Trump: Going to 'win so much we're sick of it'

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised a capacity crowd at St. Norbert College that “we’re going to win so much we’re sick of it” during the first of his three appearances Wednesday in Northeastern Wisconsin.

During his speech, Trump continued his attacks on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who on Tuesday backed Sen. Ted Cruz for the Republican primary election. Trump criticized Walker's job-creation record and his management of the state budget. Trump said Wisconsin has lost 15,000 jobs to Mexico and 70,000 jobs to China since the North American Free Trade Agreement was passed and that Walker and Republicans in control of the state legislature have left the state with a $2.2 billion budget deficit while dividing residents.

“Everybody thought Scott Walker was tough and doing a good job when, you know, he was fighting people,” Trump said. “It’s better if you can do it without the fighting so much, you know. … How many times can you fight? I looked at your capitol; every time, it was growing more crazy. It’d be cooler if you could get better results. How about getting a better result without the fighting?”

Trump's town hall on the De Pere college campus kicked off a full day of campaigning in advance of Wisconsin's April 5 presidential primary, in which the most recent poll shows him trailing Cruz.

Trump followed his St. Norbert appearance with an invitation-only town hall at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, hosted by Chris Matthews of MSNBC. Topics included terrorism, college debt, abortion and building a wall on the border with Mexico. The campaign swing ended with an afternoon rally with about 1,000 supporters at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton.

Trump said his criticism of Walker was in response to the governor's endorsement of Cruz this week, and their support for free-trade agreements that have cost Americans jobs. Trump said he’s using the same information about jobs, the economy and the state budget that he used to push Walker out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination last year.

“I did basically what I’m doing now — except with more vigor — and within a matter of weeks (Walker) was gone,” Trump said. “He would have been better off if he didn’t endorse Ted Cruz because now I’m just letting out facts that nobody would have even known.”

Some supporters who attended the De Pere speech said they voted for Walker, but also understood the point of Trump’s criticisms.

“Scott Walker is a great governor, but I would have never voted for him for president,” Green Bay resident Albert Vetter said. “Scott Walker’s just a governor. He shouldn’t be higher up. … It makes me like Trump a lot more because he’s right about Scott Walker.”

Outside of the Walter Theatre, though, Wisconsin Republicans continued to stick with Walker and Cruz. A new Marquette University Law School Poll showed 40 percent of likely Republican primary voters favored Cruz, with 30 percent supporting Trump. Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailed both at 21 percent. The poll found 80 percent of likely Republican primary voters support Walker and 45 percent back Cruz.

Green Bay resident Richard Hunsucker was one of the first in line at St. Norbert. He arrived at about 2 a.m. Wednesday. He said he's a strong believer in Trump's stance on illegal immigrants, preserving Social Security benefits and improving the United States.

"We need happy, proud days in America again," Hunsucker said. "The people who built America are here and we're getting a raw deal."

Hunsucker said he likes Trump's outsider status among the remaining Republican candidates.

"Politicians are like baby diapers: You need to change them often," he said.

Trump said he is focused on securing the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination; he said he’s got momentum on his side even if the Wisconsin polling numbers are not. He said voters of all ethnic and demographic backgrounds vote for him because they know he’ll spur job growth and preserve programs like Medicare and Social Security.

“A movement is only a movement if the movement ends in greatness, meaning ends in making sure that our country really becomes great again. We have so much momentum,” Trump said. “These other candidates, they want to knock out your Social Security, they want to knock your your Medicare. You know, Medicare is a program that works. There’s a lot of waste, fraud and abuse, but it’s a program that works. These people want to knock it out. I want to make our country rich again so we can have it without knocking it out and without doing anything to it, other than running it better.”

Organizers of anti-Trump demonstrations at St. Norbert and UWGB said the events were peaceful and free of the vitriol and confrontation that have marred other Trump rallies.

UWGB protest organizer Phoenix Van Laanen said he felt the experience was positive for everyone who stopped by whether they stayed for a few minutes before class or all day.

“UW-Green Bay fought back and didn’t just allow this on our campus,” Van Laanen said.

Marissa Elliott, a college junior who was carrying an anti-Trump sign at St. Norbert, said she was turned away at the entrance by Trump's staff.

"At this point, it's not even political. I think it's personal," she said. "He is not presidential. I don't think he'd be a good representative for our county. He's not good at negotiating with other candidates. How can he negotiate with other countries?"

People were being turned away more than an hour before Trump began speaking at 10 a.m. because the St. Norbert's Walter Theatre was already full.

Campus spokesman Mike Counter said the theater holds about 700 people. Attendees were required to order tickets for the event, and 100 tickets were set aside for St. Norbert students, Counter said.

He did not know the number of tickets distributed, but a long line of people who said they had tickets was turned away shortly after 9 a.m.

"It's kind of upsetting," freshman Drew Olson said. "I wanted to hear him, but we're out of luck."

About 200 people attended the invitation-only Matthews interview at UW-Green Bay. Matthews warmed up the audience before Trump arrived, and taping began about 12:05 p.m. They responded most enthusiastically when Trump said "you're fired," and when he said he believes he likely is more intelligent than Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

When asked for a show of hands, about half the audience indicated they were Republican, the other Democrat. About a third indicated they supported Trump, and one woman raised her hand as a Cruz supporter.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt also was at the event. During the taping, Schmitt told Trump some local politicians are embarrassed by the lack of decorum in the campaign.

"It's very important we elevate the conversation," Trump said. "I'd rather talk about real issues."

Trump later spoke for 50 minutes in Appleton, where he again touched on his campaign themes on curbing illegal immigration, increasing military force and ending trade deals that send manufacturing jobs overseas.

“We don’t win with our military, we don’t win with trade, we don’t win with health care, we don’t win with education,” Trump said.

The Trump supporters in Appleton said they support Trump because of his willingness to say and do what he wants.

"I think it's really important he has a backbone," said Emerald Rhoads, 19. Rhoads and friend James Lindo, 20, drove from Menomonie, Wis., to attend their second Trump event. Their first was in Council Bluff, Iowa. "He cares about what I care about."

Wednesday was the first time Green Bay resident Steve Balsamo and his sister, Melissa Pierce, attended a political rally. Pierce marked the occasion by buying Balsamo a "Make America Great Again" cap.

Balsamo said Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have generated so much energy because their outsider status attracts the silent, blue-collar majority.

"People are kind of fed up with the establishment," Balsamo said. "(Trump) speaks his mind and what he says resonates with a lot of us."

Tyler Lewis, a junior at St. Norbert, was one of several hundred people standing in line to enter the Walter Theatre. He said he's still undecided about who he will vote for, but is not a Trump supporter.

"You don't get much opportunity to attend such an event on campus," he said. "I'm going just to hear what he's got to say."

jbollier@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GBstreetwise ; pzarling@pressgazette.com or follow her on Twitter @pgpattizarling