Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, now president of Young America’s Foundation, says security will be tightened at future YAF events following the murder of Charlie Kirk.
“We constantly look at this,” Walker said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “We will reexamine all that we do to ensure the safety of our students, first and foremost, our speakers, other staff and others. So we will make some adjustments, no doubt. But let me be clear. There have been some people suggesting that our group, and others like it, should stop doing speeches on campus, and we will not do that. We’re not going to back down. That would mean this assassin would win. I think the best way to honor Charlie’s memory is to continue to do the work he was doing to reach out to young people.
“We typically do not do events outdoors,” Walker added. “We do them in auditoriums. We may even eventually have to have metal detectors or other things like that.”
Walker said “there has to be” a scaling back of heated political rhetoric that led up to last week’s shooting.
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“This is one of those where not only elected officials, people that lead organizations, business leaders, religious leaders, education leaders, all of us bear responsibility for this,” Walker said. “And we’ve got to step up and say we’ve got to do better. We can have a dialogue. We can have a debate. We can’t go to the opposite extreme. We can’t use this as an excuse to shut down our voices. That’s not what America is about.”
GOP candidate for governor Josh Schoemann says, “I think any Republican will” need President Trump’s endorsement to win the Republican primary and advance to the general election.
“So I’m excited to earn the president’s endorsement,” Schoemann told “UpFront.” “We’ve been in the West Wing. I have not talked to him personally. But they’re very, very focused on the House. I think Tom (Tiffany) was pretty clear about that. I think (the president) was pretty clear with Tom about that, it sounds like, and they were clear with us about that.”
GOP U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is considering his own bid for governor, has said President Trump told him personally about the importance of keeping Republican control of the U.S. House. Tiffany is expected to make his decision by the end of the month.
“We’ve tried millionaires, we’ve tried congressmen,” Schoemann said. “No congressman has won the race for governor in Wisconsin since 1930. The millionaire thing hasn’t worked for us lately. It’s not a winning formula, so let’s go with what works.”
Schoemann said he visited all 72 counties in the first 127 days of his campaign as he works to build name ID and fundraise statewide.
“It’s good, but slow,” Schoemann said when asked about fundraising. “People are waiting to see what’s going to happen, and it’ll come slowly but surely. But now that we’re past Labor Day, we’re stacking up some events and fundraisers, and I’m excited.”
Schoemann doubled down calls to send National Guard troops to Milwaukee, just as Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley officially entered the race himself.
“Listen, the mayor and county executive have done a horrendous job on crime in Milwaukee,” Schoemann said. “Nobody denies it. It’s embarrassing. I’ve been vocal and frustrated with how they’ve operated. When I’m governor, we’re going to give them all the resources they need for law enforcement, just like I’ve done as Washington County executive, and if it requires me to, I will call the president myself personally and ask for National Guard troops.”
Democratic candidate for governor David Crowley says he welcomes a growing Democratic field but opposes the notion that a large primary field will push candidates to the left.
“I don’t think so,” Crowley told “UpFront.” “This is really about giving voters an option. I think a primary election is good for our democracy, and so having as many candidates as possible gives voters the opportunity to see the different candidates and different perspectives.
“I’m the only candidate in this race that has both experience serving in the Legislature as well as actually running a government,” Crowley added. “So I know exactly how Madison works, and for the past five years, I’ve been leading the largest county in the entire state. I represent a sixth of our entire population. It’s about a million people, but also managing one of the largest budgets with a $1.4 billion budget. And so the issues that I’ve tackled, these aren’t just Milwaukee issues. These are state of Wisconsin issues.”
Hours after launching his campaign, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson endorsed Crowley, ending speculation about Johnson potentially entering the race as well.
“It’s exciting,” Crowley said. “Mayor Cavalier Johnson is a great leader here in the city of Milwaukee, a great friend of mine, went to high school together. But having him lets folks know that we’re willing to come to the table. People here in Milwaukee, we’re working well with one another to tackle the issues, and we’re not running away from it.”
Milwaukee County is projecting a roughly $47 million deficit. Crowley, in an interview earlier in the week, said, “I think we need to revisit how we actually tax,” which some took to mean an endorsement for raising taxes.
“No, that is not what I’m saying,” Crowley said. “What I’m saying is the way we are taxed in our state, in the state of Wisconsin, is antiquated. We put everything, all of our revenues, pretty much on the backs of all our property tax owners, and so there are ways we can look at different ways in raising revenues for many of our local communities so they can invest in things that matter to them.”
Crowley said he would look at creating a Blue Ribbon Commission to look at the state’s taxes.
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