Former President Donald Trump will rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday to lock down support from the swing state days after he called its largest city “horrible” in an offhand remark to congressional Republicans.
Mr. Trump, who will accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee in July, swiftly clarified that he was referring to crime and election integrity in the city.
The brouhaha put Wisconsin battleground front and center for Mr. Trump’s Democratic foes.
The Democratic National Committee put up 10 billboards around Milwaukee that feature Mr. Trump’s face and the remark as quoted by Punchbowl News: “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city.”
The billboards are located along major interstate corridors, sullying Mr. Trump before his convention from July 15 to July 18.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Mr. Trump’s comment to House Republicans should have been put in this context.
“He never said it like how it’s been falsely characterized as. He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are,” Mr. Cheung wrote on X.
His allies pointed to Wisconsin cities that receive “Zuckerbucks,” the shorthand term for money that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg gave to the Center for Tech and Civic Life to promote voter access during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the uproar, Wisconsin voters decided to ban private election funding.
Still, Democrats reveled in the “horrible” remark.
“The dislike is mutual – in 2020, Wisconsin handed Trump a one-way ticket back to exile in Mar-a-Lago and sent President Biden to the Oval Office. In November, they’ll do it again,” DNC spokeswoman Addy Toevs said.
Mr. Biden piled on, posting a picture of him celebrating the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship with the comment: “I happen to love Milwaukee.”
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran a banner headline about Mr. Trump’s comment on its front page Friday, and Democratic Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, “If Donald Trump wants to talk about things that he thinks are horrible — all of us lived through his presidency, so, right back at you, buddy.”
While the debate around Mr. Trump’s comment devolved into playground taunts, the stakes in Wisconsin are serious.
The upper Midwest state will dole out 10 electoral votes to whoever wins in November’s contest between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.
Mr. Trump won the state by less than 1 percentage point in 2016 after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed to campaign there. Democrats said she fumbled the ball in a critical state.
Mr. Biden won Wisconsin back for Democrats by only 20,000 votes, prompting Mr. Trump to grumble about possible fraud.
The latest polls show Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden deadlocked in Wisconsin this year. The FiveThirtyEight polling average has Mr. Trump ahead by 0.7%.
In some ways, the Milwaukee flap was true to form for Mr. Trump.
The former president often praises states that are critical to his political support while slamming the performance of Democratic leaders in major cities within those states.
The Milwaukee comment was made behind closed doors and leaked to reporters through texts or after-the-fact accounts.
Mr. Trump will precede his convention in Milwaukee with a rally about 30 miles south in Racine.
Tuesday’s mid-afternoon rally at Racine Festival Park will focus on economic inflation during the Biden administration and crime rates in Milwaukee and other parts of the state.
“President Donald Trump loves the people of Wisconsin,” his campaign said in a media advisory. “President Trump will ease the financial pressures placed on households and re-establish law and order in Wisconsin!”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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