Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Vos says Trump called him in quest to decertify state vote
MADISON (WKBT) — Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says former President Donald Trump recently called him, seeking to decertify the state’s vote tallies in the 2020 presidential election.
The Rochester Republican said during an interview with WISN in Milwaukee Tuesday that Trump called him after the state Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling July 8 that most absentee ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin are illegal.
Trump and some Republicans see the ruling as a vehicle to reverse President Joe Biden’s 2020 election.
“It’s very consistent,” Vos told WISN. “He makes his case, which I respect. He would like us to do something different in Wisconsin. I explained that it’s not allowed under the constitution. He has a different opinion.”
So did the court, ruling that its decision affects only future elections, not previous ones.
“The court case as you read it does not go back and say what happened in 2020 was illegal,” Vos said. “It just says going forward it can’t happen.”
After Trump criticized Vos last year, the speaker hired former state Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman to review the 2020 election. In March, Gableman said the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature should consider decertifying the 2020 election.
Vos rejected the idea because legal experts contend it is impossible.
Gableman’s tenure on the state’s payroll has propelled controversy and legal jousting, including accusations that he has deleted files. But his contact was renewed in May.
Vos’s rejection of Trump’s recent overture led to attacks of the speaker on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.
The former president alleged in a July 13 post that the Vos was letting Democrats “get away with ‘murder.’”
“What a waste of a brilliant and courageous decision by Wisconsin’s Highest Court,” Trump wrote.
Trump also wrote, “Looks like Speaker Robin Vos, a long time professional RINO always looking to guard his flank, will be doing nothing about the amazing Wisconsin Supreme Court decision.”
Tuesday, Trump suggested on Truth Social that Vos’s Republican Aug. 9 primary opponent, Adam Steen of Burlington, will be the beneficiary if Vos doesn’t act.
“This is not a time for him to hide, but a time to act!” Trump wrote. “I don’t know his opponent in the upcoming Primary, but feel certain he will do well if Speaker Vos doesn’t move with gusto. Robin, don’t let the voters of Wisconsin down!”
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