MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Donald Trump Jr. took to the stage Thursday night at the Alabama Republican Party’s Victory Dinner Reception to celebrate his father’s election last year, but also cautioned Republican voters not to become complacent amid the recent party loss in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, the event was attended by hundreds of Republican Party supporters, among them a number of state leaders such as Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore and Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Raisnville. State agency leaders like Attorney General Steve Marshall, Secretary of State Wes Allen and others were also in attendance. Just outside the venue, attendees were greeted by dozens of demonstrators protesting the event, chanting expletives directed at President Donald Trump.
“Is it not amazing to see America be made great again?” Ledbetter asked the crowd to thunderous applause ahead of Trump Jr.’s keynote speech.
Trump’s first son, Trump Jr. was met with a standing ovation, and for close to an hour, spoke to what he felt his father’s election victory last year meant for the country. And while much of his speech touched on the administration’s accomplishments over the past two months, he also shared a warning to Republican voters about complacency.
“We have that problem, we get complacent, we get lazy, we see the wins on TV and we sit back, you saw what happened in Wisconsin this week,” Trump Jr. said. “You have a lunatic leftist judge funded largely by outside groups that still wins the Supreme Court race that’s going to decide the redistricting in Wisconsin.”
On Tuesday, Wisconsin voters voted overwhelmingly to elect Susan Crawford to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating the Trump-backed opponent Brad Schimel in what was a heavily watched race. The election maintained the 4-3 liberal majority on the court, and will likely impact the state’s congressional district map.
With a liberal majority in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Democratic Party leadership in the state believe a redrawn congressional district map could help them win an additional two seats in the state’s congressional delegation.
“We could have won that easily,” Trump Jr. said. “If the same people that showed up for Trump, if they showed up this time around, you hold the Supreme Court, you don’t have an activist judge pushing all the insanity.”
The race saw around $100 million spent across both candidates, including a number of billionaire donors backing either candidate; Tesla founder and head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk donated $21 million to back Schimel, whereas George Sorros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker threw $2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, behind Crawford.
Also on Tuesday, Republican candidates in Florida won in two special congressional elections, however, by far lower margins than what were seen just last November. Republican Jimmy Patronis defeated his Democratic opponent Gay Valimont by 15 percentage points, 17 points less than the former seat’s holder, Matt Gaetz, won in November. And in Florida’s Sixth Congressional District, Republican Randy Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil by 14 points, despite Trump carrying the district by 30 points last November.
“Even in Florida, one of those races was a lot closer, it was like a Republican-plus 30 district that only won by a little bit because our guys are happy, we’re watching TV,” Trump Jr. said.
“We’ve got to make sure that the Republican Party is energized without just Trump at the top of the ticket. We have to get involved and stay at that game at every level. Guys, we’ve got to get involved down to dog catcher, because the left has figured out how to weaponize each and every step in the political process, each and every position.”
The host for the event, Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl, shared in Trump Jr.’s calls for more party engagement, and also characterized the Trump administration’s efforts as a “battle between light and darkness.”
“It’s an underlying fundamental issue: who knows how to live your life better? Is it an all-powerful centralized federal government, or is it you as an individual?” Wahl said. “That’s the great American experiment that we all talk about, the American dream.”
Wahl also encouraged attendees, should they know anyone “not happy with America” or “not happy with the way things are going,” to let them know that “the Alabama Republican Party will buy them a plane ticket to any country in the world that they want to go to.”
While not attending in person, Sen. Tommy Tuberville shared a pre-recorded message with attendees for the event, and used his time to lay praise on Trump’s new tariffs.
“President Trump’s tariffs are here as the Democrats and the (Republicans in name only) are panicking, deep state,” Tuberville said.
“President Trump delivered a historically-strong economy during his first term, and he’s going to do it again.”