LEDGEVIEW, WI (WTAQ) – Governor Scott Walker says there are a few reasons why he’s going to speak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
One of them is a promise he made during a Republican primary debate in August to support the likely presidential candidate whomever that was, even if it turned out to be Donald Trump.
“Not only am I going keep the commitment to the voters last August when I and other said that,” Walker said following a tour of Gemini Plastics. “I think it is clear Donald Trump is a better bet than Hillary Clinton.”
But the former presidential contender says there’s more to his planned speech than that.
“We’re going to focus, as I did four years ago, on the contrast between the major party candidate from one party and the other, and just overall what the difference is between the parties,” says Walker.
Local Democrats, however, aren’t buying into the party unity thing Walker is looking to sell.
“I don’t think he’s toeing the party line, I think he’s all out for Governor Walker just like Trump is only out for himself,” says Rich Langan, Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Brown County. “Walker’s looking maybe for a vice presidential spot, Walker’s looking for maybe a cabinet spot, because I hope he knows that his future in Wisconsin is limited.”
Governor Walker dismisses the idea that he’s bucking a trend of big name Republicans skipping the party’s annual convention because of Trump.
“A handful are, I still think you’re going to see the vast majority of people who’ve gone to conventions in the past will still be at the convention,” says Walker. “I think it’s a lot more hype at the national media level than anything else.”
MORE MEDIA BIAS
Another issue that Governor Walker showed Thursday with the national media is the response to a tweet he sent earlier this week which read, “Last August, I said I’d support the GOP nominee. It’s now clear who the RNC delegates will vote to nominate. And he is better than she is.”
More specifically, that Walker didn’t mention Donald Trump by name.
“That’s a good example of more the national media picking at things,” Walker says. “I think they overlooked the day before when I was in Platteville I said his name and I said Hillary Clinton’s name. I said he is better than she is and a vote for anyone other than Donald Trump is a vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Walker also brought up the fact that on Twitter, you only get 140 characters to say what you need to.
WALKER HELPING TRUMP?
Now that it appears Governor Walker will work with the GOP to get their presumptive nominee elected President, will Walker help Trump turn Wisconsin red come November? Langan says not so fast.
“I don’t think he’s gonna be very favorable in northeastern Wisconsin,” said Langan. “And I think it only bolsters the reason why northeastern Wisconsiners shouldn’t vote for either Trump or Walker.”
Langan believes Walker’s past election success upstate is just that, in the past.
“I think that Scott Walker has tipped his hand,” Langan explains. “People know him, people are afraid of him, people don’t like him anymore. And I think what happened during the recall, people didn’t like the recall and a lot of Democrats didn’t come out for that election.”
The 2016 Republican National Convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena July 18-21.
