Racine, Wisconsin
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump proclaimed his love for Milwaukee on Tuesday, less than a week after reportedly calling the city “terrible” during a meeting with House Republicans.
“I love Milwaukee,” he told the crowd here in Racine, a city 30 miles south of Milwaukee.
Trump said it was his decision to choose Milwaukee as the host city for the Republican National Convention this summer.
“I was the one who picked it,” the former president said. “These lying people. They say, ‘Oh, he doesn’t like Milwaukee.’ I love Milwaukee. I said we have to fight crime. We all know that. You have to make sure the election is honest, but I’m the one who picked Milwaukee.”
Trump accused the Democrats of lying because they had a “terrible candidate” who “had no clue” and “didn’t know where he was.” He was referring to President Joe Biden.
“I think at one of our recent meetings there were about 10 members of Congress there and I said how much I like Milwaukee. That’s all they said,” he said.
At a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday, the former called Milwaukee “terrible” during a tirade about crime rates and so-called election integrity, according to a source in the room.
Several members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation later confirmed that Trump had used the word “appalling” when speaking about Milwaukee in the context of crime and the election. Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who was in the room, clarified to CNN that Trump meant “specifically crime in Milwaukee” and not the city itself. The city was a center of election conspiracies by Trump and his allies in 2020.
