MADISON, Wis. — Despite Tim Michels bowing down to Donald Trump’s election lies to secure the endorsement of the disgraced former president, Trump appears to have turned his back on Michels, announcing campaign events in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa – skipping Wisconsin.
Trump’s snub is a major embarrassment for Michels, who has spent his campaign begging for the former president’s support. Michels has been so desperate that he moved to the extreme right on election conspiracy theories and disenfranchising Wisconsin voters to secure Trump’s endorsement.
Michels has said that “maybe” the 2020 election was stolen, and that “President Trump probably would be president right now if we had election integrity.” He will not rule out signing a bill to overturn Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election results and will not commit to letting the people of Wisconsin’s vote for president count in 2024 if he is governor. When it comes to illegally decertifying the 2020 election, Michels said that it will be “on the table” if he’s governor.
Michael’s relationship with Trump appears to have become rocky since Michels’ failed attempt to scrub all mentions of Trump’s endorsement from his website following the primary. Michels recently admitted in an interview that the relationship has weakened, telling WTMJ, “The last time I talked to Donald Trump was on primary victory night, on primary election night. So he called me on primary night. Yeah, so that was 11 weeks ago now. Something like that. Yeah. So I don’t talk to him. I don’t call him, I have a lot of respect.”
“This is a huge blow to Tim Michels, who has spent a majority of his campaign bending to the will of Donald Trump instead of focusing on the needs and priorities of Wisconsinites,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Spokesperson Hannah Menchhoff. “Donald Trump knows that Tim Michels’ campaign is flailing in the final days and isn’t worthy of his time or final push.”
