President Trump seeks 'four more great years' as he rallies Wisconsin voters in conservative Waukesha Co.
WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) --- With just 10 days until Election Day, President Donald Trump stopped Saturday, Oct. 24, in one of Wisconsin's top conservative strongholds.
"Ten days from now, we are going to win this state, and we are going to win four more great years in the White House," the president said as he took the stage in Waukesha.
The president began his remarks after 8 p.m. at the Waukesha County Airport. The Waukesha rally is his second rally in the state in seven days, after he spoke at the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville on Saturday, Oct. 17.
"Sleepy Joe's only capable of doing one or two of these (rallies) every three or four days. And he never leaves Delaware," Trump said.
Four years ago, Trump won Waukesha County with 142,543 votes (60 percent) compared to Hillary Clinton's 79,224 votes (33.3 percent). The president defeated Clinton by nearly 27 percent, but he garnered fewer votes than Mitt Romney in 2012 or John McCain in 2008.
Andrew Hitt, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, told CBS 58 the party has been campaigning hard in Waukesha County. The party is hoping to secure victories again this year in a state and county where Trump defeated Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
"Remember back in 2016, this was kind of the heart of the 'Never Trump' movement with Charlie Sykes on the radio. That's gone. 'Never Trump' movement is gone. I think you're going to see better numbers from the president in 2020," Hitt said.
.@FitzgeraldForWI gets the crowd going at @realDonaldTrump’s rally in Waukesha: “@JoeBiden is a corrupt swamp creature.”
— Rose Schmidt (@RoseSchmidtTV) October 24, 2020
“Tony Evers, our governor, stinks,” he says of @GovEvers. pic.twitter.com/GHdbGO8R2l
The president also held rallies in Ohio and North Carolina Saturday. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, also campaigned in key battleground states. The the former vice president rallied supporters in Pennsylvania.
Ahead of the president's rally, local leaders called out the Trump Administration and state Republicans for their handling of the pandemic. They also attacked the president for wanting to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, especially during a pandemic. They urged voters to cast their ballots from Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris.
Wisconsin set new records again this week for new daily COVID-19 cases and deaths, but supporters said that did not deter them from coming to the rally.
"I've been an Ascension employee throughout this whole thing and haven't had any issues. No, it really doesn't bother me that much. I wear my mask when I need to and that's about it," said Jason Reinke from Menomonee Falls.
"I'm wearing an n95 mask underneath this (cloth mask) because I'm compromised and my family is compromised," said Susie Djzak from Illinois.
The president touted his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying: "We have the greatest testing in the world."
Hitt noted that the rally took place outside, masks were encouraged and temperatures were checked.
Saturday night marked the president's second time in Wisconsin since recovering from COVID-19.
"We took a little time off, and I actually probably feel better now than I did before the thing happened," Trump said.
During the rally, he advocated for securing the country's borders, Second Amendment rights and getting the country back to work.
"If we win Wisconsin, we win," the president said to a multitude of applause.
On Tuesday, the president is scheduled to appear in West Salem, a village in La Crosse County. That is a county the president lost in 2016.