Biden To Hold Private Event At Milwaukee Airport

MILWAUKEE, WI— Former Vice President Joe Biden will be holding a campaign event in Wisconsin on Friday.

President Trump is also campaigning in the Badger State — his third stop in the state in a week — holding a rally on Friday in Green Bay, the Trump Campaign announced on Wednesday. The president held a rally in La Crosse on Tuesday and was in Waukesha on Saturday.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to campaign in Milwaukee on Friday.

Harold Mester, Director of Public Affairs & Marketing, for Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, said it was the airport's understanding Biden will hold "a small private meeting with about a dozen people on Friday at AvFlight, which operates a private aircraft terminal. We have been told that the meeting is not open to the public."

Trump initially planned to hold his Waukesha rally at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport but his campaign was denied the request.

Mester told Patch on Friday that private meetings, involving a small number of people inside a building rather than on the airfield (and not impacting airport operations) are fine. Large political rallies with thousands of people on the airfield are not, because the staff has to ensure the safety and security of the airport.

"This is the difference between a 12-person private meeting inside a building vs. a 20,000-person rally on the airfield," Mester said.

Mester released the following statement on Oct. 23:

"The Airport Director notified a tenant that holding any large special event that is non-aeronautical in nature would be a violation of its lease with Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and would be in violation of the City of Milwaukee limit on public gatherings. The decision to hold this event was made without prior notification to the Airport Director, which is a requirement of each tenant's lease.

The concern for the Airport is the impact to airline flight operations, as the event originally planned for Saturday morning would require a ground stop, resulting in canceled airline flights for an extended period of time. We cannot allow any tenant to impact airport passengers in this way."

Air Force One still landed at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on Saturday and was handled by the 128th Air Refueling Wing as usual.