Wisconsin Dems tear into Trump after he reportedly called Milwaukee ‘a horrible city’

Democrats are in an uproar over Donald Trump reportedly calling Milwaukee, the host city for the GOP’s national convention, "a horrible city" during a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

“Add it to the list of things Donald Trump is wrong about,” Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers wrote on X, in a post that included a clown emoji.

Evers was one of several Wisconsin Democrats who immediately pushed back on the former president's comments, even as they have largely avoided public confrontations with Republicans preparing to take over the Wisconsin city for the presidential nominating convention in July.

“Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city,” the former president said during a closed-door meeting with Republicans in Washington, D.C., according to Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman.

Trump gave an interview to a Fox News reporter clarifying his remarks later on Thursday.

“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 ballots, the, the way it went down, it was very bad in Milwaukee. Very, very bad," he said. "Most Democrat-run cities, almost all of them have problems. But but they also have a problem with votes."

The former president covered a range of topics in that meeting with his fellow Republicans, including abortion and tariffs. But it was his comment about his convention's host city that seemed to spark the most furious response.

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), who represents the congressional district that contains Milwaukee, posted on X: “Once he's 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.”

Moore was referring to Trump’s meeting with a parole officer on Monday related to his conviction for 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up money payments to a porn star. His sentencing date is July 11, just four days before the Republican convention is set to begin.

Some Republican lawmakers said Trump's comments about the Wisconsin city were taken out of context. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) told reporters Trump was talking about “election integrity” in large urban centers, while Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) said he was talking about the city’s crime rate, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.

A Trump campaign spokesperson called the Sherman post "wrong and "total bullshit."

"He never said it like how it’s been falsely characterized as," Steven Cheung replied on X. "He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are."

The Trump campaign also sent out an email calling the reporting "FAKE NEWS."

And even Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who has embraced the Republican convention due to the economic boom it will bring to the city, pushed back on Trump's reported remark.

“Donald Trump was talking about things that are horrible," the Democratic mayor said when he addressed Trump's remarks in an unrelated press conference Thursday. "All of us lived through his presidency. So right back at you, buddy.”

Biden, for his part, weighed in with a post on X that simply said, "I happen to love Milwaukee."