By james art MADISON (WLUK) — A collection of musicians joined Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event Wednesday at UW-Madison in an effort to drum up support from young voters in the Wisconsin battleground.
The rally featured performances by Gracie Abrams, Mumford & Sons, Aaron Desner, Matt Berninger and Remi Wolf.
In recent weeks, Harris has been joined by star musical guests at events in other states, from Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland to Bruce Springsteen and Willie Nelson.
Early in her speech, Harris was interrupted by a member of the crowd who shouted about the Israel-Hamas war.
“We all want the war in Gaza to end and the hostages to be brought out as soon as possible, and I’m going to do everything in my power to hear it and understand it, and everyone has a right to be heard, but right now I’m talking,” Harris told the protester.
Abortion was a key point in Harris’ remarks. She criticized Trump for his role in overturning Roe v. Wade.
“When Donald Trump was president, he chose three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention of them overturning the protections of Roe v. Wade. They did what they intended, and now in America one in three women live in a state with Trump’s abortion ban — very much without exceptions even for rape and incest, which is immoral,” Harris said. “And Donald Trump isn’t done. He would ban abortion across the country, even here in Wisconsin.”
Harris also addressed inflation and the economy, saying that lowering the cost of living would be “at the top” of her list of priorities as president.
I will cut middle class taxes on over 100 million Americans. We will introduce the first-ever federal ban on corporate grocery price gouging. We will fight to make sure that hardworking Americans can actually afford a place to live.
Former President Donald Trump held a rally at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon on Wednesday. He was joined by longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.
Trump has been to Wisconsin several times this month, but this is his first visit to Northeast Wisconsin since he held a rally in Green Bay in April at the KI Convention Center.
As Election Day approaches, the hotly contested swing state of Wisconsin has a packed political calendar. The presidential race in the Badger State has become a statistical deadlock, according to the latest poll from Marquette University Law School.
On Monday, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz spoke in Manitowoc and Waukesha. Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance made remarks in Wausau and Racine.
On Thursday, former President Bill Clinton will be in Oshkosh and Milwaukee to campaign on behalf of the Harris-Waltz ticket.
Then on Friday night, Harris and Trump will visit for duels in Milwaukee.
Trump’s Wisconsin communications director, Jacob Fischer, released the following statement ahead of Harris’ visit to Madison:
Kamala is in Wisconsin today to clear up her right-hand man’s comments that are calling tens of millions of Americans trash. I don’t think the people of Wisconsin will accept Kamala’s desperate attempt to rewrite her disastrous record or cover up her longtime partner, Joe Biden commented. On November 5th, Wisconsin voters will elect President Trump to fix what Kamala broke and make America great again!