President Biden posted on social media apparently making a subtle dig at President Trump after it was reported he made comments disparaging Milwaukee, a city in a key swing state.
“I happen to love Milwaukee,” Biden posted Thursday on the social media platform X. His post included a photo of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks at the White House after their championship in 2021.
The president’s message letting his Midwest audience know where he stood followed reports earlier Thursday that during a closed-door conference meeting, Trump called Milwaukee a “horrible city.”
Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, is set to be officially named as the party’s presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next month.
Wisconsin Republican lawmakers rushed to Trump’s defense afterward. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) wrote online that the former president was referring to the “CRIME RATE in Milwaukee.”
Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said he was in the room and that “Trump did not say this.”
“There is no better place than Wisconsin in July,” Steil said on X.
Trump’s campaign clarified that the former president doesn’t think Milwaukee itself is horrible, but the crime in the city is.
His campaign spokesperson called the situation a “desperate attempt to get likes” on social media and said no reporters were in the room during the meeting.
Democrats criticized Trump for the reported remark, especially ahead of his visit in a month.
Garren Randolph, a Democratic campaign manager for Wisconsin, suggested the former president should not visit in July, which is a few days after Trump’s sentencing for his conviction in his hush money case.
“If Donald Trump thinks Milwaukee is so horrible, then he shouldn’t come to our city. Milwaukee — our state’s largest and most diverse city and home to more than 577,000 people, the Bucks and Brewers, and the country’s best beer — deserves better than a convicted felon, racist, and wannabe dictator who hates us and our values,” Randolph said.
— Updated June 14 at 3:40 p.m.