You can almost detect some pity in Milwaukee mayor Cavalier Johnson’s voice when he talks about the state of the GOP under Donald Trump. “It’s hard to be the party of moral clarity,” the Democrat told me by phone, “when your nominee is paying off porn stars.”
It was late June—not long after Trump reportedly described Milwaukee as “horrible” in a closed-door meeting with those wayward congressional Republicans; just days before a pivotal debate; and a few short weeks before the GOP would descend on that very city to nominate Trump for a third straight presidential cycle. I wanted to get Johnson’s thoughts on Trump’s comment (and his clumsy subsequent attempts to save face with residents of that swing state’s most populous city). But I also wanted to know how the 37-year-old Democrat—Milwaukee’s first Black elected mayor, whose political star has risen with a dominant reelection victory this spring—felt about playing host to a party that has only become more debased, dangerous, and antidemocratic since Trump was bested by Joe Biden in 2020.
Unsurprisingly, Johnson disagreed with the former president’s assessment of his “marvelous” city: “Obviously, he was wrong,” Johnson said. Nevertheless, he’s excited to showcase his hometown on the national stage—as well as the stark contrasts between the party of Trump and the one that will convene less than a hundred miles south later this summer. Trump is “thinking only about himself and not the American people,” Johnson said. “In Chicago, at the [Democratic National Convention], [voters will] see that Joe Biden has been working hard to move the ball forward for your average American.”
In a conversation with Vanity Fair, which has been lightly edited for clarity and length, Johnson sounded off on Trump’s “bizarre” remark, the GOP’s identity crisis, and his advice for Biden as he seeks to replicate the 2020 win in Wisconsin that paved his way to the White House: “Get out and tell the positive story of the administration.”
Vanity Fair: I know you’ve already talked about this, but I do want to start by asking you again about Trump’s comment on your city, along with reports that he had planned to stay in Chicago—a city he has also derided, though he also has a building with his name on it here. How did you react to that and his subsequent denials of having said that the city was “horrible”?
Cavalier Johnson: I have to look back, but the past couple of weeks even, he’s said Milwaukee’s a horrible city; Detroit is not the greatest city; Philadelphia is not a great place—there are certain things, I think, that all these places have in common. So you have to look at those. But as it relates to Milwaukee specifically—you know, it was really interesting. When I was hearing reports out of Washington, DC, that Republicans are coming to Donald Trump’s aid, it was that, He was talking about crime. No, he was talking about election integrity. No, he actually didn’t say it at all. They were kind of twisting themselves into pretzels. But obviously, he was wrong. He was wrong about Philadelphia and Detroit and other places.
Milwaukee is an outstanding, fantastic, splendid, terrific, marvelous city [in which] I am fortunate enough to wake up every single day as mayor and have the opportunity to serve and lead. And when you go into the neighborhoods across the city, they’re diverse, vibrant—they’re filled with people who care about the city. And I thought, too, that it wasn’t a very smart political strategy, because there are tens of thousands of Republicans living in the city of Milwaukee, who call this place home, raised their kids and grandkids here, and are integral parts of our community—and you call their home horrible? And for a man who is trying to make inroads with people of color—this is the most diverse place in the state of Wisconsin, with the most Black people in the state who live within the city limits, and you call their home horrible too? It’s just kind of bizarre.
