After being MIA from the campaign trail and absent from critical battleground states, Donald Trump traveled to Michigan and Wisconsin yesterday to spread more lies about his abysmal record, double down on his extreme and violent rhetoric, and fan flames of hatred and division. The Democratic National Committee greeted him with a billboard campaign in Grand Rapids and Green Bay to slam him for tanking the bipartisan border deal and failing working families.

In case you missed it, here’s what Wisconsinites and Michiganders were seeing:

On National Broadcast:

FOX News:“But tonight Democrats are fighting back. The DNC launching these new billboards in swing states blaming Trump for the collapse of a bipartisan border security bill.”

MSNBC News:“Meanwhile, the Biden campaign is saying that Trump is essentially using a tragedy. The DNC is up with new billboards in the Grand Rapids area essentially highlighting that it was President Biden, who backed a bipartisan border bill, and it was Donald Trump who helped block it – that would have done something to increase border security.”

“Just in the past couple of minutes, we saw outside the local Democrats have a press conference here where they essentially said, ‘this is the reason why Trump killed that bill,’ essentially saying that he wanted to use it for political points rather than addressing the hard issue.”

NBC News:“Democrats argue Mr. Trump is trying to exploit Garcia’s death. They blame the former president for killing a bipartisan border security bill in Congress. These billboards are now going up in the crucial swing states.”

On Local Broadcast: 

WLUK (FOX – Green Bay, WI): “Fox 11 has confirmed that this anti-Trump billboard along Ashland Avenue in Green Bay – which is paid for by the Democratic National Committee – is only running today to coincide with Trump’s visit…”

“Trump’s detractors took aim at the former president’s lack of [presence] here in Wisconsin and criticized his visit. Now, during a news conference at the Brown County Democratic Party headquarters, Joe Biden supporters talked about the negative impact Trump’s first administration had on Green Bay and Wisconsin; including the loss of jobs, the lack of tax cuts for the middle class, and how Trump’s Supreme Court nominees helped overturn Roe v. Wade. Not only did Biden supporters tout the president’s record and the good things he’s done for Wisconsin. They implored people to not support Donald Trump because of the harm he’s already caused, but also how damaging another Trump administration could be for Wisconsin.”

WTAQ (Green Bay, WI): Democrats Criticize Trump during Green Bay Rally

“An anti-Trump billboard along Ashland Avenue in Green Bay, which was paid for by the Democratic National Committee, is only running Tuesday to coincide with Trump’s visit.”

WZZM (ABC – Grand Rapids, MI):“The Democratic National Committee is launching a billboard campaign to coincide with Donald Trump’s visit to Grand Rapids today. The billboards are up along 131 and I-96. They call the former president out for ‘tanking the bipartisan border deal.’ The DNC accuses Trump of putting his own political ambitions ahead of border security, saying President Joe Biden worked with other Republicans to find a bipartisan solution to secure the border.”

WXMI (FOX  – Grand Rapids, MI): Dueling billboards support, criticize Trump on border problem

“Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee raised three billboards — one near Coopersville, one near Wayland and one in Comstock Park — blaming the border problem on Trump, asserting he and ‘MAGA Republicans’ shot down a bipartisan deal to resolve the border problem.”

WXMI (FOX  – Grand Rapids, MI):“Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee raised three billboards of their own — right near Coopersville, Wayland and one in Comstock Park — placing the blame on Trump, asserting that he and ‘MAGA Republicans’ shot down a recent bipartisan deal that really could’ve helped resolve the border problem.”

In print:

The New York Times: Trump Again Invokes ‘Blood Bath’ and Dehumanizes Migrants in Border Remarks
[Michael Gold and Anjali Huynh, 4/2/24]

“Democrats have pushed back against that framing. Ahead of Mr. Trump’s visit, the Democratic National Committee put up billboards near Grand Rapids referring to a bipartisan border bill that fell apart in the Senate after Mr. Trump pressed Republicans to block it. The billboards claimed that ‘Donald Trump broke the border’ and that the former president wanted only ‘chaos, not solutions.’”

Politico: Trump rails against ‘border bloodbath’ as Democrats bash him on abortion
[Adam Wren and Elena Schneider, 4/2/24]

“The Democratic National Committee bracketed Trump’s visit to Grand Rapids with four billboards in the area that attacked him for leading the charge to defeat a bipartisan border security deal in Congress: ‘Donald Trump broke the border,’ the billboards read. ‘Donald Trump just wants chaos, not solutions.’”

The Washington Times: Dems lash out at Trump for border chaos in effort to save Biden in battleground states
[Seth McLaughlin, 4/2/24]

“The Democratic National Committee has erected billboards in Michigan accusing former President Donald Trump of causing the border chaos by blowing up an immigration deal on Capitol Hill.”

“‘Donald Trump broke the border,’ the billboard says. ‘He and MAGA Republicans killed the bipartisan border deal. Donald Trump just wants chaos, not solutions.’”