The Questions Wisconsin Reporters Are Not Asking Tom Tiffany

Tom Tiffany. (Public Domain).

This weekend, Wisconsin Republicans will endorse as their candidate for governor Tom Tiffany, an election denier who tried to overturn Wisconsin’s presidential vote, a MAGA Congressman who votes with Donald Trump 100% of the time and has Trump’s endorsement.

Given the current political climate, with Trump’s poll numbers on issue after issue circling the drain, making Tiffany the chosen one might appear to be a GOP death wish.

So far, however, the Tiffany campaign has one major thing working for it – the failure of Wisconsin’s news media to hold him accountable.

For example: Last week, it was revealed by the Journal Sentinel that the FBI has begun an investigation of the 2020 Wisconsin election. It has been reviewed multiple times and found to have been conducted fairly, with no evidence of fraud. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from falsely insisting he beat Joe Biden, in Wisconsin and nationally.

Tiffany voted to overturn Biden’s wins in Pennsylvania and Arizona and said he would have done the same for Wisconsin if such a vote had been held, according to the Washington Post. He also joined a friend-of-the-court brief in a Texas lawsuit aimed at voiding the election results in four swing states, including Wisconsin.

So, does Tiffany support the new FBI investigation? Good question, but no Wisconsin media outlet has answered it yet. They haven’t even reported a “no comment,” probably because no one has asked him. Gov. Tony Evers says he will resist any FBI efforts to seize voting documents in Wisconsin. What is Tiffany’s position? Would he hand them over?

While they’re at it, some enterprising reporter might also ask Tiffany whether he still believes Trump won Wisconsin in 2020, or whether he is ready to say Trump lost.

It’s quite a reach to ask Wisconsin voters to give him their support now, when he tried to void the millions of votes they cast six years ago.

Related questions that come to mind: If he loses the governor’s race, will he accept the results? If he wins, will he refrain from interfering with the 2028 presidential race?

One for Brian Schimming, state GOP chair: Does the party’s endorsement of Tiffany mean the Wisconsin GOP is on record as believing the 2020 race was stolen?

The election denial is but one of a host of Tiffany positions that have not had any coverage. While the media focuses on parsing minor nuances between the Democratic primary candidates, Tiffany is getting a free ride. You can hardly tell he’s a Congressman. He’s been running for eight months, but you’d think he just parachuted in, with no history and no responsibility for the mess Trump has created — with his 100% support.

We have heard more about his folksy TV commercials than what he’s done, how he’s voted and where he stands. While the FBI goes to work on trying again to invalidate our election, Tiffany’s talking about food truck curfews in Milwaukee – and getting away with it.

His latest TV ad is a laundry list of hot button issues he would fix as governor – after 15 years in the state legislature and Congress, during which he’s opposed or avoided them all.

Where he stands is right next to Trump on a long list of issues, from health care , cost of living and inflation to tariffs and foreign policy, not limited to the Iran war and relations with US allies. Multiple polls show those positions are poison to Trump, with a 34% approval rating, and GOP candidates tied to him. But so far that tight connection is a well-kept secret.

My press credentials expired decades ago, but here are a couple more questions I might ask Tiffany if I were at this weekend’s convention in the Dells:

No one has asked him, including Trump, but does he still support the Iran war? What would he consider a victory? Or have we already won?

The Trump-Tiffany Gas Price Index in Wisconsin went up 74 cents in 15 days. On April 22, Wisconsin’s average price for a gallon of gas was $3.67. Now it’s $4.41. What are you and President Trump going to do about it?

Trump says he doesn’t think about the financial situation of Americans struggling to survive while prices keep rising. “Not even a little bit,” he said. What do you say, Tom T, to Wisconsin people who can’t make ends meet and have to choose between health care, groceries and gasoline? Do you ever think about them?

Inquiring minds want to know. Let’s hope some reporters do too.

Bill Christofferson is a recovered journalist and long-time Wisconsin political consultant, now retired.