Republicans in Panic Mode After Trump Trashes Milwaukee

Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with Republicans in Congress and supposedly discuss strategy , but it didn’t take long for him to go off on tangents —and dump on the site of this year’s Republican National Convention, Milwaukee.

Republican members of Congress from Wisconsin scrambled to respond to the comments, offering several different explanations to cover for the former president and convicted felon , including one representative who said the whole thing never happened . Unfortunately, three others said it definitely did.

Why would Trump criticize the city, especially since Wisconsin is a swing state that he narrowly lost in the 2020 election? The answer may very well be racism. Milwaukee is very often criticized by the rural and suburban politicians in the rest of the state, who use racist dog whistles, yell “socialism,” or rely on more overt bigotry . Myths of rampant crime continue to plague the city, even as its crime rate has dropped . Meanwhile, its sizable Black population, which has historically tipped the state blue, has slightly tempered its support for Democrats . In 2020, Trump’s allies responded to his election loss by trying to write off Milwaukee’s votes and overturn the state’s election results .

Recently, Wisconsin has been a source of bad news for the GOP, from a liberal candidate successfully winning a state Supreme Court seat to Democrats successfully throwing out one of the most gerrymandered legislative maps in the country. Perhaps Trump sees the writing on the wall and is (presumptuously) writing off the state for 2024, or he has another frightening plan to interfere in the state’s results if they don’t go his way. Or, maybe he hates Milwaukee for the same reasons he hates Chicago and Harrisburg .

One member of Congress who actually represents Milwaukee, had a healthier response to Trump’s comments.

This article has been updated.