Donalds defends decision to host RNC convention in Milwaukee amid Trump comments

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) doubled down on the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) decision to host their national convention in Milwaukee despite former President Trump’s recent reported comments on the city.

“With respect to Milwaukee, he was talking about allegations of voter fraud and also the crime rate, and I think it’s important for people to understand, your murder rate may be down, but that doesn’t mean that violent crime, etc., are also lower,” Donalds said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

He also said that the RNC and Trump are headed to Milwaukee because voters are “frustrated.”

“The reason why the RNC and President Trump want to go to Milwaukee is because we know there are voters in the state of Wisconsin, like voters all across America, who are frustrated with what has happened to our country under Joe Biden,” he said.

“Immigration massively up and out of control. The labor markets are okay, not great. Wages are down when you adjust them for inflation. People are struggling to make ends meet in Joe Biden’s America, so the president is taking his message everywhere,” he said.

Trump’s campaign and his allies rushed to his defense after multiple reports surfaced last week that said Trump reportedly called Milwaukee a “horrible” city. His campaign rushed to clarify the remarks, saying it was a “total lie” that he called the city “horrible.”

“President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud,” Dylan Johnson, a Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement last week.

Trump also denied the comments about Milwaukee on Truth Social over the weekend, saying that Democrats “are making up stories.”

The RNC is slated to host their national convention in Milwaukee, Wis., next month, where they are expected to formally nominate Trump as their nominee for president. The convention will start just four days after Trump is to be sentenced in his hush money case.