Cardi B wasn’t going to show up at the polls, but she showed up at Vice President Kamala Harris’ “When We Vote We Win” rally with a cry for Wisconsin voters Friday.

Ahead of Election Day coming up on Tuesday Nov. 5, the hip-hop hitmaker delivered a fiery speech that lasted nearly 10 minutes, complete with stinging soundbites and her signature, seemingly off-the-cuff swagger at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb outside Milwaukee.

During her speech, Cardi B said Harris “joining the race changed my mind completely. I did not have faith in any candidates…until she said the things that I wanted to hear.” Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in a surprise to American voters on July 21.

The “WAP” performer, who wore an all-white power suit, briefly got choked up and said she was nervous.

“Are we ready to make history?” she called out to cheers.

As she read a speech she wrote from an iPhone, sipping on water as she spoke, it didn’t take long for her to find the confidence that catapulted her into rap superstardom after the release of beat-heavy “Bodak Yellow” in 2017.

“I do not take lightly the call to show up, the call to speak up, the call to deliver a message that has been on my heart for a hot minute now…” she told the crowd. 

Cardi B continued: “Just like Kamala Harris, I too have been the underdog. I have been underestimated, my success belittled and discredited. Women have to work ten times harder, perform ten times better and still people question how we got to the top.”

Beyoncé endorses Kamala Harris for president, joining the VP at a Houston rally

Harris’ Wisconsin rally included performances from GloRilla, Flo Milli

Harris’ rally in Wisconsin on Friday included performances from Cardi B’s “Tomorrow 2” collaborator GloRilla as well as fellow female artists Flo Milli and MC Lyte. Former President Donald Trump also held a rally in the Milwaukee area on Friday at Fiserv Forum, the home of the Milwaukee Bucks in the city’s downtown.

Cardi B referenced Trump during her speech, telling the suburban crowd that she “can’t stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.”

“I believe in every word that comes out of her mouth,” Cardi B said. “She’s passionate, she’s compassionate, she shows empathy, and most of all, she’s not delusional.”

After expressing support for some of Harris’ campaign promises, including $25,000 in down payment assistance for housing and tax cuts for middle-class Americans, Cardi B again turned her attention to Trump.

“He said he is going to protect women whether they like it or not,” Cardi B said, citing some comments Trump made this week that have been criticized by the Harris campaign.

“Protection for women, especially…maternal and mental health care is not telling them what to do with their bodies. It’s supporting them and giving them the care they need for what they choose to do with their bodies. …” she added.

Cardi B then quipped that “if his definition of protection is not the freedom of choice, if his definition of protection is making sure our daughters have fewer rights than our mothers, than I don’t want it.”

Cardi B says Trump ‘selling us bigotry, misogyny, division, chaos’

After suggesting that Trump was “hustling Americans” by selling “Trump Bibles” and other items, Cardi B argued that Trump was “selling more than watches and sneakers.”

“He’s selling us bigotry, misogyny, division, chaos and confusion. And it’s going to cost you your money, equal opportunity, affordable health care, and any rights you thought you had for your body. He’s going to take it from you! Listen to me. He’s going to take it.” 

“I’m not giving Donald Trump a second chance,” she continued. “I’m not taking any chances with my future and I’m damn sure am taking no chances for the future of my children!””I’m with Kamala. I believe in her. And America I believe in you to turn out Tuesday, turn out and turn up on Tuesday. Let’s win this thing.”

Harris gets endorsements from Cardi B and other A-list celebrities

In recent weeks, the Harris campaign has recruited a roster of A-list celebrities to drum up support for the vice president during closing arguments at her “When We Vote We Win” rally and concert series in crucial swing states, including North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Celebrities such as Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Jennifer Lopez, Bon Jovi, Khalid, Maggie Rogers, and Gracie Abrams have been called upon to publicly support Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her rival, former President Donald Trump, have held duelling rallies only a few miles apart in the city of Milwaukee – the conclusion to a day of events that served as one of the last pushes for support before the November 5 election.

Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, is vote-rich territory for Democrats, but Republicans are focused on the surrounding conservative suburbs. Trump won the state in 2016 but lost in 2020.

“We know who Donald Trump is,” Harris said on Friday evening. “This is not someone who is thinking about how to make your life better. This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge. He is consumed with grievance, and the man is out for unchecked power.”

Less than 10 miles away in a different part of the city, Trump said: “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love America, and you can’t be the president if you hate the American people.”

Democrats know they must turn out voters in Milwaukee, also home to the state’s largest Black population. Harris is hoping to replicate, and exceed, turnout from 2020 in the city, which voted 79 percent for Biden that year.

Harris’s campaign warmed up the youthful crowd with appearances from music artists GloRilla, Flo Milli, MC Lyte, The Isley Brothers and DJ Gemini Gilly.

Also supporting Harris was rapper Rapper Cardi B. “Did you hear what Donny Trump said the other day?” she said, referring to Trump’s promise to protect women “whether they like it or not”.

“Donny, don’t,” she said. “Please.”

Need to turn the page

Harris’s message, as it has increasingly been at all her rallies, is that Americans are exhausted with Trump’s negative presence in the political scene and that it is time to move forward.

“We have an opportunity to finally turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other. We are done with it, we are exhausted with it, we are turning the page,” she said.

Harris also emphasised the need to find common ground and compromise in the country’s deeply divided politics.

“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” she said.

“He wants to put them in jail. I will give them a seat at the table.”

Everybody wants a job

Trump told his supporters he had asked his staff not to speculate about who might work for him when he wins.

“I don’t want to talk about any people. First, I want to win. We don’t want to talk about people. Don’t tell me about people. Everybody wants a job,” he said

“Remember this – there was a moment where they were saying, ‘Oh, nobody wants to work for Trump. He’s too difficult’. Let me tell you a little secret: They died to work for us. You know why? Because they all want to be this glamour deal. They want to be in this beautiful administration.”

Trump’s rallies have taken on a note of nostalgia in the last week before the election, and Friday was no exception.

At an afternoon rally in Warren, Michigan, he told supporters that he felt “energised” from the campaign trail.

“This has been a thrill of a lifetime for me and for you and everybody,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, Harris had left Las Vegas for Wisconsin, where she spoke at a union hall in Janesville, then held an event in Little Chute, before her third stop in the Milwaukee neighbourhood of West Allis.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins has exercised his player option and will return to the team in 2025.

Per Adam McCalvy, who covers the Brewers on social media:

Rhys Hoskins has exercised his $18 million player option to come back to the Brewers in 2025.

The 31-year-old signed a three-year deal with the Brewers last offseason. The second year included this player option and next offseason there will be a mutual option.

Coming off a torn ACL suffered in 2023, Hoskins helped lead the Brewers to the National League Central title in 2024. He hit just .214 but had 26 homers and 82 RBI. Those are solid numbers for sure, but Hoskins still posted just a 98 OPS+ for the year, suggesting he was a slightly below average player.

Now that the Brewers have a resolution on his status for next year, they’ll need to figure out a way to make him even more productive. The assumption is that Willy Adames is going to leave in free agency this offseason, meaning that Hoskins and Christian Yelich will need to pick up the slack and help carry the offense.

Hoskins is a seven-year veteran of the Philadelphia Phillies and Brewers. Lifetime, he’s a .238 hitter with 174 home runs. He hit a career-high 34 homers back in 2018 and has topped the 30-homer mark one other time (2022).

The Brewers were beaten by the New York Mets in the wild card series in these playoffs. The Brewers lost a crushing Game 3 as the Mets ultimately went to the NLCS.

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