Republicans cannot get their story straight about what Donald Trump told them in a closed-door meeting on Thursday. That includes Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
It all began when Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News reported that Trump told Republicans on Capitol Hill, “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city.”
Needless to say, the backlash was swift.
In an interview, Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie asked Trump about the report.
“Democrats are also hitting you on this comment that you made about Milwaukee, the host city for the RNC,” she said. “And they seem to believe that you said that it was a horrible city. Can you just nip this in the bud and clarify what you meant?”
Trump told her:
It was very clear what I meant. I said, we’re very concerned with crime. I love Milwaukee, I have great friends in Milwaukee, but it’s as you know, the crime numbers are terrible. We have to be very careful. But I was referring to also the election, the the [sic] ballots, the, the way it went down, it was very bad in Milwaukee. Very, very bad. And the people understand that and they agree with me. Everybody agrees. No, that was a fake story that came out. Yeah. Milwaukee has a problem with crime, as do most Democrat run cities. Most Democrat-run cities, almost all of them have problems. But but [sic] they also have a problem
with votes. And,, election integrity. And that’s what we want to make sure we get straight.
Hours later, Johnson appeared on Hannity, where the speaker denied Trump disparaged Milwaukee at all even though – and this is crucial – Trump admitted he disparaged Milwaukee.
“Can we just settle one thing once and for all here?” Sean Hannity asked. “Did President Trump– it’s been attributed to him that he took a shot at Milwaukee. Did he do that?”
“No,” Johnson replied. “I didn’t hear it and I was sitting right next to him. I introduced him this morning at breakfast where he started the day.”
Johnson’s was one of several varying accounts about Trump’s remarks. Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Bryan Steil (R-WI) also denied Trump said anything of the sort.
But Steil later changed course when a TV reporter asked, “Did he say this?”
“He wasn’t talking about the city,” Steil replied, about to make a distinction without a difference. “He was talking about specific issues in the city.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) did not deny Trump criticized Milwaukee, stating that Trump “was specifically referring to the CRIME RATE in Milwaukee.”
Watch above via Fox News