Trump Tries to Clarify ‘Horrible’ Milwaukee Comments by… Saying the City Is Crime-Ridden and Helped Rig the Election
AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool
Former President Donald Trump tried to do damage control amid reports he said the city that is hosting this year’s Republican National Convention is a “horrible city.”
Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News said on Thursday that in a closed-door meeting with Republican congressional leaders, Trump reportedly stated, “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city.”
Wisconsin is shaping up to be a key swing state for the third straight presidential election. Trump won the state in 2016, but lost it in 2020.
Naturally, several Republicans rushed to the former president’s defense. Some did not deny that Trump called Milwaukee “horrible,” but they insisted that he was talking about crime rates and the election results.
Later in the day, Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram relayed remarks Trump gave to his colleague Aishah Hasnie. Like the aforementioned Republicans, Trump did not deny he said what Sherman reported, and he attempted to provide context in which he cast Milwaukee as crime-ridden and electorally corrupt.
Pergram tweeted:
Trump to colleague Aishah Hasnie when asked about Milwaukee: 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.
Trump has falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him.
