WEST ALLIS – With just four days to go, Vice President Kamala Harris brought her closing argument to Milwaukee for a raucous rally and concert featuring some of the top Black female rappers and hip-hop artists.
The high-energy event brought more than 13,000 people to the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center on Friday night.
After performances from MC Lyte, Flo Milli, and GloRilla, rapper Cardi B fired up the crowd with a passionate speech slamming former President Donald Trump as a “hustler” — and not the good kind.
During Harris’ 23-minute speech, she drew sharp contrasts between herself and Trump, and made it clear she was ready to fight.
“Because when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for,” she told the crowd to booming applause.
Harris said she spent her life fighting for people who have been hurt and counted out, but “who never stopped believing in our country – that anything is possible.”
“I have lived the promise of America, and today I see the promise of America in everyone who is here, in all of you, in all of us,” she said. “We are the promise of America.”
Here are some takeaways from Harris’ rally and concert, which was held the same night Trump rallied supporters at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee.
Cardi B brings her signature swagger to her political speech
Cardi B didn’t perform for her first Milwaukee appearance ever Friday at Harris’ rally. But the hip-hop superstar delivered a fiery speech that featured stinging soundbites delivered with her signature swagger.
After taking the stage in a Jackie Kennedy-esque power suit, Cardi B briefly got choked up and said she was a bit nervous. But it didn’t take long for her to get her confidence back.
“Are we ready to make history?” she called out to cheers.
“I do not take lightly the call to show up, the call to speak up, the call to deliver a message that has been on my heart for a hot minute now,” she said.
She also drew comparisons between herself and the vice president.
“Just like Kamala Harris, I too have been the underdog. I have been underestimated, my success belittled and discredited,” she said. “Women have to work ten times harder, perform ten times better and still people question how we got to the top.”
“I can’t stand a bully,” Cardi B continued. “But just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.”
She specifically criticized Trump’s comments that he was going to protect women, “whether they like it or not.”
“If his definition of protection is not the freedom of choice, if his definition of protection is making sure our daughters have fewer rights than our mothers, then I don’t want it,” she said.
Women in the spotlight
Women, particularly Black women, took center stage — and really the whole stage — at Friday night’s rally.
There was the speech from Cardi B.
There were also performances from female rappers, hip-hop stars and DJs, including trailblazer MC Lyte and fresh faces GloRilla, Flo Milli and DJ Gemini Gilly.
Harris also spoke to women, and those who support them, during her speech.
“We are the promise of America, the fathers and mothers and grandparents who work hard every day for their children’s future, in the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom and the men who support them.”
Milwaukee and Wisconsin could decide things (Yes, again)
Speakers made it clear that Milwaukee and Wisconsin need to turn out to vote in this election.
Multiple speakers urged people to vote early or have a plan to vote on Election Day. They also called on attendees to volunteer and talk to friends, family and neighbors about voting.
“Those doors don’t knock themselves,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “This is all hands on deck!”
Johnson told the crowd gathered at the Wisconsin State Fair Expo Center that the state’s largest city will play a key role in the election.
“We are literally the crossroads of this election, we really, really are,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “And if Milwaukee turns out, then we win.”
Speakers like Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin also stressed the critical role Wisconsin will play in this election.
“We are the battleground state!” Baldwin said.
Harris calls for bipartisanship
During her speech, Harris took her typical shots at Republican Donald Trump, but she also included a call for bipartisanship after the election.
“As president I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to the challenges we face,” Harris said. “I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress.”
Harris also said she’s willing to listen to those with opposing views.
“I pledge to listen to experts, to listen to people who disagree with me,” Harris said. “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail, I’ll give them a seat at the table.”
Harris thanked Republicans “who never voted for a Democrat before, but put the constitution of the United States above party.”
Harris says Trump’s comments on Liz Cheney ‘must be disqualifying’
Shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Wisconsin on Friday, she slammed former President Donald Trump’s comments that former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney should have rifles pointed at her over her support for U.S. wars overseas.
“He has increased his violent rhetoric – Donald Trump has – about political opponents and in great detail, great detail, suggested rifles should be trained on former Rep. Liz Cheney,” Harris told reporters in Madison. “This must be disqualifying.”
