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wisconsin
Worker Group Rebukes Trump as 'Billionaire Sleazeball' Over Dump Truck Stunt
The Republican nominee "acting like he is a worker is beyond gross, and slap in the face to all working-class people," said the Durham Workers Assembly.
Oct 31, 2024
A worker group in North Carolina on Wednesday criticized former U.S. President Donald Trump and one of the Republican nominee's allies for campaign stunts involving garbage trucks.
After struggling to open the truck's door—which led to a viral video clip and concerns about Trump's physical condition—the ex-president climbed into the passenger seat of a white truck adorned with American flags and a banner that said, "Trump, Make America Great Again! 2024."
Wearing an orange high-visibility vest that he also wore during a later rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, saying to reporters: "How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden."
In a pair of social media posts, the Durham Workers Assembly highlighted that the dump truck gimmick followed Trump donning an apron last week at a McDonald's in another swing state—Pennsylvania—where he worked a french fry fryer and dodged questions about raising the minimum wage.
"First slinging fries at McD's now this!" said the Durham, North Carolina branch of the Southern Workers Assembly, which aims to organize the unorganized working class in the U.S. South and coordinate actions across the region.
"A billionaire sleazeball acting like he is a worker is beyond gross, and slap in the face to all working-class people," the group declared on social media. "Workers must organize and raise up to smash MAGA fascism!"
The Durham Workers Assembly noted that "pro-Trump fellow billionaire" Vivek Ramaswamy participated in a similar stunt, arriving at a Wednesday campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina on the back of a sanitation truck.
The garbage truck events, as Politicoexplained, came in response to "Biden responding to a comedian at the former president's Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden calling Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage.' Biden, addressing the racist joke on Tuesday, appeared to call Trump's supporters 'garbage' in return, which Republicans seized on even as the White House said he was referring to Trump's 'supporter's'— note the apostrophe placement—'demonization of Latinos.'"
Winning over working-class voters has been a priority for both campaigns. Many national unions have endorsed Harris—though, notably, not the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose leader spoke at this year's Republican National Convention and faced criticism for not backing a presidential candidate for the first time in decades.
The United Auto Workers is among the unions that have endorsed Harris. In a Tuesday speech, UAW president Shawn Fain advocated for working-class unity against Trump, whom he's called a "scab," and emphasized that "we engage in politics as a union because it is core to our fight for economic and social justice."
Unions and worker advocates cheered Harris' selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. A former public school teacher, Walz has slammed Trump and his vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), as enemies of the working class, saying that "the only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them."
Vance is a former venture capitalist known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which was made into a movie. As Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson wrote in September: "In the pages of his book, Vance presents a dim view of the actual poor, whom he refers to as 'welfare queens' and accuses of 'gaming' America's too-generous social services. And as he campaigns in 2024, Vance is wielding his book as both a shield and a cudgel, using the tale of his hardscrabble youth to distract from the fact that he's now a multimillionaire member of the Senate, while simultaneously lashing out at the 'elites' for looking on his kind with contempt."
During a Thursday campaign event, Walz acknowledged the garbage truck stunt while lambasting Trump's tariff plans.
"This dude's nearly 80 years old. He damn near killed himself getting in a garbage truck. You would think over 80 years you would understand how a tariff works," Walz said. "Smarter people than Donald Trump—which is a good chunk of folks—CEOs of companies like Black & Decker, AutoZone, and Columbia, have gone on the record to say, if Donald Trump goes forward with this plan, they will simply have to raise prices and pass it on to you."
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'Jaw-Dropping' Energy as Voters Line Up for Miles for Harris-Walz Rally in Wisconsin
"One day after Kamala Harris had a packed house in Philadelphia, she is following it up with another packed house in Wisconsin," said one activist.
Aug 07, 2024
Holding her second rally in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin since launching her presidential bid, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was greeted Wednesday by a crowd of people who had waited in mileslong lines of cars to see her and her newly announced running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speak about their campaign for the White House.
A timelapse video posted on X by Adam Duxter, a reporter for local CBS News affiliate WCCO, showed a long line of people waiting to enter a venue that holds 30,000 in Eau Claire, a city that is represented by a Republican in Congress, as campaign staffer Victor Shi said.
"Holy cow," said Shi. "This energy and enthusiasm are freaking jaw-dropping."
Shi also posted a video of the crowd of tens of thousands of people waiting for Harris and Walz to speak, along with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
The rally came a day after Harris and Walz appeared in Philadelphia for their first official campaign event together as running mates. Harris' selection of Walz has won praise from labor unions, reproductive rights groups, and climate action organizations, with advocates praising his unapologetic support for universal school meals for public school students, paid family and medical leave, a Minnesota law that codified Roe v. Wade, and legal protections for transgender youths who get gender-affirming healthcare.
"One day after Kamala Harris had a packed house in Philadelphia, she is following it up with another packed house in Wisconsin," said Democratic activist Aaron Parnas. "Folks, a movement is brewing."
A photo by Star Tribune photographer Glen Stubbe showed a long line of cars on a road leading to the venue, and KSTP reporter Eric Chaloux filmed a line that began two and a half miles away from the venue.
In late July, days after President Joe Biden announced he was stepping aside in the 2024 election and endorsed Harris, under pressure from Democratic leaders and donors, Harris held her first campaign event in Milwaukee, speaking to a packed auditorium at West Allis Central High School at an event that showed a stark contrast to Biden's events, including a debate in late June where his performance intensified concerns about his age and health.
The crowded venue in Eau Claire and lines that started forming hours before the rally on Wednesday exemplified what one observer called "2008-level enthusiasm among Democrats right now."
Harris and Walz are planning to make stops in North Carolina's Research Triangle; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix; and Las Vegas during a battleground state tour in the coming days.
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'Voters Won Big': Wisconsin Supreme Court Restores Ballot Drop Boxes
"At the very heart of our democracy is the fundamental freedom to vote," said Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. "This is a victory for our democracy."
Jul 05, 2024
Democracy defenders in Wisconsin celebrated on Friday after the state Supreme Court ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes can be located throughout communities for the November elections, reversing a decision from two years ago, when there was a majority of right-wing justices.
"Wisconsin voters won big today with the decision to reinstate drop boxes across the Badger State," said All Voting is Local Wisconsin state director Sam Liebert in a statement. "Drop boxes are an incredibly popular form of voting that offer greater access to the elections for those who may not be able to wait in line at the polls, particularly those with disabilities."
"Wisconsin voters should have more options, and drop boxes are a secure and easy way to increase civic participation and ensure voters have another safe, secure, and accessible way to cast their ballot," Liebert added.
Common Cause Wisconsin co-chair Penny Bernard Schaber, whose group joined an amicus brief to the court in May, also welcomed the ruling, saying that "reinstating the use of secure ballot drop boxes is good for all of us in Wisconsin."
"It is especially good for individual voters who have mobility issues and time constraints that make it difficult for them to go into and out of a polling place or an election clerk's office," the former Democratic state representative similarly stressed. "Secure ballot drop boxes are a necessary and safe way to return our ballots."
Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) declared: "This is huge news for democracy! Making it easier for folks to vote is a good thing."
Common Cause Wisconsin pointed out that "voter drop boxes have been used since before 2016 and in 2020-21, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of drop boxes was expanded to 570 located in 66 of Wisconsin's 72 counties. The expanded number of drop boxes, authorized by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), offered voters a more convenient and safe way to ensure that their absentee ballots could be returned in time to be counted, in part because of the uncertainty of timely delivery of ballots by the U.S. Postal Service."
Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote in the majority opinion that "our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes. It merely acknowledges what Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1. has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion."
She was joined by the other three liberals, including Justice Janet Protasiewicz, whose election last year ended right-wing control of the court. Wisconsinites are preparing for a similar electoral battle next year, when Walsh Bradley plans to retire.
The court earlier this week agreed to take up a pair of high-profile abortion cases. Late last year, the liberal majority threw out Wisconsin's legislative maps, which were rigged to favor Republicans. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new maps in February.
Applauding the ruling on Friday, Evers said that the court "affirmed what we've been saying all along: Drop box voting is safe, secure, and legal, and local clerks should be empowered to make decisions that make sense for their local communities."
"At the very heart of our democracy is the fundamental freedom to vote," he continued. "This is a victory for our democracy. And we're going to keep fighting to ensure that every eligible voter can cast their ballot safely, securely, and as easily as possible to make sure their voices are heard."
The decision comes as Wisconsin is expected to play a key role in this year's contest for the White House. Democratic President Joe Biden, who is now seeking reelection and campaigning in Wisconsin on Friday, won the state by about 20,000 votes in 2020, when he beat former President Donald Trump, now the presumptive Republican nominee.
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