Trump calls RNC site Milwaukee a ‘horrible city’ — and Wisconsin Republicans leap to his defense
Former President Donald Trump ripped Milwaukee, the site of next month’s Republican National Convention, as a “horrible city” Thursday, prompting Wisconsin Republicans to stick up for the ex-commander-in-chief while the Trump campaign said he was taking a shot at the city’s Democratic leaders.
“Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city,” the 77-year-old said during an appearance on Capitol Hill with House GOP lawmakers, according to Punchbowl News.
“President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud,” the campaign said in a statement Thursday afternoon, while also calling the reported quote “a total lie.”
“I was in the room,” Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), whose district includes parts of Milwaukee County, posted on X. “President Trump did not say this. There is no better place than Wisconsin in July,”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden accused Punchbowl News of “[a]nother classic example of sh–ty reporting by a Democratic Party shill pretending to be a journalist” and “[l]ies busy [sic] omission.”
Van Orden, one of six Republicans to represent the Badger State in the House and Senate, said the former president had been discussing Milwaukee having the third-highest violent crime rate of any large US city, according to a 2023 report by Safehome.org, which cited FBI data.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents some of Milwaukee’s suburbs, gave a different take to the hometown Journal Sentinel newspaper, saying that Trump was making an election-related comment because he “felt we need to do better in urban centers around the country.”
Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) told The Post that the presumptive 2024 GOP nominee was discussing “Democratic policies” and “ballot security” — and in that context had expressed concerns about Milwaukee, which last elected a Republican mayor in 1906.
Trump, 77, also expressed similar worries about the critical swing states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, Malliotakis added.
“I was in the meeting. President Trump never disparaged Milwaukee,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) also posted on X. “Just another Democrat hoax.”
The Democratic National Committee was quick to respond to the remark and highlight Trump’s loss in Wisconsin to Joe Biden four years ago.
“The dislike is mutual — in 2020, Milwaukee County went for President Biden by around 40 points, helping to flip the state blue and send Joe Biden to the White House,” the DNC said in a statement to CBS 58 News.
Trump may be barred from attending the Republican National convention should his upcoming sentence for his Manhattan hush money conviction include prison time or home confinement.
The 45th president is scheduled to be sentenced July 11 after being found guilty of 34 counts of business fraud for concealing evidence of “hush money” payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election in order to buy her silence about a decade-old alleged extramarital affair.
If Judge Juan Merchan places Trump under house arrest at his Fifth Avenue triplex — or in an incredibly unlikely move sends him to Rikers Island — it is possible that the ex-president would still be able to campaign or attend the convention remotely.
One former Republican National Committee official told The Post last week: “My suspicion of, what you do if the guy is actually in jail — which, who knows, right? — I think you probably have him do some kind of video in advance just in case.”
Campaign insiders also noted that the former president does not have to be physically present to accept the GOP nod for what will be the third consecutive time.
