A night of dueling rallies in Milwaukee, the largest city in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, turned into a night of high contrast.
Kamala Harris was supported by local officials including Senator Tammy Baldwin, but also by a host of entertainers including comedian Keegan Michael-Key and rapper Cardi B. The vice president was then introduced by an elementary school teacher.
Speaking before Donald Trump took the stage were two sitting senators, Markwayne Mullin and Eric Schmitt, a candidate for the Senate, Eric Hovde, and Robert F Kennedy Jr, who introduced him. Needless to say, the energy levels were very different.
While at the Harris rally an apparent teleprompter failure led to Cardi B reading her speech from a phone, there were bigger tech failures at the FiServ Forum a few miles away.
At the same venue where Trump accepted the Republican Party nomination in July, the former president was plagued by an audio problem.
Trump kicked off his rally by asking the question he starts all his rallies with: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
“No!” the near-capacity crowd roared, pleasing Trump, who commented on the size of the crowd several times.
Soon though, the crowd became frustrated with the sound levels in the venue, even chanting: “Fix the mic!”
Trump eventually got the message and ripped the microphone from the podium to hold it closer to his mouth.
“I think this mic stinks,” Trump said. “And then we don't pay the contractor. I say don't pay the contractor then they write a story, Trump doesn't pay his bills, he's a bad guy.”
Crowd: *chants fix the mic*
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 2, 2024
Trump: Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage? I get so mad, I'm up here seething. I'm working my ass off with this stupid mic. pic.twitter.com/tCwpNY4xFF
At one point, as the problems appeared to continue, the former president said: “You’ve gotta be kidding. Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?”
The crowd cheered and Trump continued: “I don’t mind if they want to come up a little forward or something but it’s a pretty stupid situation, but that’s OK.”
“I get so angry, I’m up here seething. I’m seething, I’m working my ass off with this stupid mic,” he carried on.
“I’m blowing out my left arm. Now I’m going to blow out my right arm, and I’m blowing out my damn throat too, because of these stupid people.”
Microphone: *noise* pic.twitter.com/SVKiPmC5NW
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 2, 2024
“I’ll make you a deal,” Trump said to the crowd. “Pretend you’re listening to it perfectly and I’ll come back and do another one… with a decent mic.”
He added that the only thing he asked for, over lighting or teleprompters, was a decent mic.
After holding a microphone for roughly 15 minutes, Trump complained about its weight.
“It’s like I’m weightlifting,” he said, adding that the mic was “heavy.”
During an earlier rally in Michigan when there was another technical problem, Trump again suggested that the contractors should not be paid.
