what happens when you don't actually listen to community members and actually listen to our concerns, because unfortunately, now we're having to deal with this tragedy and losing a Milwaukee community member in a city that Donald Trump called horrible.

on Milwaukee helped show it in a different light?

>> You know, I'm not sure, you know, we've we've seen reports and commentary that some of the folks weren't, you know, necessarily seeing some of the great, amazing places of Milwaukee.

There are restaurants, beloved restaurants and didn't have as many reservations.

So I'm curious of how much the participants actually saw of Milwaukee, I hope that they left with a different perspective, but I will say that even tweeting about the shooting that happened and seeing some of the comments in my mentions, I'm not sure if people, have any sympathy for Milwaukee.

And I think some folks still consider it a place of murder and crime in these terrible stereotypes and statistics.

know about the City of Milwauke?

>> Well, I want people to know that Milwaukee is an incredibly beautiful and special place.

And I say this as a lifelong resident by choice, I chose to live here and to work here.

One of my favorite things is the summer, but also the people and the resilience.

And that in the face of tragedy, we always find a way to center joy and come together and find a way to make things work, even under really tremendous circumstances.

>> Angela Lang, thanks very much for joining us.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> Security was always planned to be tight around the convention and the assassination attempt on the eve of it only heightened awareness for the thousands of law enforcement from across the state and nation assigned to the city.

Planned protests added to the mix "Here& Now" Stephen Potter has this report about the white man.

>> We got to do one, got to fight back.

We got to do what?

We got to fight back.

>> I came to here loudly and proudly oppose the racist and bigoted agenda of the Republican Party.

>> With thousands of delegates, attendees and guests arriving for the first day of the convention.

USA protesters also showed up in Milwaukee to denounce the Republican Party and its policies.

>> We're being led down a dangerous path with the Republican Party.

I'm concerned.

I'm nervous.

I'm a I'm a 20 year Army veteran, and I consider the direction that the our Republican Party is going and, and particularly their nominee, Trump.

Is super dangerous.

And I and I consider him a bit of a traitor.

You know, he's out for himself.

He's not out for the citizens.

And that's what we need.

>> As you can see, there are hundreds, even thousands of protesters here at the Republican National Convention.

Many different groups are represented with many different reasons to protest.

>> But we're looking to defend immigrant rights.

We're looking to defend LGBTQ rights.

We're looking to defend a reproductive rights as well.

I mean, the list could really go on.

And they have had attack on civil liberties, on civil rights for too many years now, and we're here to oppose it.

>> Omar Flores is a lead organizer with the Coalition to March on the RNC.

He says that despite the intense heat earlier this week, a wide range of protesters made their voices heard.

from the student movement, from the Palestinian movement, from the antiwar movement, and from the movement against police crimes.

small task to organize the protest rally, and march.

>> It takes a lot of time and a lot of very hard work, and honestly, the city did not make it any easier up until recently.

You know, you know, we shouldn't have had to file a lawsuit to get to where we are today.

>> Protest organizers filed a lawsuit in federal court to move their March route closer to where most of the convention activity will be held.

They lost in court, but came to an agreement with the city to march through downtown and within a block of the convention.

Milwaukee resident Jackie Clark says attending the protest was a chance to express her right to free speech.

>> That's democracy, that's America.

>> Another protester thought of the past and worried for the future.

circle has turned and I don't want the progress that we fought hard, both in our professions and as students and as demonstrators.

50 years ago, to be undone.

Why?

Why?

>> While most who attended the protests were there to show their disgust with the Republican agenda, some counter-protesters also brought their megaphones to Red Arrow Park.

God can save you right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

And a handful of Trump supporters also showed up to watch Milwaukee resident Philip Reitz wasn't impressed.

It happens at every convention and every town.

>> Protest organizer Flores says he doesn't expect Monday's rally in March to sway any Republican, but he still thinks protesting serves a purpose.

>> We don't think that we're going to be changing any minds, but we do know that we can put the pressure on and make it so politically inconvenient for as usual.

Milwaukee for "Here& Now, I'm Stephen Potter.

>> In the 2020 election, Donald Trump received just 7% of the black vote nationwide, which is comparable to what Republican presidential candidates have received dating back to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.

But Republicans in Wisconsin think that's going to change this fall "Here& Now" Senior political reporter Zac Schultz has this story about the GOP's black voter outreach program in Milwaukee.

>> There are 50,000 visitors in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.

But around the secure perimeter, it's a sea of white, save for people working security or selling Trump merchandise.

Inside the Fiserv, the GOP delegates are overwhelmingly white, but Republicans like Bob Spindell say black voters look back at the first Trump presidency with fondness.

been involved in the in the black community.

people were happy.

>> Well, we're going to have a big splash this election cycle.

So get ready.

>> Gerard Randall is first vice chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

>> Well, good afternoon, everyone, and welcome.

>> He hosted an event Tuesday at the GOP's Black Community Center just a few blocks north of the convention, where pictures of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan hang next to Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln.

>> We're really excited for this opportunity to showcase a couple of, our really outstanding efforts to extend outreach into the African-American African American community here in Milwaukee.

was South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who is promoting the Opportunity Zones created in Milwaukee, designed to bring investment to the area.

>> But the goal is simply to lift African Americans out of poverty.

The goal is to lift all of Americans out of poverty who are living in poverty.

It just so happens that disproportionately African Americans live in poverty, more so than any other demographic in this country.

>> I mean, they're they're they just want to be able to show a presence.

It's not like they're doing a lot in the entire community.

Milwaukee County Executive and a Democrat.

He says the GOP putting a building with a billboard in a black neighborhood isn't enough to win black votes.

>> Sometimes folks don't know how to actually address, you know, black folks.

And we've seen, you know, glad Senator Tim Scott was in in a black neighborhood.

But let's face it, one of the first things he said on the convention floor was that racism doesn't exist.

And whether you're a Democrat or a Republican and happen to be black, living in one of the most segregated communities in the United States like Milwaukee County, then you have to go, not not quite.

Not so fast.

>> The black conservative Federation held a barbecue later that evening, hoping to draw in and engage potential voters.

Turnout was low, but the Reverend Harold Turner showed up, saying he was willing to listen.

it's important to know where you come from, and then you possibly can go forward.

You need to know your opponents as well.

So if the Republican is an opponent, we need to know if a Democrat is doing a lot for us.

We need to know that too, and we should hold them accountable to address some of the real needs that we are in dire need of.

The black community.

delegate, Bob Spindell is also a Republican appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

After the 2022 election, he sent out an email praising lower turnout in black neighborhoods in Milwaukee, saying, we can be especially proud of the city of Milwaukee casting 37,000 less votes than cast in the 2018 election, with the major reduction happening in the overwhelmingly black and Hispanic areas, Spindell says getting black people to not vote for Democrats was the first step to voting for Republicans.

>> Take a look at what the Dems have done for the community over the last 50 years.

Nothing has changed.

Very little has changed from what the Democrats have been doing.

evidence of voter suppression.

>> There was no effort on the part of the Republican Party either nationally, locally or statewide, to depress the African American vote.

Voters may have stayed home on their own volition because, frankly, the message just wasn't resonating with them.

>> Randall says.

The proof will come this November, when he says Trump will double his support among black voters in Wisconsin.

>> We are going to get better than 15% of the African-American vote statewide here for President Trump.

>> I don't know where he's getting those numbers from, Crowley says the RNC will be old news by November, and black voters remember which party supports their community.

It's about investments.

You can be here all you want and say, I support you, but I tell people all the time, it's not about being an ally.

You know, we needed accomplice.

I needed you to be right next to me, with me going down and fighting for the things that directly affect not just me, but it affects my family as well.

>> President Joe Biden is off the campaign trail for now with a case of Covid.

There was already what's described as rising anger and panic among many of his supporters about his ability to go on.

What must this be like for state party leaders who help deliver Wisconsin to Joe Biden in 2020?

We asked Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler, and thanks a lot for being here.

>> Thanks so much for having me on, Fredricka.

the Republican National Convention with the growing number of Democrats calling for your candidate to step aside, what's so striking this week is that the Republican Party has been completely subsumed by MAGA.

the Republican Party.

Leaders around a candidate who selected one of the most outspoken proponents of a 100% national abortion ban as his vice presidential candidate.

There's unity with people like Eric Hovde around project 2025, Trump and JD Vance, their staffers going out and writing this playbook for not only ripping away access to abortion and emergency contraception, but eliminating the Department of Education, shredding any kind of protections for the environment and climate change.

It's a wholesale plan to kind of repeal the last 50 years of progress in this country.

They didn't talk about it from the convention stage, but they have written down what they want to do.

And in this election, it's a choice between a future where Trump's vision of being a dictator on day one becomes a reality, or the vision that Biden and Harris have laid out that President Biden laid out in his speech in Detroit right before the RNC, of of signing the pro act to workers can organize and unionize of expanding Social Security and Medicare.

I think I know which future most Wisconsinites and most Americans want.

>> What is your message to Wisconsin voters about Joe Biden's ability to beat Donald Trump with his poll numbers and money slipping?

much conversation and press and, you know, around the state and around the country, it's not about whether Democrats want to defeat Donald Trump.

It's about the best way to do it.

And what I know from so many conversations is that there's a enormous level of intensity and focus on making sure that we defeat MAGA this fall, and that President Biden's vision for the next term is enormously popular in a way that unites Democrats.

So I feel like you know, debates happen, conversations happen.

I think Democrats are going to come together.

And I think that when we do that, we're going to reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris and reelect Tammy Baldwin and flip House seats.

And I think flip the state Assembly and break the supermajority in the state Senate, because what we are fighting for is much, much more popular than what Republicans are trying to inflict on the country.

about Joe Biden's decision to stay in or step aside?

>> I was speaking with my friends on the Biden campaign yesterday and others this morning.

He is full steam ahead and organizing and working to make sure that this message carries out across the country.

And, you know, of course, many people are are trying to game out how the how the whole thing comes together.

What we know is that when Democrats speak with one voice about the stakes for voters in their lives, then from from President Biden down to local, state legislative candidates, we're going to defeat MAGA this fall.

>> So regardless of who is at the top of the ticket, well, President Biden's at the top of the ticket.

>> And Biden-Harris as a as a team won Wisconsin last time.

We overcame the odds and Democrats won the governor's race in 2022.

We flipped the Supreme Court in the in the course of 1820 and 2023.

And on the ground, we have volunteers going out every week, knocking on tens of thousands of doors, having conversations with voters.

Ultimately, voters care about how politics affects their lives, and they know that President Biden isn't trying to get into their doctor's offices and override their personal medical decisions.

They also have reason to fear JD Vance and Donald Trump.

JD Vance has flirted with the idea of tracking menstrual cycles to figure out whether people are accessing abortion care against the law.

Trump has floated the idea of punishing women who access abortions.

Those ideas are politically toxic, and we have to defeat them this fall.

>> All right, Ben Wikler, thanks very much.

>> Thanks so much for having me on.

Senate candidate Eric Hovde snagged a speaking slot at the convention, but he also sat down this interview.

>> Well, first of all, I think Wisconsin put on a great show for this convention.

I'm very proud of our state and the people have been so nice.

The weather accommodated all the rest.

But look, I've been talking about the issues all along, how we need change in our country, we have major problems with our economy.

The inflation.

That's impacting people's lives.

Our open border, the problems that has created, crime in our communities, our health care system, the cost, the accessibility of our health care system, you know, there was a whole discussion about how the world the world's in chaos right now.

So I'm just staying focused on the issues.

>> Senator Tammy Baldwin has been tough to beat in the past.

Do you expect to get any kind of a bump from the top of the ticket, >> well, right now it looks like President Trump is doing very well, you know, I don't get caught up in the daily swings and polls, but I think the message that's come out of the convention has been very favorable, you know, and a message that I've been talking about long before what happened this past Saturday is that we need to bring this country together, that the politics of division, personal destruction has been so toxic for our country and, you know, I've been saying it and I've talked about it in my speech.

We need to come together, you know, and the world of business, you're never going to get much done if you take the path that most politicians do.

They just camp themselves in their own party and fight amongst themselves, you know, and the world of business, you have to compromise.

That's become a dirty world word in politics, which I think is wrong.

>> What issues do you think there can be compromise on between Republicans and Democrats?

fentanyl crisis.

I cannot believe Washington, D.C. has really done nothing about this for a decade, and we're losing 100,000 young people every single year.

The fentanyl is created in China.

It's sent to the drug cartels in Mexico, brought up over our southern border.

We have to attack it at every single level.

And how it's distributed here in our country.

So that's a big one, look, there's philosophical differences on health care, but there's issues we can come together.

Drug prices.

Look, I have miss you know, to see how drug prices have just gone like this and almost every area, that is an area that I think we can find common ground on.

So I think you can find common ground with people if you're willing to sit down and talk with them and engage with them.

>> Did Wisconsinites tune in to the convention special projects journalist Murv Seymour went to West Central Wisconsin this week to gauge voter interest.

>> Hundreds of miles from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, patriotism runs high in the La Crosse area.

You can tell by the American flag that waves throughout this community in front of homes and on the streets, to be the next vice president of the United States, with the convention so far away, we had to wonder.

>> Drill, baby drill.

>> Honestly, I think it's overkill on the TV.

>> Is anybody out there watchin?

We made stops at a local park where people told us off camera they know nothing about a convention and didn't care.

Later, they said they identify as Democrats.

Just up the road at Viterbo Sports Complex.

It's little League night.

We spoke with just about everyone in the stands behind home plate and along third base line.

Many admit they're Republican and they don't overly care about the convention and they don't care to say so on television.

>> Like two of the RNC speeches tonight from primary rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

>> Like everyone else around here, talk of the Republican National Convention tops the local news.

Surely a supporter with signs of who they support as nominee will talk after a knock on the door.

They told us no thank you.

We're not interested.

Back in lacrosse.

Across the tracks below, granddad's bluff near Forest Hills Golf Course, right on Main Street, we find Dominic Roswell at Bluffside Tavern, having a drink with a friend.

Bluffside has been around for a long time.

A really long time.

Dominic grew up here.

When it comes to voting, he considers himself part of a key voting demographic.

The independent voter.

When it comes to watching the Republican convention.

>> It appeals mostly to the base.

I think really, that's where the target audience is, is strengthening the base.

I don't know if, like the independents like me really care much about it.

>> So no intention at all of keeping up with any of it this week.

>> Only because it's from Wisconsin and everything that's happened recently with, the assassination attempt on Trump way up on granddad's bluff, you can enjoy $1 million view for free or an enhanced one for less than a dollar.

hoopla for the Republican Party.

I myself, and I'm not decided yet, I do.

I want to vote for.

>> We found a viewpoint with granddad Michael Eve, who admits to watching some of the Republican convention.

He says he enjoys watching the political analysis more because, I mean, these guys, these politicians just go on and on and on and say what you want to hear.

>> And then, reporters, in a nutshell said, well, this is what the guy said, you know, so why should I watch hours of them?

know each other, but both have the same view on talking politics.

These days.

>> What turns into like, a nice discussion all of a sudden turns into you know, they're at each other's throat and they don't talk to each other again, and it's really not worth it.

>> I'm old enough to remember where you could go to parties and be a different political affiliations, and you could party and converse with each other, it doesn't seem that case anymore, people just don't want to talk about they.

In fact, if they find out that you're of another party affiliation, you won't get invited to the party.

No >> Welcome to Fathead.

Steve's in downtown LA Crosse.

We were there during prime time coverage of the convention and at other bars.

What's showing on TV at Fathead?

Steve's not the convention.

topics that just the conversation can't be had.

>> Bartender Ariel Malvitt says from her experience, politics and drinks don't mix well.

>> It gets a little escalated and it it divides people immediately, right?

It's one side or the other.

So it's not it's not a healthy conversation at the bar.

At least.

>> And from what we could tell, in some cases outside the bar either.

Reporting for here.

Now I'm Murv Seymour.

>> Now that the convention is over, the mandate from Republicans to their delegates is to carry the momentum into the fall "Here& Now" Senior political reporter Zach Schultz has the story of one group trying to do just that, while changing the image of the Republican Party.

>> Thousands of volunteers are needed to make the Republican National Convention a success.

Most of those in red shirts have gray hair, but there are some young people getting their first taste of political organizing, and Republicans are hoping to keep them involved into the fall.

and they're going to be involved.

>> A lot of them, most of them are from Wisconsin.

They're going to be here.

They're going to be knocking on doors, and that's what we're going to do.

That's what we do best.

Kyle Schroeder is the chairman of the Wisconsin Young Republicans, a group focused on recruiting, training and electing young conservatives.

We are the young professional arm of the Republican Party of Wisconsin here in the state.

And that's where we fit in.

And we want to grow the conservative movement for young people because our message resonates directly with them.

created in 2017 as the party realized students involved in college Republican groups often didn't have a political home after graduation, people would get involved in college Republicans and kind of trail off and then come back to the GOP, and they're like 50s or 60s when they're upset about property taxes or something like that.

>> And that's a years, decades of lost engagement.

>> Nik Rettinger represents Mukwonago in the State Assembly and sits on the board of the National Young Republicans.

He says they're not content waiting for middle age to take office.

>> A lot of folks like to say, we're the leaders of tomorrow.

That's that's not the case.

We're leading the way today.

>> When I was at college, I was the president of the College Republicans at UW.

>> Whitewater John Beauchamp is an alternate delegate at the RNC and says without young Republicans, a lot of people his age might not feel comfortable going to party events.

>> Let's face it, a lot of the county parties have a very traditional way of running things, very traditional, structured that the median age of the individuals that are in the county parties tends to be a little older.

So the goal with the Young Republicans is to kind of provide a sense of more camaraderie amongst young Americans, young Wisconsinites.

party since I was very small.

>> Olivia Kurth comes from a politically active family and is working security at one of the delegate hotels.

During the convention.

just being the eyes and ears here.

college Republicans and young Republicans, and says the groups provide a safe space for young conservatives to speak their minds in younger groups, you kind of have to test the waters a little bit.

>> You're like, if I throw out sour real fast?

>> We have a lot of Illinois implants coming here in Wisconsin, and they moved to Milwaukee, or they moved to Madison and they're like, are There are.

It's the Young Republicans.

And if you're in that 20 to 30 year range, we're here.

the campaign trail this fall, and their experiences at the RNC will help them power through to November.

palpable in a way.

I feel like being a part of this and seeing how much energy and excitement people have for being here and for the party and everything, and there is nothing quite like being in that room and feeling that energy.

>> On the floor of the Republican National Convention.

So bringing that energy, bringing a boost back into our communities and into our other grassroots individuals is going to be key for us senior political reporter Zac Schultz brought live analysis from Media Row at the convention all week.

>> And tonight wraps it up with our political panelists, Democrat Scot Ross Zach.

>> Thanks, Fred.

Well, I am back once again.

End of the week.

Bill McCoshen Scot Ross.

Thanks again for all this week and for today.

Let's start with the big speech last night.

Bill, what did you think was this Trump's unity moment?

Did he sail it through?

needed to do as it related to unity.

CNN had a focus group of females afterwards, and they thought they heard a different tone from him and they liked it.

They responded to it.

Personally, I think the speech was too long.

It should have been 45, 50 minutes, not 90 minutes.

I think he got into rally mode there and that's a different beast altogether.

But I think as far as the unity message, the different tone, I think he was a different man last night.

Whatever, whatever happened last Saturday night with the assassination attempt had a pretty profound impact on him.

speeches at once, one with the prompter and one without?

>> I what I heard was, you know, I don't want to say I dislike the speech because the Abraham Lincoln, you know, adage, which is I never heard a short speech I didn't like because it went on a long time.

But what I heard from the from the speech was, you know, his delivery wasn't great, but it just, you know, it culminated the most divisive, the most extreme, the most alarming national political convention.

I think we've seen and again, embodied by the fact that for the first time in American history, a major political party has nominated a convicted felon to be its presidential nominee.

That's >> Being in the arena last night, we were all there listening to it.

What was your reaction of the people listening to it as it went on?

Was he losing the audience?

Was he losing the crowd as it kind of got into the old, old hits, >> it came and went right there were certain lines bringing back the American Dream that got huge applause.

Eliminating the EV mandate got huge applause.

There were a lot of those throughout the night, and I think that may have caused him to go off script a few times when he thought that the crowd was a little subdued.

I would have preferred he just go with the speech that was in the prompter, and I think that would have been just fine.

The good news for us is it was a great convention.

I've been to five national conventions.

My former boss, Tommy Thompson, has been to 12.

We both think it's the best we've ever seen.

Milwaukee looked great.

They showed great, that's going to lead to more business for Milwaukee and Milwaukee County going forward.

>> I would definitely agree with that.

Milwaukee did a terrific job.

The facilities were fabulous.

You know, they everybody was courteous.

You know I know there were some incidents and stuff outside of the.

Well we proved we could do this as a state.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

And you know, so I so, so what was going on sort of outside of what was being talked about in Fiserv was good.

But what was being talked about in Fiserv, I think was alarming.

Some of the biggest lines I heard that got applause was, you know, the attack on Nancy Pelosi, you know, which is, you know, red meat, red meat to the base.

It's not un under.

It's not unexpected.

But towards the end he got into a rant against trans people.

And that got so much applause.

And that was really disturbing.

And I think you know, it sent the message that I think they wanted to say, which is, again, this is going to be a very divisive person.

If we put him back in the white House.

I think we need to do in terms of performance, I'll say this.

You know, I think that he was a you know, it was stumbling and long.

And I think in the end, you know, he performed the announcement speech version of Joe Biden's debate performance.

>> Yeah.

I think one of the most notable things is he only mentioned Joe Biden by name one time, and that was an accident in 90 minutes.

>> Acknowledged it was an accident.

it, so he had to name him and said, I won't name him again tonight.

And I think that was smart.

of Joe Biden zero mention of abortion, which I think was the most telling thing about the night, the thing that he bragged about getting rid of the right to choose and making women second class citizens.

And he doesn't say anything about it in in the biggest audience.

He's going to get well now the attention will shift to Biden.

>> Earlier today, Congressman Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Madison, announced he can no longer support Biden on the ticket, asked for him to step down.

Scott is this is this all unraveling here in front of us?

>> I don't know if the word I would use is unraveling.

What it is it's challenging campaign because when it's a when you're when the focus becomes a referendum on your weaknesses, that is a problem.

It happened in 2016.

It was a referendum on on whether or not Clinton should be around.

Still in 2020, it was a referendum on Trump because of his performance.

Now that it's a referendum on on Joe Biden's age, that's problematic because he's not going to get younger.

You know, the thing is, is that if the Democrats, you know, if Joe Biden decides he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to be the nominee and steps down.

This goes back to focusing on Donald Trump, which I think is great for the Democrats, because they know what they get with Trump.

They got 3 million lost jobs.

They got, you know, Covid being bungled, you know, and again, Joe Biden's going to put country first.

He always has.

I think we can agree with that.

He always has put country first.

On the other hand you got Trump.

You know you got Trump.

Ivanka had 18 new I'm sorry if you need to if you need to.

Yeah I'm ready to go.

I'm ready to go on that.

>> If Dems are in disarray for the next month leading into Chicago, we're totally good with that.

The fact that this guy has he earned 14 million votes in the primary.

Dems cleared the field for him so that he didn't have a primary with Robert Kennedy RFK, Jr. and now they're trying to push him off.

I mean, so much for democracy.

>> So we're going to have a big test coming up because Kamala Harris, the vice president, is coming to Milwaukee on Tuesday.

What does that look like?

What are you expecting to hear?

>> I think she'll promote the Biden agenda as she has in the past.

And if she ends up being the nominee, we'll see if there's an open convention, if she can actually win it.

I think the Biden agenda is what's dragging them down.

Yeah, Joe Biden's age is a big negative for them, no question about that.

Yes, his debate performance has lingered on for three weeks after, and we've never seen that in our lifetime.

But I think she's going to have to answer for those same policies.

a candidate at that time, or is she still the VP?

>> I'm still waiting for my call, but I don't know what's going to happen with that.

I have to say, I, you know, again, there's lots of talk.

I mean, you know, it was there was a buzz, you know, you know, amongst media last night about what is going to happen here, you know, and I have to disagree with Bill.

I think it's going to come back.

I do think it's going to come back to policy.

But I think Biden, Biden and Democrats win on that.

16 million jobs created, 21 million more people put on health care.

And again, you go back to the Republicans Anti-democracy, anti-abortion trillion in tax breaks to rich people, the party trying to push their guy out with a backroom deal he gets to do by the influence peddlers, the decisions.

He will make the decision.

And I believe he will put country first.

>> All right.

Just a couple of seconds for each of you.

Absolute chaos in Chicago or orderly con convention.

Chicago.

>> Yes.

Well, it's Nietzsche says out of chaos comes order.

>> All right.

>> Bill McCoshen Scot Ross.

Thank you so much.

We will be all together in Chicago for the whole week.

Can't wait.

Thanks again.

>> Starting August 19, "Here& Now" will be in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention streamed online at 2 p.m. Daily updates from Wisconsin on our air at 8:30 p.m. and a "Here& Now" one hour special to view all of our coverage, including web extras from the RNC, visit our web site at PBS Wisconsin.

Org, and then click on the news tab.

That's our program for tonight.

I'm Frederica Freyberg.

Have a good weekend.

>> Funding for Here and Now is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS.