As election day draws closer, both the Harris and Trump campaigns are focusing on key battleground states that will be crucial in the race for the White House.

This includes Wisconsin – a state won by less than a 1% margin both in 2020 and 2016. With such a tight race, both parties are pulling out all the stops in campaigns, including bring special guests to rallies.

For the Democrats, this includes Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic nomination for president twice.

“What happens here in Wisconsin is going to be pivotal. It’s a real toss up here. So, I hope people come out. I hope they vote for Kamala and Wisconsin can make all the difference in this national election.” Said Sanders, speaking on the closeness of battleground states.

During an October 12 visit to Wisconsin, Sanders campaigned for the Harris campaign in both Superior and Baraboo. Speaking to a crowd at Superior High School for around an hour, the Senator spoke on several of the topics that brought him to national prominence, such as healthcare, education, and tax inequalities.

“Since Donald Trump’s, the implementation of Trump’s tax breaks for the rich several years ago, 750 billionaires, fewer than 1,000 billionaires, doubled their wealth and became $3 trillion richer,” Sanders said, “Today in America, as a result of a corrupt tax system, billionaires pay an effective, i.e. real tax rate lower than what you pay. And we have large corporations making billions a year that pay nothing in federal income taxes.”

During his speech, Sanders often asked those in the crowd for examples on issues they face. Afterwards, he took a handful of questions from audience members.

When asked about the war in Gaza, Sanders openly disagreed with the current policy of the Biden Administration, acknowledging the horrors of October 7, yet criticizing the destruction that’s resulted in the subsequent fighting.

“I personally disagree very strongly with the Biden administration on Gaza, and I will do my best if a Kamala is elected president to turn them around from that position Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist who is allied in his cabinet with people who are out and out and out anti-Palestinian racists. They do not deserve another nickel of U.S. financial military aid.” the Senator said.

In response to Sanders’ visit to Superior, the Wisconsin GOP issued the following statement by it’s chairman, Brian Schimming.

“Wisconsin Democrats are doubling down on disaster by putting socialist Senator Bernie Sanders on tour. Sanders is the living embodiment of every failed, extreme policy that Democrats have produced over the last four years.

“While commuters in Wisconsin continue to pay more than $3 for a gallon of gasoline, it was Sanders who opposed the Keystone Pipeline and pushed a nationwide ban on fracking. Rather than pursue common sense solutions to the border crisis, Sanders has called to scrap both Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And while inflation was skyrocketing in 2021, Sanders spearheaded the Biden-Harris administration’s $3.5 trillion spending plan that would have poured gasoline on an already raging fire. Only Kamala Harris can boast a more extreme voting record in the U.S. Senate.

“Therefore, on behalf of all Republicans, I thank the Wisconsin Democrats for bringing the poster boy of bad policies to our state. His presence highlights the Biden-Harris administration’s abysmal record of high inflation, open borders, and left-wing negligence.”