Walker at soapbox: I am not intimidated
Rather than being derailed by a group of protesters, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appeared to feed off the energy Monday as he spoke at The Des Moines Register Political Soapbox.
“I am not intimidated by you, sir, or anyone else out there,” he told a heckler, his voice rising as his supporters cheered. “I will fight for the American people over and over and over and over again.”
Walker gained notoriety after his efforts to limit the collective bargaining rights of union workers sparked massive protests in his home state of Wisconsin. He has used that record to craft an image of a tough-under-pressure conservative who will hold firm in his convictions.
“You can see it,” Walker told the crowd. “This is what happened in Wisconsin. We will not back down.”
It’s a strategy that has served him well so far in Iowa, where he has led in several polls for months until recently falling behind Republicans Donald Trump and Ben Carson.
Walker hinted at their success in his speech, noting that the American people are angry with the lack of leadership.
“I think part of the reason why we see some of the things we see across this country are because people want to send a message,” he said. “I’ve talked to voters all the time in this state and around the country who say we want to send a message to Republican leaders in Washington that when you make promises on the campaign trail we want to see it, whether it’s repealing Obamacare or standing up against illegal immigration.”
Walker highlighted what he called “common sense conservative reforms,” like securing the border, requiring an ID to vote, drug testing for welfare recipients and defunding Planned Parenthood.
“If you want someone who can win and get results and not compromise, I’m the candidate to send to the White House,” he said.
AT THE EVENT
Quote: “We didn’t just take on 100,000 protesters, some of which who’ve come here today. But you know what, they didn’t intimidate us in the capitol. They didn’t intimidate us in the capitol, because in America they have every right to speak. But they can’t drown out the voices of the millions of people who elected me in Wisconsin, and if you give me the chance to be president, I will not allow the few to drown out the voices of the many in this country.”
Crowd: The crowd spilled into the Grand Concourse, deep enough to nearly block the street.
Other stops at the fair: After Walker spoke at the soapbox, he made stops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent, where he and wife Tonette flipped pork, as well as at the Iowa Farm Bureau’s tent and the Leinenkugel beer stand.
Up next: Walker will leave the fair and head to campaign stops in Webster City and Clarion.
Walker: If we focus on racial discord, we’re going to get more of it
As Walker toured the Iowa State Fair on Monday, he was met with a fair number of hecklers who asked him about the minimum wage, his proposals to take money out of higher education and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In an interview with The Des Moines Register following his soapbox speech, Walker said that in the case of Black Lives Matter, Americans should be focusing on things “that unite this country, not things that divide this country.”
“If we have leaders who focus on racial discord, we’re going to get more of it as we’ve seen under this administration,” Walker said. “If we have leaders who focus on unity, we’re going to get more of that. And I think the families of the massacre down in Charleston, South Carolina, clearly shows the way on that path. We need to talk about things that bring us together as all Americans, black or white, rich or poor, in big cities and small towns and everywhere in between.”
Walker, who is known for wearing a Fitbit step tracker every day, also said he had big plans to “eat his way around the fair.”
“I have to use my Fitbit to make sure I can keep in shape along the way,” he said. “Like most Americans I like to eat, particularly at fairs, and I’m going to do some here today.”