Former President Trump will stay in Milwaukee for the upcoming Republican National Convention, his campaign confirmed, refuting reports that the former president intended to spend the night at his Chicago estate and travel to the Wisconsin city for the event.
A Trump campaign spokesperson denied reports thatABC7 in Chicagothat Trump was planning to stay at Trump Tower in the Windy City. That report cited a “high-ranking law enforcement source” and two other sources who confirmed that Trump was making plans to remain in Chicago.
“President Trump will be in Milwaukee for the convention,” Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, told The Hill.
The New York Timesreported separatelyTrump intended to remain in Chicago, but those plans changed after reporters asked the campaign about them.
A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place July 15-18.
Reports that Trump had planned to stay in Chicago emerged days after the former president disparaged Milwaukee during a closed-door meeting with House Republicans while in Washington, D.C.
Punchbowl News reported that Trump referred to Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s most populous city, as a “horrible city.” Trump and his allies sought to tamp down outrage over the comment, insisting he was talking specifically about crime and voter fraud.
“I chose Milwaukee, I know it well,” Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend. “This should therefore lead to my victory in Wisconsin. But the Democrats reveal this false story, just like all the others. Never ends. Don’t be fooled. Who would say something like that with this important state at stake?”
Trump held a campaign rally Tuesday in Racine, Wisconsin, located 30 miles south of Milwaukee. He opened his comments by telling supporters, “You know, I love Milwaukee.”
Trump is known to prefer to stay at his own properties when possible, spending much of his time since leaving office at his clubs in Palm Beach, Florida, or Bedminster, NJ, as well as Trump Tower in New York City .
But choosing to stay out of Wisconsin next month while Republicans rally in Milwaukee would give Democrats ample reason to attack Trump and question his commitment to a vital swing state in the upcoming election. In fact, the Biden campaign and Wisconsin Democrats wasted no time seizing on reports that Trump planned to remain in Chicago.
“Nothing is more on-brand for Donald Trump than the fact that he would rather stay in a failed Trump-branded hotel in Chicago than spend a single night in beautiful Wisconsin,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said in a statement. an announcement. “Only after being caught did Trump make an embarrassing about-face and commit to spending the night in the city he called ‘horrible’ last week.”
Garren Randolph, who works in Wisconsin for the Biden campaign, said in a statement that “Wisconsinians rejected it four years ago and we will do so again in November.”
Wisconsin is poised to play a major role in the November election between Trump and President Biden. Trump narrowly won the state in 2016, then lost to Biden in 2020 by about 20,000 votes. An average of polls from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill shows Biden leading in Wisconsin by 1 percentage point.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
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