When Donald Trump spoke to congressional Republicans last week, there were no cameras to capture his remarks, but quite a few GOP lawmakers were willing to talk about what they heard — and they apparently heard quite a bit. NBC News highlighted one of the former president’s more notable comments.
Trump also took a shot at Milwaukee, the host city of the Republican National Convention, where Trump will formally accept the GOP presidential nomination. It’s planned for July 15 through 18, though Trump may not attend in person. He called Milwaukee “horrible” and said it was overrun by crime, a source said, adding that no one in the room disagreed with him.
In the hours and days that followed, the explanation for the former president’s rhetoric evolved in some unexpected ways.
One House Republican insisted that the reports were mistaken, and Trump didn’t criticize Wisconsin’s largest city. Another House Republican said, on the record, that Trump did take aim at Milwaukee, but the former president was talking about election conspiracy theories. A third House Republican claimed Trump’s criticisms of Milwaukee were related to crime rates in the city.
A spokesperson for the presumptive GOP nominee argued via social media that when Trump slammed Milwaukee, he was referring to crime and “voter fraud.” Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida echoed this line on “Meet the Press.” (For the record, the city’s murder rate has plummeted of late, and there’s still no evidence of systemic fraud in Milwaukee elections.)
When the story gained traction, the former president, at least initially, made little effort to hide the fact that he did criticize the city, though he claimed to have been misconstrued. “It was very clear what I meant,” Trump told Fox News. “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.”
A day later, the presumptive GOP nominee shifted gears and told Newsmax, “They lie, and they make up a story that I said something bad about Milwaukee.” Trump added by way of his social media platform that it was Democrats who concocted this “fake story.” He added that the underlying claim should be seen as “a complete lie.”
So to recap, Republicans said that Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible” city. Republicans then gave conflicting explanations as to what he meant when he made the comment. The Republican line then shifted again, this time to a flat denial about a comment the party had largely already confirmed. While the GOP struggles to get its story straight, Democrats seem to be enjoying the controversy. President Joe Biden, for example, published a photo on social media alongside a message that read, “I happen to love Milwaukee.” Axios, meanwhile, reported that the Democratic National Committee launched billboards in 10 locations across Milwaukee on Friday promoting Trump’s reported criticisms of the city. The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin in Milwaukee on July 15. I have a hunch we haven’t heard the last of this story.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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