Lawmakers react to former President Trump's alleged comments calling Milwaukee a 'horrible city' | WSAU News/Talk 550 AM · 99.9 FM

MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) – Lawmakers across the state of Wisconsin are reacting to alleged comments made by former President Trump about the city of Milwaukee during a meeting with GOP officials on Capitol Hill.

According to Punchbowl News, which first reported the comment, Trump said that “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city,” prompting Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to respond in a message on X saying, “Add to the list of things Donald Trump is wrong about” with a clown emoji at the end.

Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin also responded to the report on said,” which is a step forward from the former president's conviction in New York for falsifying business records to pay hush money to former porn star Stormy Daniels.

The nature of the comment in question remains unknown, with lawmakers like Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil, who was present at the meeting, saying Trump did not make the comment, while Rep. Glenn Grothman, who was also present at meeting and spoke with Wisconsin Right Now on Thursday, said a comment about Milwaukee was made, but the alleged quote was taken out of context, as Trump was referring to the RNC doing more to win voters electorally. major northern cities, such as Madison and Milwaukee.

Indiana Congressman Jim Banks, another meeting attendee, posted on X that “I was at the meeting. President Trump has never disparaged Milwaukee,” and continued in another article, calling the quote “just another Democratic hoax.” The Trump campaign responded to the Punchbowl News article, calling it a “total lie,” in a press release Thursday afternoon, saying, “President Trump was explicitly referring to Milwaukee's problems, particularly violent crime and electoral fraud. »

Milwaukee has taken some heat in recent years after Money Inc. named the city in a 2023 study as the 16th most dangerous city in the United States, which was followed shortly after by another study that used U.S. Census Bureau data to name Milwaukee “one”. of the most miserable cities in the country. In a quote from the study, the outlet said: “Milwaukee, another city filled with industrial disorder, is not pretty. Additionally, the crime rate is quite high. Although some areas remain safer than others, some more dangerous parts of the city are responsible for a crime rate of 1,597 per 100,000 residents, while also citing the city's high poverty rate of 28.4%.

Criticism of Milwaukee didn't stop there, as Our Health Depot also named Milwaukee the “ugliest city in Wisconsin”, giving it the nickname “Pittsburgh of the Midwest” due to its industrial past, but the city has experienced improvements so far this year. , with the Milwaukee Police Department citing data showing that homicides are down 39%, thefts are down 14% and auto thefts are down 10% compared to the same time last year.