Still Crazy After all These Years: Tommy Thompson

[milestogo]

‘I’m all for him’
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson champions Trump from the sidelines

Four-term Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson finds himself as an ambassador for President Trump without a portfolio. It’s an unusual role for Thompson, who has been a part of Madison and Washington policy and politics discussions since running as a 23-year-old for a central Wisconsin seat in the Assembly almost 60 years ago. Visiting UW-Madison Republicans last week, Thompson was an unabashed cheerleader for Trump, saying Trump won Wisconsin and the presidency because he “had a better message: This country is worth saving. The country is really destined to do some great things.”

Asked why Trump won, Thompson said President Joe Biden had lost all the political skills Thompson once admired and “was just not up to” the job. “Everybody recognized [Vice President Kamala Harris] was just not capable of leading this country,” Thompson said. And Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice president, was “not considered a very strong leader.” Rising grocery and gas prices, and interest rates above 9%, also hurt the Democrats, Thompson added. “Who gets the blame? The administration. All that reflected on Biden and Harris.”

And, Trump vowed to “do something to make the rest of the world respect us,” Thompson said. “America has been taken advantage of for the last four years something fierce…. Why should America have to subsidize everybody? We’re $36 trillion in debt.” Trump got Mexico and Canada to make concessions that will help America within hours after threatening them with tariffs, he said. “He may be unorthodox, but he’s a negotiator. I’m all for him.” Thompson said he did not favor tariffs on international trade until he saw how Trump “has made tariffs work.” Thompson said Trump has redefined the Republican Party.

“We’ve always been the party of small business, working men and women, the farmer, the student. “We believe in the individuality of all…Anybody can get ahead, anywhere, anyhow, any place they want to through your own merits — without the government coming and putting their thumb on the scale and saying, ‘You can go first because of this color, this gender and so on.’”

https://isthmus.com/news/news/Im-all-for-him/