RACINE – Hundreds of former President Donald Trump's supporters braved muggy weather for hours as they waited to hear him speak Tuesday afternoon at Racine Festival Park.
Jory Trutt of DeKalb, Ill., camped out at the park since 7 p.m. Monday.
Trutt said he waited 17 hours for Trump’s November 2020 rally in Kenosha but preferred Tuesday’s warmer temperatures. He has attended 16 Trump rallies across Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin.
“We didn’t have a tent. We just sat right here,” Trutt said.
Many attendees showed their support through "Make America Great Again" hats, American flags and homemade outfits. Outside of the rally, a line of vendors stretched down the street, selling a plethora of Trump cutouts, flags, teddy bears and shirts with sayings like "Too big to rig: get out and vote" and "Joe You're Fired."
William Race of Sheboygan wore a shirt that read “Fully vaccinated by the blood of Jesus” with a photo of a lion containing religious motifs.
“Growing up in the Baptist Church, you know, I want our country to get back to our morals and good values,” Race said.
Cousins Daphnie Lattimore and Helen Starrett, of Illinois and Michigan, wore rhinestoned shirts with quilted red, white and blue stars on their backs. They staked out chairs for the rally starting at 3 p.m. Monday, taking shifts to reserve their places.
The atmosphere was lively at the rally, where songs alternated between hits like Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
“This is like the Fourth of July on steroids,” said Michael Boese of Edgerton.
Trump's rally is first in Wisconsin after conviction
Trump's Tuesday rally was his first in Wisconsin after a New York jury found him guilty on 34 felony counts in a hush money trial, becoming the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime. Polls conducted after the verdict don't show a significant change in support for Trump, but small changes can make big differences in a swing state like Wisconsin.
Trump's last rally was in Waukesha in early May, during one of his days off from the trial. Outside that rally, his supporters largely shrugged off the trial and said they would still vote for Trump even if he were convicted.
More:Trump backers flock to Wisconsin rally, shrug off break from hush money trial
Trump supporters had a similar sentiment Tuesday. Some said his conviction doesn't affect their decision to vote for him and many said it empowers them even more to support him in November. Supporters said they believed the trial was a sham and that Trump was unfairly targeted.
"They turn those misdemeanors into felonies, which they couldn't do ... it's going to be thrown out just on that alone," said Bobbie Kowbel, who traveled from Minnesota to attend the rally. She was also concerned about the judge's instructions to the jury.
Buck Steiniger, a voter from northern Wisconsin, said Trump's conviction "didn't change my mind, but it enhanced" his support for Trump. "There's no question in my mind now who I'm going to vote for, and it'll be Donald Trump. You can't have that type of (justice) system. Then, anybody should be afraid."
Supporters say Trump was talking about crime when he called Milwaukee 'horrible'
Trump's rally in southeastern Wisconsin also comes less than a week after he called Milwaukee, a "horrible city," weeks before Milwaukee is set to host the Republican National Convention in July. That prompted backlash from state Democrats and President Joe Biden on social media. Racine is about 30 miles south of Milwaukee.
Republican members of Wisconsin's congressional delegations offered different accounts of what Trump was referring to, such as crime or elections. Trump has previously made false claims about illegal votes in Milwaukee, though late returns for Biden in 2020 were because of how the city processes its absentee ballots.
Those at the rally said the media had taken what Trump said out of context but mostly agreed that Trump was talking about crime, which they also saw as a problem in Milwaukee.
"It's the violence, and that's what he was referring to. Milwaukee is a beautiful city, if you go to the right place," said Kim Toutant from Racine, who was attending her first rally. "Every day, children are being shot in their own homes, sitting on their couch."
Steiniger, who is from the Wausau area, thought people in northern Wisconsin aren't very concerned about crime in Milwaukee. "The people up there are like, 'Whatever happens down there, we're safe up here,'" he said.
Immigration and the economy top concerns among supporters
Outside the rally, voters were also eager to hear Trump talk about immigration and inflation. In the latest Marquette University Law School poll, Wisconsin voters ranked the economy and immigration as their top issues and considered Trump better than President Joe Biden at handling both.
"Number one, he needs to improve our economy. Crime — we have a lot of crime in Racine," said Kim Toutant of Racine, adding that immigration is "absolutely" one of her top issues and there needs to be a wall at the southern border. She and other voters expressed concern about fentanyl in their community, and Toutant said "we need to stop that from coming over here."
Peggy Robbins, also from Racine, said she's "not fond of his personality" but agrees with Trump on policies like his stance on the border and abortion.
Steiniger said he wanted to hear specifics on how Trump will carry out his plans.
"Instead of how politicians talk, 'I'm gonna take care of taxes,' I want to know how. How are you going to take care of that? That's the biggest thing I want to hear is, how are you going to do it all?"
Immigration advocacy group protests near Trump rally
At nearby Monument Square in downtown Racine, more than 50 protesters organized by the immigration advocacy group Voces de la Frontera chanted slogans like “sí se puede” and “up, up, with education, down, down with deportation” and lifted anti-Trump and Biden-Harris campaign signs.
“We have to take a public stand. We cannot be silent,” Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz told the crowd. “If you are religious, it is a sin to be silent in front of what Trump stands for and what his movement stands for.”
Drivers passing by honked their horns and shouted out their windows in support of Trump and Biden. After the advocacy group's rally ended, some protesters picketed around the square, chanting in support of immigration rights.
Journal Sentinel reporter Tristan Hernandez contributed to this report.
