Kleefisch: ‘Tony Evers is a moron’

Former lieutenant governor tells local GOP she’s best choice to take him on in November
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Former lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch didn’t mince words as she described Gov. Tony Evers’ first term in office July 20 while she tried to convince Republicans in Shawano County why she’s the best conservative to take him down, calling him a “moron” who should “prepare for his retirement.”

“We have been on the road — road warriors — for the last three days, and I have not been at home, but that’s OK,” Kleefisch said at the Republican headquarters in Shawano. “I follow all my family members on social media, so I know everyone is well, and there are no problems at home. The reason I’m on the road so much is that this is a race to the finish, and I’m the only one who can beat Tony Evers this fall.”

Kleefisch cited a recent Marquette University poll that showed she would get 43% of the vote in November versus 47% for Evers, with 7% indicating they don’t know who they’ll vote for. Competitor Tim Michels could get 41% versus 48% for Evers, according to the poll, while Tim Ramthum would get 34% to Evers’ 51%. Kleefisch is neck and neck with Michels, 26% to 27% respectively, in the Republican primary, which takes place Aug. 9.

Kleefisch called this election a referendum to bring back independence as she spoke to a crowd of almost 100 people.

“If we don’t, we risk once again four years of Democratic control in the executive office that took a steamroller to our individual rights and liberties, our very constitution, locked my own children out of their own classrooms, and now we have two years of learning loss, academic anxiety and depression among Wisconsin kids,” Kleefisch said, adding that being a K-12 mom gives her the best chance against the former superintendent of public instruction.

Kleefisch said she plans to eliminate the personal property tax for businesses, something she noted that Evers vetoed from the recent budget.

“That’s a $200 million tax that Tony Evers vetoed from the budget because Tony Evers is a moron,” Kleefisch said.

She also claimed that she was the best to take on Evers regarding the recent Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that impacted abortion rights nationwide and overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent, pointing out that many pro-life organizations have a woman as a spokesperson.

“I can speak with genuine empathy — not sympathy, empathy — and compassion about Roe,” Kleefisch said. “No one else in this race can, including Tony Evers. I am not a biologist, but I am a woman, and I can tell you honestly there is no one who understands this issue better than me in this race.”

Kleefisch made other campaign promises during her 30-minute speech, including firing the district attorney in Milwaukee on her first day for offering low bail for Darrell Brooks, who faces dozens of criminal charges for plowing a sport-utility vehicle into the Waukesha Christmas parade.

She’s also vowing to create a parent’s bill of rights that would allow them to opt their children out of certain issues, and she said she would ban critical race theory in classrooms.

“We, as moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas and taxpayers, deserve to know what curriculum our kids are being taught,” Kleefisch said. “We deserve to know what pronouns they’re using at school, what religions they have chosen to exercise at school, what tests they are taking at school, what things they are serving on at school, and how to opt out of the things we don’t believe our children should be seeing.”

Kleefisch also vowed to “end where I began” in education by expanding the school choice program in a way that would allow all of the state aid affiliated with students to go to the school parents enroll them in instead of dividing it between that school and the school district where the family resides. She cited this action as a way for parents in the Shawano School District to combat recent financial concerns regarding a $2 million budget deficit, which was resolved, where the threat of a school being closed brought parents out in force.

“Your dollars will follow a child’s education and not buildings,” Kleefisch said in an interview with NEW Media after the speech. “As Shawano School District becomes more and more competitive and a better and better exciting destination to send their children, they will get more and more funding. Parents will be making a choice of where to send their kids.”

Gas prices and inflation are a key issue that has Kleefisch fired up, blaming Evers and President Joe Biden for gas prices going over $4 and inflation reaching levels not seen in over 40 years. She vowed to bring prices at the pump and the grocery store back down.

“You can actually buy gas and groceries in the same day,” Kleefisch said. “Wouldn’t that be remarkable?”

Other promises she made during her speech was to find ways to keep Generation Z workers in Wisconsin, establishing a flat tax of 3.54%, eliminating the tax on retirement income, putting 1,000 more police officers on the street, banning election drop boxes and ballot harvesting, and taking a more active role in the United States-Mexico border issue, noting that 95% of the illegal drugs come from south of the border.


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com