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Mayor of Milwaukee, Cavalier Johnson, mister Mayor, it's great to have you here at the table with us. Thank you for coming over.
Thank you.
I know you have a couple of things going on today. I've been talking to Republicans Kaylee two here on set and outside, walking around the streets and at the convention hall. Everyone seems to be a pretty big fan of Milwaukee. So if we put this behind us.
Look when I first heard that, that was news to me too, because yeah, okay, I remember going to Washington to do the final pitch to the Republican National Committee's headquarters, and nowhere around we were any former presidents. It was just me and the county executive. Okay, our team here. But he didn't pick Milwauk. No, no, you didn't. It was hard work by our visitors and tourism Bureau US selling Milwaukee, and ultimately that's what transpired to get us
to where we are today. But I, like you, have been talking to a lot of Republicans who are here from across the country and even you know form press as well. Everybody's just blown away by the city. First time here, their first impression of Wisconsin is this, and they.
Love it well. It takes a lot to put on a convention like this, especially in the aftermath of an assassination attempt. We have all borne witnessed to the incredible amounts of security, the barriers that have been acted, police who have come in from out of state. What kind of resources go into hosting this And like net net is, does it cost the city more or gain the city more in terms of economic impact? Sure?
So in terms of the security apparatus, which is the largest expenditure we have here. Cities who host these sort of events get a grant from the federal government. So typically those grants have been stuck at fifty million dollars going back to two thousand and four. That was the first year that these conventions, both the Republican and Democratic national conventions, we're getting funding for them in the wake of nine to eleven. Then as you look to today,
twenty years later, things are a little more expensive. So myself county executive partners on the ground here in this community, we worked in a bipartisan manner. We went to Washington, DC. We lobbied members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats and ask for a twenty five million dollar increase to support this convention. Our lobbying was successful, and so there's seventy five million dollars going to support the security efforts around the convention.
So this is massive. You've got to be involved on a lot of layers that people don't tend to think about. But what does a Democrat do when Republicans come to his city? In your case, are you in the hall over there?
Are you?
Are you going to the breakfasts and the forums with the RNC?
Yeah, I mean this is a national and a global event that's taking place in my city and an opportunity to elevate Milwaukee too. So yes, I do go and I go check it out. Now, certainly I am a Democrat, as you mentioned, I'm going to the DNC as a delegate next month, probably to vote for President Joe Biden to continue on in his job here, and I think he'll win reelection. However, the same time, there's the political end,
and then there's the business end. The business for me is making sure that we promote Milwaukee across the world. That's what I want to do.
Just because you brought us here, Mayor and Joe Biden. You say you're planning to go to Chicago and cast your vote as a delegate for Joe Biden. Yet another Democrat today, in a high profile one at that Congressman Adam Schiff of California, has now joined a growing list of members of your party who say they do not believe that Biden can beat Donald Trump and should drop out as a result. What do you think about that.
I think he and other Democrats are wrong. There's only one person in the United States who has ever beaten Donald Trump in a political contest, and his name is Joe Biden. He has an outstanding record to run on over the course of the last three years, and he's got tremendous plans for a second term. This also reminds me of what happened in twenty twenty during the Democratic primaries. Right, we had people on the front end who voted and voted, and then we said, hey, why don't we let the
diversity and the Democratic Party speak? And then South Carolina came and Joe Biden had all this support in the world. Now he's President the United States, So let's allow for minorities for African American, particularly African American women to speak in this.
Election, but the data would suggest that more and more they are turning away from President Biden. Well you don't believe that.
Well, I can tell you this. I go out and I speak to my constituents. We were having a conversation just about festivals and things like that on the ground in this city. I go out to all those festivals and I engage with voters, particularly African American voters and African American mail voters too. I asked them the question about the election coming up, just real talk. Are you voting? Are you registered? Some say yes, some say no. Many of them have said yes and say, okay, who are
you voting for? You know, just real talk, just me and you, And they say, we're voting for President Joe Biden. There is no other person to vote for. And there's reasons for that because they know that Joe Biden has delivered for black people in this city and in this state and across the country. And you know, they know what they would get under a second Trump presidency. And so my understanding from talking directly with my constituents is that they are voting for President Joe.
Biden, and Wisconsin's going to be awfully important if he's going to pull this off. A lot of folks say he cannot be the president without Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania. That said, you're referring to four years ago here almost that. I remember that I talked to Joe Biden in New Hampshire and what was supposed to be the eve of his campaign ending, and things turned out a lot differently. But where's he going to be four years from now is
what many people are asking the oldest president ever. If his mental acuity is not there, he's not physically able to do the job. Do you have confidence in Kamala Harris or do you entertain the ideas of blowing this whole thing open and finding a new ticket.
I'm not interested in nullifying the votes of millions of people who voted for Joe Biden as an insult that we're talking about people other than Kamala Harris. Yes it is, Yes, absolutely it is. But the fact of the matter, regardless of who we're talking about, Joe Biden is a nominee anybody eve, including Democrats who are saying he should drop up. They had the opportunity to run against him in the primary.
They chose not and chose not to do it. President Biden got the votes necessary, he's got the delegates necessary. He's going to be our nominee. We are going to support him, and I believe he's going to win, not just but in Wisconsin and win re election to the presidency.
What does it take to win Wisconsin. What's the winning issue in Wisconsin?
The President has to come, continue to come. He has been doing it, and I'm glad that he's been doing it because it's important. And that's why his campaign has been making early and often investments reaching out to voters all across Milwaukee, especially black voters, so let them know about the deliverables that his administration has gotten for them and people across the state and across this country. But they've got to continue to come to tell the story.
The difference between these two men in this binary choice for president is that one is a show horse and one is a workhorse. Right, Joe Biden tucks his head down. He just gets the job done. He just Joe just goes. He just gets a job. She just gets a job done. But he's got to also toot his horn and let folks know what's going on. He has been doing that. Folks have been coming here. I encourage him to continue doing that leading up to the election.
All right, mister Mayor, thank you for joining us, and thank you for having us here in Milwaukee. I appreciate your time in hospitality. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson here with us on Bloomberg