Some members of the media are currently in overdrive trying to elevate a handful of fringe, Robin Vos-obsessed clowns into a supposed “movement” representing a broad or significant segment of Trump voters or conservatism in Wisconsin.
They do not represent a “movement,” as they are not large in number, nor are they considered credible by many. In fact, Republican voters in 2022 repeatedly rejected ALL of the candidates who supported the election decertification message. Candidate-after-candidate embraced by this fringe element didn’t even get through Republican primaries, losing by large margins, as we will document later in this story.
The framing by the Capital Times in the screenshot below, for example, is insane. Some liberal media outlets are desperately trying to attach the fringe views of a handful of misfit toys to the entire conservative movement because they want to unfairly stereotype everyone as nutballs.
Yet as the 2022 primary elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state AND Vos’s Assembly district proved, common-sense, pragmatic and policy-driven conservatism already won out in Wisconsin, with the fringes soundly repudiated.
In case you missed it, the handful of perpetually Vos-obsessed goofs filed a statement of intent this week to recall the Republican Assembly Speaker, who has grown Republican majorities in the state Legislature, who has a 92% lifetime conservative CPAC rating, and whose focus is needed more than ever for conservatives as the left-wing Supreme Court is poised to make a power grab for the legislative majority by rewriting district maps. As we were first to report, the Wisconsin Election Commission is investigating whether the recall can even legally go forward, but this is all a distraction the Republican-controlled Legislature (the last fiefdom that liberals don’t control in Wisconsin), doesn’t need.
So, who are the Vos recallers?
A picture speaks a thousand words. So here is another one.
One more:
This group is associated with the Vos recall cabal. Interesting the Walworth County Dems want to help… pic.twitter.com/UVRQfWOLjt
— Wisconsin Right Now (@wisconsin_now) January 11, 2024
Then there’s their recall erase board with five spelling errors right off the bat.
Yet the media want you to take this seriously! We’ve dealt with this very small cabal ourselves for years. In fact, we’ve blocked some of them due to their excessive juvenile name calling, bizarre Vos paranoia, and conspiracy theories. It’s weird. Really weird stuff.
But the key words are “very small.”
We know prominent conservatives who roll their eyes at these clowns and don’t consider them even remotely impactful or relevant. Conservative talk show host Meg Ellefson, for example, dubbed the cabal a handful of fringe “losers” who are doing the bidding of Democrats. We don’t even know if they are all Republicans.
Vos was right not to decertify the 2020 presidential election, which he had no legal authority to do.
This group is something else, which is why it’s not surprising to see that one organization associated with them has shared a QAnon slogan online. So far, they appear to be two failed political candidates (including one recently sued by the Town of Burlington) and a guy accused of criminal voter fraud.
The far-left Capital Times wrote, “In what could serve as a test as to the staying power of the far-right movement in Wisconsin, a pro-Trump group seeking to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos formally filed paperwork with the state Wednesday.”
They aren’t a “far-right movement.” They’re a couple of people. And it’s no test. They’ve already failed the test and been repudiated by voters. Soundly and repeatedly.
Consider the recent election failures of the candidates closest to their Vos-hating, pro-election decertification positions:
- Timothy Ramthun, who is generally embraced by this fringe and had the “MyPillow” guy at his announcement speech, received only 6% in the governor’s Republican primary in 2022, placing third out of five candidates, and one of those had already dropped out.
- Jonathan Wichmann placed fourth in the lieutenant governor’s Republican primary in 2022.
- Jay Schroeder, who is involved in the recall effort, lost in the Republican primary for secretary of state in 2022. Podcaster Justin Schmidtka placed last.
- Adam Steen, the Trump-endorsed candidate against Vos last time around, lost in the Republican primary and then lost again as a write-in candidate, in 2022.
- How weak is Steen’s support? (Some of the fringe Vos recallers supported him.) Vos received 73% of the vote in the general election in 2022, with Steen as a write-in. Steen received 9.1%. And that was WITH TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT and after questionable campaign fundraising practices now under investigation.
- Karen Mueller, the decertification candidate for state Attorney General, who also ran on a vaccine injury platform, lost the Republican primary too, in 2022. She placed third.
The test is already over. Republican voters have repeatedly rejected people with this mindset. There is no “movement” of conservatives who support decertification, stay up at night obsessing over Robin Vos or want the Legislature destabilized at this critical time. Over and over again, conservatives and Republicans have said no to statewide candidates embracing this philosophy.
Yet the media keeps trying to give them credibility they have not earned.
The liberal Guardian fueled this myth too. “The push also marks the latest mobilization by the conspiracy theory-fueled far-right movement in Wisconsin which is animated by Christian nationalism, misinformation about elections administration and unwavering support for Trump,” they wrote.
The Associated Press called the recallers “backers of former President Donald Trump,” and WPR called them “conservative activists,” which implies a broader reach.
WPR noted, “Vos was criticized by some on the right for not pushing pro-Trump conspiracy theories harder.”
“Some on the right” = a handful of clowns that many on the right don’t want anything to do with.
Some media were more responsible and simply reported that a Burlington man or activist had filed paperwork for the recall.
We also don’t think voters’ support for Trump correlates cleanly with any of this. We know conservatives who oppose the Vos recall AND support Trump. Some of them liked Trump’s policies. Others just think that, despite the former President’s faults, the left has gone way too far with its political prosecutions.
What’s going on in Burlington is not a broader message or movement. It’s the last gasp of a soundly rejected cabal that obsessively sows disunity and trolls conservatives.
Enough.
