Outside RNC, Democrats hit Trump on abortion, unions, Milwaukee 'horrible city' comment
After canceling events Sunday and Monday following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Democrats on Tuesday resumed their messaging against Republicans, hitting the Trump-Vance ticket on abortion and union issues.
At a news conference just blocks outside of the perimeter for the Republican National Convention, Democrats described the first day of the convention as "lukewarm" and seized on Trump's recent reference to Milwaukee as a "horrible" city, saying the comment betrayed a lack of knowledge about the RNC's host city. (Republicans who witnessed the comment have offered different explanations of its context).
The Biden-Harris campaign also launched a series of billboards in the city along with a mobile advertising campaign attacking Trump and running mate J.D. Vance.
“Former President Trump didn't just say Milwaukee was horrible. He oversaw an administration that failed Milwaukee,” said Ben Wikler, Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman. “You can tell whether someone loves a place by what they do to lift it up. And Donald Trump's administration was bad for Milwaukee.”
In particular, Democrats hit back on union issues, hours after the Teamsters union leader made a rare appeal to Republicans on the floor of the convention Monday night.
AFL-CIO president Liz Schuler highlighted workers’ rights, which she said could be decimated under another four years of Trump.
“If you're a working person out there, and you're considering this question of who do I vote for, I think you should ask yourself, 'Does this Project 2025 agenda make my life better if it were to become law,'” Shuler asked. “Will my life be better when Trump lets my company force me to work overtime without overtime pay?”
Shuler’s remarks follow Monday night, when Teamsters President Sean O’Brien became the first leader of the powerful union to address a GOP convention. In his speech, he advocated for a bipartisan coalition to support American workers and pushed for reform on labor law and corporate welfare reform, criticizing companies like Amazon, Uber, Lyft and Walmart.
O’Brien’s speech was a contrast for the union, which has historically supported Democrats. The union has yet to make an endorsement.
“We are going to stand with working people,” she said.
Democrats target Foxconn failures
Wikler blasted Trump over his handling of the Foxconn economic development project from Taiwanese-based electronics manufacturer Foxconn.
“Here in Wisconsin, we had a front row seat to an iconic Donald Trump failure. It was the Foxconn plant. Donald Trump came to Wisconsin he promised the eighth wonder of the world,” Wikler said. “He broke ground with a golden shovel. And for a project that would have been the biggest giveaway in history to a foreign corporation, Scott Walker and Donald Trump bulldozed 100 homes and businesses.”
President Joe Biden stopped in the Racine area in May to tout Microsoft's planned expansion in the county and offer a contrast to unfulfilled promises of the Foxconn deal championed by Trump and state Republican leaders.
Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans in 2017 signed into law billions in taxpayer-funded incentives for Foxconn to build a LCD panel factory in Racine County with the promise of 13,000 jobs.
Trump held events at the White House to help move the project along and declared it would be the “eighth wonder of the world” during its groundbreaking in 2018. The project has not materialized.
Sen. Cory Booker hits Republicans on health coverage and abortion
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey warned of Republicans’ efforts to end the Affordable Care Act, privatize Medicaid and Medicare and roll back reproductive rights.
“They put us in this dystopian world where we criminalize women and doctors that tried to save women's lives,” Booker said. “If you support Roe v. Wade, this is a clear choice between a president who brags about up-ending Roe v. Wade and the president and vice president who are some of the most powerful voices for reestablishing Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.”
Laura Schulte can be reached at [email protected]. Rachel Hale can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrats hit RNC on abortion, unions, Trump 'horrible city' comment
