Don Quixote Takes On Derrick Van Orden

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden

James Wigderson is a conservative Republican who doesn’t support Donald Trump. That has turned him into an embattled Don Quixote of the right, tilting at MAGA windmills and defending traditional conservative policies.

Wigderson wrote a column for more than a decade for the right-leaning Waukesha Freeman and the arch-conservative MacIver Institute. He then served as a full-time reporter for the conservative Wisconsin Watchdog before becoming editor of Right Wisconsin, “Wisconsin’s one source for Conservative news and opinion.”

He served as editor from 2017 to 2021, only to pull the plug on the online publication after enduring ever-increasing complaints from readers for his non-MAGA style of politics, as he told Urban Milwaukee in 2024.

“I still had the same political views. I hadn’t changed,” Wigderson lamented. “But everyone else had.”

Since then Wigderson has written a column on Substack that continues to back conservative policies and bash Democrats, including numerous blasts at Francesca Hong, but has also attacked Republicans like Rep. Tom Tiffany as an unpatriotic choice for governor.

Wigderson has condemned “Tiffany’s decision to side with the violent insurrectionist mob of Trump supporters” on January 6 and vote “against certifying the election results for Pennsylvania and Arizona,” and his repeated comments denying the 2020 election of Joe Biden.

One column noted that Tiffany was consulted by James Troupis when Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro created the fake electors scheme in Wisconsin.

“If Tiffany were elected governor, this would present the tricky problem of a sitting governor possibly being called to testify in the fake elector case,” Wigderson wrote. “Of course, Tiffany could always follow the example of Trump and pardon anyone involved in the fake elector scheme… it would not surprise anyone if he chose the Trump pardon path.”

Would Tiffany consider pardoning Troupis and Chesebro? That’s a good point, and a question moderators might want to ask at the Tiffany and Crowley debate.

Wigderson can be funny and once took a whole column to drolly arrive at the conclusion that Tiffany “has less moral character ‘than a breadstick at the supper club salad bar.’” Yes, you have to read the column to get the reference, but then you also get to enjoy Wigderson blowing through the blather of blogger David Blaska, a former Tommy Thompson speechwriter turned Tiffany touter.

Wigderson’s attacks on Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin, have been pretty withering, including a column calling him “a disgrace to the House of Representatives.”

“He never should have been elected and, given his participation in the march on the Capitol on January 6, he never should have been seated,” Wigderson charged. “Not only was he at the Capitol on January 6 for the violent insurrection, he spent campaign funds to be there after losing to Rep. Ron Kind (D) the November prior. Van Orden denies that he broke the law on January 6, but the Daily Beast reports Van Orden would have had to cross several security barriers for the above photograph [showing Van Orden at the Capitol] to be taken.”

“The congressman attempts to use his past military service as a shield for his conduct, attacking people who have never served in the military for daring to criticize him.

“I have pointed out to Van Orden and his online supporters that Benedict Arnold also had an exemplary military career until he decided to become a traitor. Van Orden, by participating in the unconstitutional attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, is no patriot.”

The column continues:

“I woke Monday morning to this post from Van Orden:

Screenshot from X.

It’s the kind of nasty comment Van Orden loves to do, perhaps emulating President Donald Trump.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a congressman in Wisconsin try to bully anyone in Wisconsin like that,” Wigderson wrote and added this:

“But I’m going to surprise Van Orden…I’m going to be traveling through his district on Labor Day, and I can meet him in Eau Claire or La Crosse between 11:00 AM and Noon. I will tell him, to his face and in front of witnesses, that he is no patriot, and he is no hero.”

Sure enough, on Labor Day Wigderson drove to Eau Claire and offered to talk face-to-face with Van Orden but never heard back. Here is his post on X:

“Driving through @derrickvanorden’s district. Wish I could say to him – “to my face” as he demanded – he is not patriot, no hero, and betrayed his enlistment oath when he used campaign funds to be at the Capitol on January 6th. But he’s hiding out instead.”

Van Orden has been criticized for avoiding any public town hall meetings in his district, instead opting for tightly screened virtual meetings and screened Zoom calls. Some might say the former Navy Seal lacks the courage to address anyone who disagrees with him.