WAUNAKEE, Wis. — Former President Donald Trump promised to “liberate” the Midwest from “illegal aliens,” promoted false claims on immigration and attacked the Biden-Harris administration’s Middle Eastern policy in front of a fervent audience at a rally north of Madison Tuesday.
Tuesday’s visit hit both Dane County and Milwaukee, two of the most heavily Democratic areas in the state. Trump visited Milwaukee Tuesday evening, days after Trump visited Prairie Du Chien for another rally. It was the first visit to Dane County in an election year made by a Republican presidential nominee ahead of the general election in 26 years.
Following remarks from former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Gov. Tommy Thompson, the crowd welcomed the former president to the stage as his signature “God Bless the U.S.A.” rang out at Dane Manufacturing, a manufacturing plant in Waunakee.
If Harris is elected, America will be “condemned” to decline and desperation, Trump said. He claimed “tens of millions” of illegal immigrants will “invade” cities and towns across the country if he loses in November.
There were roughly 10.5 million individuals living in the U.S. without legal status in 2021, or about 3% of the population. During the Trump administration, illegal immigration significantly rose with apprehensions at the Southwest border increasing by more than 100% between 2016 and 2019, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis.
These comments also follow his remarks on Haitian immigrants, accusing them of eating animals in Springfield, Ohio, and remarks made in Wilmington, North Carolina in which he said migrants are “attacking villages and cities all throughout the Midwest.”
Trump also claimed “Medicare and Social Security will buckle and collapse” because undocumented immigrants are “going onto your Social Security.”
“They can’t speak English. They came here illegally and they’re destroying Social Security,” he continued.
Undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. are not eligible for Social Security benefits but may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits if they meet certain criteria and received temporary permission to stay, according to a Newsweek fact check.
Trump claimed Harris communicates with “cartel heads” to shuttle planes carrying “hundreds of thousands” of people to places in the Midwest. Harris said she would “double” resources for the Department of Justice to go after cartels in a speech Sunday.
“I will send in federal law enforcement to liberate every Midwestern town that has been taken over by migrant gangs and criminal alien thugs,” Trump said. “We will send them back and we will take back our country.”
In reference to Iran’s attack on Israel Tuesday, Trump said the Middle East is “very close to global catastrophe.
“I’ve been talking about World War III for a long time and I don’t wanna make predictions, because the predictions always come true,” Trump said.
Trump “guaranteed” peace in the world if he gets elected again.
“If [Harris] gets four more years, the world goes up in smoke,” Trump said.
Trump also promised tax cuts for “workers, families and small businesses” in another presidency. Trump’s former administration cut business taxes by 18%, he said. The administration cut corporate taxes from 35 to 21% via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Trump urged his supporters to vote in whatever way they can through early mail and absentee voting. Trump has historically opposed absentee voting, blaming it for election fraud.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers released a statement Tuesday ahead of the rally calling Trump’s first presidency a “disaster for Wisconsin.”
“Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda would hurt working families, cut Social Security and Medicare, dismantle support for public education across the country, and more,” the statement read. “I know Wisconsin families, and they’re going to reject him again in November.”
Supporters laud Trump’s ‘aura’
Trump supporters told The Daily Cardinal they were excited by Trump’s economic policies.
Dylan Lanz said he considers Trump a “businessman.”
“I think he has a very good grasp on how to run the economy in the U.S.,” Lanz said. “And compared to what we’ve had in the last four years, I think he can definitely do a better job.”
Sylvia, a supporter waiting in line to see the former president, said she likes Trump's announcements about not taxing tips, Social Security and overtime. The former president is getting “youths, women and seniors” to vote in the election, she said.
“I think [Trump’s] aura is off the charts,” Jack Blitz, a young Trump supporter, said.
Derrick Pokorny, a supporter who arrived too late to enter the event, said his family was at the event while he stayed outside. Pokorny’s family arrived at 6 a.m. to wait in line, he said.
Once event organizers confirmed they would not allow more people into the facility, supporters flocked to the entrance, trying to get a glimpse of Trump’s motorcade.
Noah Joseph, a supporter who said he waited in line since 9 a.m. for the 1:30 p.m. speech, said he hoped to see the motorcade once it was clear he would not be in the building.
“There could have been a lot better planning,” Joseph said. “There's so many supporters here in Dane County. A lot of people were, you know, disappointed not to see him, or even see him talk.”
With a line that stretched down Waunakee’s Division Street, only 500 of the 5,000 supporters were able to enter Dane Manufacturing for the rally.
Tomer Ronen is the Features Editor for the Daily Cardinal. He has written in-depth for sports and has covered protests, state politics, breaking and campus news. Follow him on Twitter at @TRonen22.
