Mike Johnson Contradicts Donald Trump Over Milwaukee Remarks

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has contradicted Donald Trump by suggesting the former president did not make negative comments about Milwaukee in a meeting.

Trump has been criticized after reports say he called the Wisconsin city “horrible” during a closed-door meeting with GOP lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.

The meeting was a precursor to the Republican National Convention, set to take place in Milwaukee on July 15 to 18. Trump is expected to be chosen as the party’s nominee, and according to Jake Sherman, a founder of Punchbowl News, the Republican attacked the convention’s location, saying, “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city.”

Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesperson, denied the report on X, formerly Twitter. He wrote: “Wrong. Total bull****. He never said it like how it’s been falsely characterized as. He was talking about how terrible crime and voter fraud are.”

Speaking to Fox News’ Hannity, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and Trump ally who became the House speaker in October, said he didn’t hear the comment—suggesting the former president didn’t make the remark at all, which would contradict his earlier defense.

When asked about the reported incident by host Sean Hannity, Johnson said, “No, I didn’t hear it, and I was sitting right next to him.”

He added: “I introduced him this morning at breakfast where he started the day. He spoke for an hour without notes, Sean. He can stand up there and hold court as long as he wants, as you know. President Trump is on his A game, and I’m telling you, in the room this morning there was energy, enthusiasm, excitement.”

Newsweek contacted representatives for Trump and Johnson for comment via email outside normal business hours.

Regarding Johnson’s comments, Cheung told Newsweek: “No contradiction. He never said Milwaukee is a terrible city. That’s fact.”

Johnson is not the only Republican figure who has denied that Trump made the remarks. On X, Wisconsin Representative Bryan Steil wrote: “I was in the room. President Trump did not say this. There is no better place than Wisconsin in July.”

Representative Scott Fitzgerald told Matt Smith, the political director of WISN, an ABC affiliate in Milwaukee, that Trump made the comment, but he said it was in response to a question about election integrity.

“What he was talking about was the elections in Milwaukee. They’re concerned about them,” Fitzgerald said.

Democrats have responded to the reports of Trump’s remarks about the city, which is in a battleground state he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. Biden posted on X, “I happen to love Milwaukee.”

Democratic Milwaukee 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.”

According to the latest polls, Trump and Biden are tied in the state, each receiving 44 percent of the vote.