ICYMI: ‘Radical Rebecca’ Kleefisch Running as Wisconsin’s Donald Trump
Cap Times Opinion: “Rebecca Kleefisch Would Govern Wisconsin Like Donald Trump Governed the USA — In a Word, Disastrously.”
In an opinion column published by the Capital Times today, editor emeritus Dave Zweifel says Rebecca Kleefisch is running as “Wisconsin’s Donald Trump.”
Zweifel cites Kleefisch’s unfaltering praise for Trump and radical policies as signs that she would govern Wisconsin just as Trump governed the country. Kleefisch formerly backed Trump’s absurd claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and said she supports conducting a “forensic audit” of the results.
Another glaring similarity between Kleefisch and Trump is her long track record of lies. PolitiFact has pronounced a half-dozen of her claims false or mostly false, and she spread a lie about affordable health care that was labeled “Lie of the Year.”
If elected, Radical Rebecca says she would sign a Texas-like bill banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Kleefisch also opposes public health measures such as mask and vaccine mandates, a position that Zweifel says puts her “in sync with many of the nation’s most radical Republican governors.”
“Rebecca Kleefisch has failed Wisconsin before and, if elected, she’ll do it again,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Wisconsin voters won’t forget how Kleefisch and Scott Walker slashed funding for public schools and blocked access to affordable health care, and they certainly won’t forgive Kleefisch’s harmful anti-choice and anti-science policies. Kleefisch is too far down the far-right rabbit hole and too far out of touch with Wisconsinites.””
Read key excerpts from the column below:
Capital Times: Opinion | ‘Radical Rebecca’ Kleefisch running as Wisconsin’s Donald Trump
The Wisconsin Democratic Party keeps referring to former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who is now running for governor, as “Radical Rebecca.”
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When Donald Trump became president in 2016 she jumped in with both feet, praising just about everything Trump did (or didn’t do). And now she’s making it clear that she’d govern Wisconsin just as Trump governed the U.S. if the good folks of Wisconsin elect her in 2022.
Yes, Radical Rebecca, indeed.
She makes no bones about her harsh Trump-like stands on the issues. For one, she has proudly proclaimed that if she’s governor she would sign a Texas-like bill banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That would mean women seeking an abortion would have to do so within six weeks of conception, a requirement that outlaws virtually all abortions.
A Republican-controlled Legislature with Republican Kleefisch in the governor’s office would clearly pave the way for Wisconsin to join Texas and other states that will soon join the parade to effectively overturn Roe vs. Wade.
And she’s clearly in sync with many of the nation’s most radical Republican governors who continue to fight the Biden administration and both federal and state health agencies on everything from mandatory face masks to the COVID-19 vaccinations.
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Unlike some of her soulmates, Kleefisch has now conceded that Joe Biden won the election, but she’s all-in on conducting a “forensic audit” of the results, insisting that the citizenry needs to know that everything is on the up and up. Early on she backed Trump’s claim that the election was stolen.
“We need to get to the bottom of it,” she said on the same “Upfront” show about the never-ending election investigations, an insinuation that something may have been amiss despite the fact that every recount and every court case found no evidence of anything being out of order.
Kleefisch has expressed doubts about climate change, she has opposed same-sex marriage and before that civil unions — once comparing gay marriage to bestiality — she supported repeal of the Affordable Care Act, insisting that it’s an “abomination,” she has said that rape victims should turn lemons into lemonade.
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The fact-checking service PolitiFact has pronounced a half-dozen of her claims false or mostly false, and she earned a “pants on fire” rating over her charge that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was supporting a government takeover of health insurance.
[…]
She participated in what PolitiFact called the “lie of the year,” the claim that the Affordable Care Act provided for “death panels” that would make decisions on who gets or doesn’t get medical treatment, a conspiracy theory that was exposed for being absolutely false.
The bottom line is that Rebecca Kleefisch would govern Wisconsin like Donald Trump governed the USA — in a word, disastrously.
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