(MADISON) — Appearing on a Green Bay radio show last Friday, likely Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch issued a dog-whistle to conservative listeners, asking them to “go into battle” and do “hand to hand combat” to promote their agenda.
REBECCA KLEEFISCH: But look at what they’re continuing to do. It’s like they have a printing press in the basement of the White House and they don’t care about how much China holds our debt. This is scary stuff that’s not happening to you in Asia. This is happening to our children. And it’s like an entire political party is turning a blind eye to it because they feel like if they, if they give a certain amount to a swath of voters, they’ll be beholden to this political party for decades to come. I’m sorry. I just believe Americans will wind up being smarter than that. But that means it’s incumbent upon us as conservatives to make sure that they are not low information voters, we need to go into battle willing to do hand-to-hand combat with facts and truth, logic and reason and plenty of better ideas. And frankly, that is what is at stake in 22  in this midterm election. And I think that is what is going to save this country.
Kleefisch’s call for confrontation over political differences echoes rhetoric heard in the run up to January 6th attacks and politically-motivated threats across the country. At a time when officials and experts are warning of continued threats, Kleefisch’s language does not reflect the measured temper Wisconsinites expect in their governor.

Kleefisch also continued to add fuel to conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election, with a promise to sign all of the Republican voter suppression bills currently in the legislature if she were elected governor. With nearly every one of Trump’s post-election challenges having failed in courts across the country — including challenges to Wisconsin’s election rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court — the facts are clear: the 2020 election was free and fair, and is now over.

Kleefisch’s organization, the 1848 Project, also grabbed headlines last week when the group’s communications director compared Governor Evers to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Kleefisch has refused to denounce the comments or call for a more civil political discourse.
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