As spotlight shines on Eau Claire, here's a look inside Republican VP nominee Vance’s rally
Vice President Kamala Harris, JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz will be in Eau Claire, Wis., on Wednesday.
Elijah Nouvelage, Stephen Maturen and Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
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On Wednesday afternoon, both the Trump-Vance campaign and Harris-Walz campaign will be on the ground in Eau Claire, Wis.
Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will speak at a rally as part of a seven-state battleground tour. Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance is mirroring that tour, and is stopping for an event at an aviation manufacturing plant.
MPR politics reporter Ellie Roth joined Minnesota Now live from Eau Claire outside of the plant.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Right now, the political spotlight is squarely on a Wisconsin town about an hour 15 minutes from the Minnesota border. Later today, both the Trump-Vance campaign and Harris-Walz campaign will be on the ground in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The lines are long, cars trying to get into the Harris-Walz rally. Meanwhile, Trump's running mate, JD Vance, is mirroring the Walz-Harris tour. He was in Philadelphia yesterday. He's in Eau Claire today.
We're going to turn right now to our Ellie Roth, who is in Eau Claire waiting for JD Vance to speak at a manufacturing plant. Is that right, Ellie?
ELLIE ROTH: Yeah, that's right. Good morning, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Good morning. So tell me where you are right now.
ELLIE ROTH: I'm currently inside a manufacturing plant called Wollard International in Eau Claire. The company manufacturers on-the-ground aviation equipment like baggage conveyors and passenger stairs.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so this is not a public event, right?
ELLIE ROTH: Right.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
ELLIE ROTH: Vance is speaking to reporters from local and national news outlets and employees at the company. This is not a rally like his event in Philadelphia last night and Michigan this morning, but it's an opportunity for Vance to get in front of the press and for reporters to ask him questions.
The public was not allowed in there, but there were some [AUDIO OUT] outside of the building.
CATHY WURZER: I'm sorry. You just broke up a little bit there, Ellie. What was-- who was outside the building?
ELLIE ROTH: There were some supporters outside of the building, but the general public is not allowed inside.
CATHY WURZER: Thank you. I appreciate that. By the way, what's the strategy? What's the Trump-Vance team saying about the strategy tailing the Harris-Walz battleground tour?
ELLIE ROTH: Yeah, this is what politicians call bracketing. And it's when a candidate trails another candidate from a different party to try and offer a counter-narrative. When Harris appears in key battleground states this week, Vance will be there to attack the Democratic ticket on local news and bring out conservative voters in the area. The senator seems to be aiming to get ahead of the news cycle and blunt any Democratic vice presidential honeymoon period in hopes that the Democrats will lose momentum.
CATHY WURZER: So we heard the Trump campaign's first attacks against Governor Walz last night. And that was from JD Vance in Philadelphia. What did he have to say?
ELLIE ROTH: Yeah, he slammed Harris's decision to name Walz as her running mate. Here he is talking about Walz at the Philadelphia rally yesterday.
JD VANCE: Tim Walz's record is a joke. He's been one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level. But I think that what Tim Walz's selection says is that Kamala Harris has bent the knee to the far left of her party, which is what she always does.
CATHY WURZER: So the larger Republican strategy here, what's that looking like against Governor Walz?
ELLIE ROTH: Well, Republicans are already zeroing in on Walz's handling of the riots that erupted in Minneapolis after George Floyd's murder in May of 2020. Walz called in thousands of National Guard soldiers and state troopers to patrol the Twin Cities, but not quickly enough to prevent the burning of a police precinct and looting of several businesses. I expect criticism of the governor's handling of events will only grow as we get closer to the election.
And the Trump campaign also quickly attacked Walz for some of the bills he signed, including the Driver's License for All Act, which allowed undocumented immigrants in Minnesota to get their driver's license. We heard from Trump this morning for the first time. He spoke about Walz on Fox News.
DONALD TRUMP: He's a very, very liberal man, and he's a shocking pick. And I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled.
CATHY WURZER: All right. So, Ellie, I'm curious here, what's JD Vance off to? Where is he going next?
ELLIE ROTH: Well, Vance and Harris were both supposed to have rallies Thursday in North Carolina, but they have both been canceled due to weather. Vance is actually headed home to Cincinnati tonight.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Ellie Roth, thank you so much.
ELLIE ROTH: Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: That's MPR Politics Fellow Ellie Roth, live from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The lines are long, cars trying to get into the Harris-Walz rally. Meanwhile, Trump's running mate, JD Vance, is mirroring the Walz-Harris tour. He was in Philadelphia yesterday. He's in Eau Claire today.
We're going to turn right now to our Ellie Roth, who is in Eau Claire waiting for JD Vance to speak at a manufacturing plant. Is that right, Ellie?
ELLIE ROTH: Yeah, that's right. Good morning, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Good morning. So tell me where you are right now.
ELLIE ROTH: I'm currently inside a manufacturing plant called Wollard International in Eau Claire. The company manufacturers on-the-ground aviation equipment like baggage conveyors and passenger stairs.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so this is not a public event, right?
ELLIE ROTH: Right.
CATHY WURZER: OK.
ELLIE ROTH: Vance is speaking to reporters from local and national news outlets and employees at the company. This is not a rally like his event in Philadelphia last night and Michigan this morning, but it's an opportunity for Vance to get in front of the press and for reporters to ask him questions.
The public was not allowed in there, but there were some [AUDIO OUT] outside of the building.
CATHY WURZER: I'm sorry. You just broke up a little bit there, Ellie. What was-- who was outside the building?
ELLIE ROTH: There were some supporters outside of the building, but the general public is not allowed inside.
CATHY WURZER: Thank you. I appreciate that. By the way, what's the strategy? What's the Trump-Vance team saying about the strategy tailing the Harris-Walz battleground tour?
ELLIE ROTH: Yeah, this is what politicians call bracketing. And it's when a candidate trails another candidate from a different party to try and offer a counter-narrative. When Harris appears in key battleground states this week, Vance will be there to attack the Democratic ticket on local news and bring out conservative voters in the area. The senator seems to be aiming to get ahead of the news cycle and blunt any Democratic vice presidential honeymoon period in hopes that the Democrats will lose momentum.
CATHY WURZER: So we heard the Trump campaign's first attacks against Governor Walz last night. And that was from JD Vance in Philadelphia. What did he have to say?
ELLIE ROTH: Yeah, he slammed Harris's decision to name Walz as her running mate. Here he is talking about Walz at the Philadelphia rally yesterday.
JD VANCE: Tim Walz's record is a joke. He's been one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level. But I think that what Tim Walz's selection says is that Kamala Harris has bent the knee to the far left of her party, which is what she always does.
CATHY WURZER: So the larger Republican strategy here, what's that looking like against Governor Walz?
ELLIE ROTH: Well, Republicans are already zeroing in on Walz's handling of the riots that erupted in Minneapolis after George Floyd's murder in May of 2020. Walz called in thousands of National Guard soldiers and state troopers to patrol the Twin Cities, but not quickly enough to prevent the burning of a police precinct and looting of several businesses. I expect criticism of the governor's handling of events will only grow as we get closer to the election.
And the Trump campaign also quickly attacked Walz for some of the bills he signed, including the Driver's License for All Act, which allowed undocumented immigrants in Minnesota to get their driver's license. We heard from Trump this morning for the first time. He spoke about Walz on Fox News.
DONALD TRUMP: He's a very, very liberal man, and he's a shocking pick. And I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled.
CATHY WURZER: All right. So, Ellie, I'm curious here, what's JD Vance off to? Where is he going next?
ELLIE ROTH: Well, Vance and Harris were both supposed to have rallies Thursday in North Carolina, but they have both been canceled due to weather. Vance is actually headed home to Cincinnati tonight.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Ellie Roth, thank you so much.
ELLIE ROTH: Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: That's MPR Politics Fellow Ellie Roth, live from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
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