MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥 Former President Donald Trump used the word 鈥渉orrible鈥 in talking about Milwaukee 鈥 the city where he will accept the Republican nomination next month 鈥 during a closed-door meeting Thursday with GOP congressmen, according to several people in the room who spoke afterward.
The comment, first reported by Punchbowl News while the meeting was in progress, immediately drew disagreements from those there about what Trump meant.
Several congressmen who support Trump and attended the meeting argued he was referring to crime and voter fraud. Trump frequently denounces Democratic-led cities as unsafe 鈥 even as in the most recent FBI statistics 鈥 and repeats falsehoods about his loss in the 2020 election.
President Joe Biden鈥檚 campaign and his Democratic allies pounced on the reported remark even as Wisconsin Republicans contested how it was being interpreted. Biden posted a photo on the X social platform of himself greeting the Milwaukee Bucks after their 2021 NBA championship with the message: 鈥淚 happen to love Milwaukee.鈥
the Republican 好色tv Convention starting July 15 and is the largest Democratic stronghold in swing-state Wisconsin.
Trump is scheduled to be in Racine, Wisconsin, for a campaign rally on Tuesday, just three weeks before heading to Milwaukee for the convention.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung posted on X that Trump 鈥渨as talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are.鈥
Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents western Wisconsin, said Trump was talking about the 鈥渢errible or horrible鈥 crime rate in the city.
鈥淗e was directly referring to crime in Milwaukee,鈥 said Van Orden, who told The Associated Press he was sitting just feet from the former president.
He said Republicans in the room concurred. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e like, yeah, crime is terrible.鈥
U.S. Rep, Scott Fitzgerald, also from Wisconsin, told WISN-TV in Milwaukee that Trump was referring to election integrity.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the comment came from, that Milwaukee鈥檚 just terrible," Fitzgerald said. "What he was talking about was the elections in Milwaukee, their concerns about them.鈥
But Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents southeast Wisconsin, disputed that Trump made the comment.
鈥淚 was in the room," Steil posted on X. "President Trump did not say this. There is no better place than Wisconsin in July.鈥
And Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents northern Wisconsin, said he never heard Trump call Milwaukee a 鈥渉orrible city.鈥
鈥淲hat I heard is to make sure there鈥檚 election integrity in Milwaukee,鈥 Tiffany said in a telephone interview. 鈥淗e鈥檚 talking about the states that are in play and the states of greatest importance and Wisconsin is top of the list.鈥
A Trump aide and two attorneys who advised him in 2020 were last week in Wisconsin for their roles in a scheme to get Republicans to cast Wisconsin's electoral ballots to Trump even though he lost the state.
and there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have swung the 2020 election. But Trump has about the election, particularly in Wisconsin.
Republican Rep. Jim Banks, of Indiana, said he was also in the room and 鈥淭rump never disparaged Milwaukee.鈥
鈥淛ust another Democrat hoax,鈥 Banks posted on X.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, when asked about Trump's reported remarks, said at a news conference, "If Donald Trump wants to talk about things that he thinks are horrible, all of us lived through his presidency, so right back at you buddy."
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Democrat who represents and lives in Milwaukee, made a nod to Trump鈥檚 recent in her response. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in New York on July 11, days before the convention opens.
鈥淥nce he鈥檚 settled in with his parole officer, I am certain he will discover that Milwaukee is a wonderful, vibrant and welcoming city full of diverse neighborhoods and a thriving business community,鈥 Moore posted on X.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is up for reelection this year, said on X that Milwaukee is "part of what makes Wisconsin the best state in the nation. Donald Trump wouldn鈥檛 understand even if a jury told him so.鈥 She used the Trump comment in a fundraising plea hours after it was first reported.
Local and statewide Democratic leaders, including Gov. Tony Evers, worked with Republicans to land the convention this summer.
Evers, in response to Trump's comment, posted on X: 鈥淎dd it to the list of things Donald Trump is wrong about.鈥 He followed it with an emoji of a clown face.
Milwaukee was supposed to host the 2020 Democratic 好色tv Convention, but that was moved almost entirely online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
___ Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
