Former President Donald Trump put a top Wisconsin lawmaker on notice, escalating his immense pressure campaign to get the state to embrace his claims of a stolen election in 2020.
A slew of posts on Truth Social, Trump’s nascent social media app, were punctuated with a notice that the former president is openly considering an endorsement of a rival to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who has so far resisted Trump’s overtures to decertifying President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin.
“Robin Vos is sooo bad for the Great State of Wisconsin that I am seriously thinking of Supporting and ENDORSING his Opponent,” Trump said on Sunday. “Anyone would be better! STAY TUNED!!!”
Vos is facing a Republican primary in August, and his opponent, Adam Steen, knocked him for not taking “election thievery” seriously enough.
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Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has been upheld by recounts and court rulings that have rejected assertions of widespread fraud. However, the state remains an active battleground for questioning the results and election practices during that contest.
Vos told a local news outlet this month that Trump keeps calling about decertifying Biden’s victory despite his insistence that such a move is not constitutional. “It’s very consistent,” Vos told UPFRONT. “He makes his case, which I respect. He would like us to do something different in Wisconsin. I explained it’s not allowed under the Constitution. He has a different opinion, and then he put out the tweet. So that’s it.”
Despite Trump’s venting, Vos has allowed some inquiry into claims of election malfeasance. He hired former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to investigate the 2020 election, and Gableman has urged Wisconsin to decertify the 2020 election.
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However, Gableman’s investigation has long faced skepticism from Democrats, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who dismissed the inquiry as a political circus. That inquiry is ongoing and facing legal battles related to transparency. The Legislative Audit Bureau also conducted a review of the contest and in October made dozens of recommendations for improving the voting process but said it did not find evidence of widespread fraud.
Still, there is some momentum among Vos’s colleagues to take further action more than 20 months after the 2020 election. Election committee leader Janel Brandtjen, a Republican endorsed by Trump, recently released a statement saying she would join fellow state Rep. Tim Ramthun, a Republican candidate for governor, in pushing to overturn the last presidential election, and she dismissed the naysayers. “We have been told for months now that decertification is impossible, meaning there is no downside to cheating in Wisconsin elections,” Brandtjen said. “How many more times do we need to endure this election injustice? Robin, don’t let the voters of Wisconsin down!”
