Trump rallies in Wisconsin's critical Democratic stronghold ahead of the vice presidential debate

WAUNAKEE, Wis. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump spent more than an hour ahead of Tuesday night's vice presidential debate campaigning in a Democratic county that is crucial to Kamala Harris ' hopes for winning the key battleground state of Wisconsin.

Republican Trump appeared at a manufacturing facility in Waunakee, a suburb of Wisconsin's capital city of Madison in the Democratic stronghold of Dane County. Trump had never campaigned in Dane County nor visited as president.

In an event advertised as economic-themed, Trump bounced from subject to subject, also taking on Democratic nominee Harris on issues, including foreign policy, crime and immigration, while intermittently pivoting to criticism of outgoing President Joe Biden.

“I’m asking every citizen to join me in launching sort of a new golden age for America," Trump told hundreds inside Dane Manufacturing, a metal fabricator that has a long history of hosting Republican candidates and officeholders.

Trump also could not pass up a jab at former President Jimmy Carter on the Georgia Democrat's 100th birthday.

With hollow praise, Trump declared the one-term Carter “the happiest man” because he “is considered a brilliant president” compared to Biden. Trump did not note Carter's birthday, nor his status as the longest-living former president.

Later Tuesday, Trump held an event at a museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city and home to the state's largest number of Democratic voters and second-largest number of Republicans. The event was intended to highlight “school choice” initiatives giving incentives to families wishing to send their children to private schools. “Universal school choice” was highlighted in the Republican platform this year.

Trump took questions for more than half an hour. He claimed the U.S. faced its most dangerous time since World War II, citing the escalating Middle East conflict as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, and again argued he would have prevented those conflicts had he won a second term four years ago.

He accused Biden of being weak toward Iran's leadership. Asked about an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Iraq during his presidency — revenge for the U.S. killing Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani — Trump downplayed the brain injuries suffered by more than 100 service members.

“Injured means, you mean, because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort,” he said.

Last Saturday, he held a rally in western Wisconsin where he blamed Harris for crimes committed by people in the country illegally.

Both of his planned stops were ahead of Tuesday's debate in New York between Trump’s running mate JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota.

Dane County, the location of Trump's first stop, is Wisconsin's fastest-growing county and an economic engine for the state, fueled by jobs in the health care and tech industries. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin.

Dane County’s population grew by about 30,000 people between 2016 and 2020. It has gone up by another 13,000 since then, based on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate.

That presents a challenge for Republicans, especially given that nearly 90% of registered voters in the county cast ballots in 2020. Biden won 75% of the vote that year in Dane County, beating Trump by 181,000 votes in the county while carrying the state by fewer than 21,000. Hillary Clinton beat Trump in Dane County in 2016 by 47 points, and Trump won the state by less than a point.

It's a point former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said he made to Trump. In remarks to the crowd before Trump arrived, Thompson said the former president should “go where the opposition is."

“And, the retort was, ‘Isn’t Madison very liberal?’” Thompson said. “Yes, but Dane County has the third most Republican votes in the state of Wisconsin and all we have to do is increase them.”

Democratic presidential candidates have long come to Dane County to hold massive rallies to fire up the base. Harris campaigned there on Sept. 20, holding a rally in Madison that attracted more than 10,000 people.

Waunakee, which bills itself as the “only Waunakee in the world,” is slightly more Republican than the county as a whole. In 2020, Trump got 36% of the vote there compared to less than 23% countywide.

Cooper reported from Milwaukee. Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Jeff Norton, of Monroe, Wis., waits to enter a Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Merchandise is seen outside a Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson arrives before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson arrives before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker arrives before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Longtime friends, family and fans of Jimmy Carter milled around his hometown of Plains to celebrate his 100th birthday on Tuesday, the first time an American president has lived a full century and the latest milestone in a life that took the Depression-era farmer's son to the White House and across the world as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian and advocate for democracy.

Living the last 19 months in home hospice care, the 39th president keeps defying expectations, just as he did through a remarkable rise from his family peanut farming and warehouse business to the world stage. The Democrat served one presidential term from 1977 to 1981 and then for four decades led The Carter Center, which he and his wife Rosalynn co-founded in 1982 to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope.”

“Not everybody gets 100 years on this earth, and when somebody does, and when they use that time to do so much good for so many people, it's worth celebrating," his grandson Jason Carter, chair of The Carter Center governing board, said in an interview.

“These last few months, 19 months, now that he’s been in hospice, it’s been a chance for our family to reflect,” he continued, “and then for the rest of the country and the world to really reflect on him. That’s been a really gratifying time.”

James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924 in Plains, where he lives in the same one-story home he and Rosalynn built in the early 1960s, before his first election to the Georgia state Senate. The former first lady, also from Plains, died last November at 96.

About 25 family members filled his home Tuesday, enjoying cupcakes on the front lawn while antique World War II planes flew over in his honor. At night, they planned to gather around the TV to watch the vice-presidential debate.

Chip Carter said his father’s next goal is to make it to Election Day.

"He’s plugged in," Carter said in an interview. “I asked him two months ago if he was trying to live to be 100, and he said, No, I'm trying to live to vote for Kamala Harris.”

Chip Carter sat in the front row of a naturalization ceremony held annually on his father's birthday for 100 new citizens at Plains High School, which his father attended. The building is now a museum.

Jill Stuckey, superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, recalled that a teacher once told Carter's class that one of the students would be president someday. She said Carter “took it heart.”

“One thing I’ve learned is to never underestimate Jimmy Carter, because if you do, he will prove you wrong,” Stuckey said.

President Joe Biden, the first sitting senator to endorse Carter’s 1976 campaign, praised his longtime friend for an “unwavering belief in the power of human goodness.”

“You’ve always been a moral force for our nation and the world (and) a beloved friend to Jill and me and our family,” the 81-year-old president said in a tribute video, recorded in front of Carter’s White House portrait. Carter asked Biden to eulogize him at his state funeral when the time comes.

But even on Carter’s 100th birthday, Donald Trump could not pass up repeating his longstanding jab at the Georgia Democrat. Trump labeled Biden “the worst president,” and said Carter is “the happiest man because Carter is considered a brilliant president by comparison.” It was hollow praise for the one-term president who was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980 but went on to become a respected world figure.

Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, for his part, declared Tuesday “Jimmy Carter Day” to recognize his legacy as the state's 76th governor. Other birthday events have included a musical gala in Atlanta with dozens of artists, airing Tuesday evening on Georgia Public Broadcasting, that has raised more than $1.2 million for The Carter Center. Townspeople in Plains planned another concert Tuesday evening.

And Habitat for Humanity volunteers are devoting this week to build 30 houses in his honor in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Carters served as ambassadors for the organization, hosted annual building projects into their 90s.

Minister Barbara Green and Deacon William Le Green of Americus came to Main Street in Plains to honor Carter, who helped build their Habitat for Humanity home in the early 2000s. Le Green recalled how Carter gave the couple hammers to keep, along with their keys.

“He didn't mind getting his hands dirty, or anything of the kind,” Le Green said.

Jimmy Carter was last seen publicly nearly a year ago, visibly diminished and silent as he used a reclining wheelchair to attend his wife's two funeral services. Jason Carter said the family hadn't expected to enjoy his 100th birthday after she died. The former president's hospital bed had been set up so he could see and talk to his wife of 77 years in her final days and hours.

“We frankly didn’t think he was going to go on much longer,” Jason Carter said. “He’s really given himself over to what he feels is God’s plan. He knows he's not in charge. But in these last few months, especially, he has gotten a lot more engaged in world events, a lot more engaged in politics, a lot more, just engaged, emotionally, with all of us.”

He said the centenarian president, born four years after women were granted the constitutional right to vote and four decades before Black women won ballot access, is eager to cast his 2024 presidential ballot for the Democrat who would be first woman, second Black person and first person of south Asian descent to reach the Oval Office.

“He, like a lot of us, was incredibly gratified by his friend Joe Biden’s courageous choice to pass the torch,” the younger Carter said. “You know, my grandfather and The Carter Center have observed more than 100 elections in 40 other countries, right? So, he knows how rare it is for somebody who’s a sitting president to give up power in any context.”

Early voting in Georgia begins Oct. 15, two weeks into Carter's 101st year.

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

Chip Carter, son of former President Jimmy Carter, speaks with reporters after a naturalization ceremony for one hundred people to become U.S. citizens in honor of his father's 100th birthday Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

One hundred people take the oath to become American citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the high school attended by former President Jimmy Carter on Carter's 100th birthday Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

One hundred people take the oath to become American citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the high school attended by former President Jimmy Carter on Carter's 100th birthday Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A man from Haiti takes the oath to become an American citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the high school attended by former President Jimmy Carter on Carter's 100th birthday Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Volunteers build houses during Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project at the site of the former Hillcrest Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Leila Navidi /Star Tribune via AP)

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, from left, talks with Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks after a press conference at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project at the site of the former Hillcrest Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Leila Navidi /Star Tribune via AP)

Volunteers build houses during Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project at the site of the former Hillcrest Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Leila Navidi /Star Tribune via AP)

Volunteers Barry Mason, left, and Gwenn Branstad work to build a house during Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project at the site of the former Hillcrest Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Leila Navidi /Star Tribune via AP)

A young boy watches as people take the oath to become American citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the high school attended by former President Jimmy Carter Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A person holds a program after a naturalization ceremony one hundred people to become U.S. citizens at the high school attended by former President Jimmy Carter on Carter's 100th birthday Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A sign wishing former President Jimmy Carter a happy 100th birthday sits on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, hold hands as they walk from a state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School class at the Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Ga., Aug. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - An estimated crowd of 35,000 people gather for a noontime speech by Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in downtown Philadelphia, Oct. 29, 1976. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter greets attendees as he departs the funeral service for his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool, File)