Rep. Glenn Grossman (R-Wis.) defended former President Trump after reports emerged that he called Milwaukee a “horrible city” during a private meeting with Republican lawmakers Thursday morning.
Grossman, who attended the meeting with President Trump, said “he didn’t say anything that I thought was insulting to Milwaukee,” when asked about the remarks on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”
“He made it clear that we need to do better in Milwaukee, as we need to do in many of the larger cities in the northern United States. But since he was born in Milwaukee, which is located just north of the city, there was nothing he found offensive about it. “As always, I think there were mainstream journalists looking for an excuse to bring down President Trump, but that’s not true.”
“He didn’t say anything that I would consider critical of Milwaukee,” said Grossman, who represents a district near Milwaukee. “He didn’t say anything except that we need to get more people to vote Republican in the future,” he added.
Grossman also noted that the former president spoke for at least an hour, which he said was “a long time you can go without a sneaky reporter twisting what you’re saying.” And that’s what happened here.”
President Trump returned to the Capitol on Thursday for the first time since the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He met with House Republicans in the morning and had lunch with Senate Republicans.
Reports of Trump’s Milwaukee remarks caused a stir among political operatives and observers. Milwaukee is the state’s largest city, which hosts the Republican National Convention this summer and will play a pivotal role in winning the November election in what is expected to be a close rematch between the former president and President Biden.
The Trump campaign quickly clarified the former president’s comments, saying Trump did not think Milwaukee itself was “terrible.” After reports surfaced that Milwaukee had dissed the soon-to-be RNC site, I think crime in this city is terrible.
Trump campaign spokesman Dylan Johnson called the situation a desperate attempt to gain likes on social media and noted that no reporters were present when the former president met with Republican lawmakers at the Capitol.
“This is a complete lie,” Johnson said in a statement that included links to Republican lawmakers who defended Trump. “President Trump has been explicit about Milwaukee’s problems, particularly violent crime and voter fraud.”
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
