'Total lie': Trump campaign, GOP lawmakers blast report claiming he called Milwaukee a 'horrible city'

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Republicans are coming to the defense of former President Trump after a social media firestorm erupted over a report claiming he disparaged the location of the Republican National Convention during his visit to Capitol Hill.

A Punchbowl News reporter claimed that while speaking to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Trump said, "Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city."

The report prompted an immediate response from the Trump campaign and Republicans, who said they were in the room when the comment was made and that Trump's quote was taken out of context.

"Wrong," Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung posted on X. "Total bulls---. He never said it like how it’s been falsely characterized as. He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are."

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Milwaukee skyline, photographed from the lakefront on Sept. 13, 2018, and former President Trump. (Raymond Boyd/Anna Moneymaker)

Several Republican lawmakers who were in the room when Trump made the statement, some of whom represent districts in Wisconsin, also said the comment was taken out of context.

"I was in the room. President Trump did not say this. There is no better place than Wisconsin in July," Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis, said in a statement.

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Former President Trump is applauded by Senate Republicans before giving remarks to the press at the National Republican Senatorial Committee building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., also said he was present during the remarks and that the former president "never disparaged Milwaukee."

"I was in the meeting. President Trump never disparaged Milwaukee. Just another Democrat hoax," Banks wrote in a post on X.

"Another classic example of s----- reporting by a Democratic Party shill pretending to be a journalist. Lies busy omission. @realDonaldTrump was specifically referring to the CRIME RATE in Milwaukee," another Wisconsin representative, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., posted on X.

Fiserv Forum, home of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and site of the 2024 GOP convention. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

"In a desperate attempt to get likes, Fake News Jake Sherman — who wasn't even in the room — falsely claimed that President Trump called Milwaukee a ‘horrible city,’" the Trump campaign said in a press release Thursday afternoon. "It's a total lie."

"President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud."

Democrats weighed in on the matter as well, including President Biden, who posted on X, "I happen to love Milwaukee."

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"Milwaukee makes the greatest beer, brats, and motorcycles in the world," Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin posted on X. "It's home to some of our most vibrant communities, hardest workers, and is a part of what makes Wisconsin the best state in the nation. Donald Trump wouldn’t understand even if a jury told him so."

"The GOP wants to enjoy Milwaukee’s hospitality while they host their convicted felon wannabe dictator coronation party – but behind closed doors, Trump and his DC cronies are insulting Milwaukee while they plot to suppress Milwaukeeans’ votes & rip away their freedoms," Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler posted on X. "Fight back."

Sherman pushed back on those who questioned his reporting in several follow-up posts on X. 

"Trump absolutely said it – undoubtedly," Sherman posted. "People hear what they want. This is familiar to all who have covered Trump or Trump-adjacent stories for the last 10 or so years."