WAUKESHA, Wis. — Former President Donald Trump was back on the campaign trail in Wisconsin on Wednesday, using his one weekday outside the courtroom to hold a rally in Waukesha County.
Many people were listening carefully to the remarks as they came just a day after Trump was fined $9,000 by a New York judge for repeatedly violating a gag order.
“Never forget our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom. I’m never going to let it happen,” Trump said. “They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.”
Trump didn’t keep his frustrations about legal troubles a secret Wednesday before returning to a familiar theme from his 2020 campaign: Keeping America safe from crime, including the southern border.
“We have a country that’s in hell. Look at what’s going on. Look at the crime,” Trump stated. “We’re going to immediately seal the border. We’re going to stop the invasion. We’re going to send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home where they belong.”
Trump also blamed Biden for rising utility costs amid inflation and called it a war against American energy.
“Inflation is so high it doesn’t matter; it eats you alive,” Trump told the crowd. “We’re going to throw out Bidenomics, and we’re going to replace it with MAGA-nomics, and upon taking office, I will impose an immediate moratorium on all new spending grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. We’re going to save all that money. It’s not helping you at all.
“The choice for Wisconsin is simple. If you want lower costs, higher incomes, and an affordable American dream, then you have no choice but to vote for a gentleman named Donald J. Trump,” Trump added.
After Wednesday’s visit, the former president headed to Michigan, which is another state he won in 2016 but lost in 2020.
Just hours before Trump visited Wisconsin, the Biden-Harris campaign weighed in. Democrats and campaign surrogates, including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, said their goal is to, in part, hold the former president accountable for his “extreme anti-abortion agenda.”
“Waukesha was once considered a Republican stronghold, but in recent years, I've seen my neighbors, my friends, my family members who are now voting for Democrats. That's because here in Waukesha, we are common-sense people. We reject extremism and government interference, especially when it comes to our private medical decisions,” Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said. “This is why we are going to continue to reject Donald Trump, who has unabashedly claimed credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, leaving my daughter and myself with less rights than my mother had.”