MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — On Thursday, Former President Donald Trump reportedly called Milwaukee a "horrible” city.
In response, his campaign said he was referring to the city’s violent crime rate and voter fraud.
TMJ4 wanted to hear directly from people who call Milwaukee home, so we took to the streets to do just that.
Rather than simply asking, we created a sign to see if his statement would make a statement and get people talking.
“It's just a regular city. People are just really afraid of the narratives that are being pushed,” said Omar Jaime.
“He's coming here in a couple of weeks. So, I think it takes an awful lot of ignorance to say something that negative before he's coming if he really thinks he should be president,” said Dorsey.
“I love this part of the world. It has made me a large part of who I am today and for somebody to say this is a horrible city, it's 100% not true. It's not a horrible city; it’s a wonderful city,” said Johnson.
Elaine Rojas-Castillo spent nearly two hours in the heart of the Third Ward, asking anyone who would stop to share their thoughts.
Most agreed with Jaime, Dorsey, and Johnson, but one man who saw our sign thought otherwise.
ERC: “We pulled this from his words.”
MAN: “I would like to see the whole conversation.”
ERC: “We can get the clip for you if you’d like.”
MAN: “I can look it up myself.”
He says he doesn’t believe Trump could have said this and blames the media for twisting his words.
ERC: “So, when you see something like this, in your mind, what do you think?”
MAN: “False.”
ERC: “That he said it or that it is?”
MAN: “That he didn’t say that.”
ERC: “If you see that he did say it, what do you think about this?”
MAN: “I would be extremely surprised.”
He said he plans to support the former president in November for the first time, after leaving the Democratic Party a few years ago.
“Why? Because of Democrats, because of Biden’s administration, because of its policies. That’s why I’m going for Trump,” the man said.
Dorsey said she was grateful that we were having this conversation and hopes others pay attention to what every candidate says and make an informed decision at the ballot box.
“We need to think about, not just what's important to us, but what's important to our communities. Just think about other people more than ourselves and I don't think Trump does that,” said Dorsey.
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