Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., during a recent appearance on CNN, pushed back on an allegation that Wisconsin Republicans falsely claimed to be electors for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election with his own claim: Democrats have done the same thing "repeatedly in all kinds of states."
"The Source" host Kaitlan Collins was discussing a recently settled lawsuit against ten members of the GOP in Johnson's state who fraudulently stated that the former president had won the election. The suit was prepared by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and the pro-democracy group Law Forward, which sought $200,000 in damages from each individual. No fine was handed down, but each Republican elector conceded that President Joe Biden was the true winner of Wisconsin in 2020 and also agreed to not serve as an elector in the 2024 race or any other in which Trump is a candidate.
As the Daily Beast noted, Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, Wis., stated that he would not, however, rescind his appointment of sanctioned elector Bob Spindell to the state's nonpartisan election commission. When asked if he supported Spindell's resignation, Johnson was vehement in his support for the fake elector.
“No," Johnson plainly stated. "Again, there was an active court case. There were all kinds of irregularities in Wisconsin in the 2020 election. In order to make sure that the case just wasn’t determined to be moot, they had to have an ultimate slate of electors, just like Democrats have done repeatedly in all kinds of different states,” he said. “There is nothing untoward about what they did. There is nothing illegal about what they did. They are just an alternate slate of electors.”
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Johnson then argued that Democrats have used the courts “to harass these poor individuals," adding that the ten implicated Republicans “did nothing different than what many Democrats have done in many states.”
“They certainly did, Senator,” the CNN host shot back. “There were multiple slates of fake electors, including in your home state. They’re acknowledging that they were playing a role in trying to improperly overturn the election. That’s what they said.”
When Johnson pressed his claim further, Collins asked for examples of which states Democrats had declared themselves electors in. "I’m not prepared to give you the exact states,” he stammered. "But it’s happened repeatedly. It has happened repeatedly. Just go check the books.”
“Which books?” Collins asked.
“There have been alternate slates of electors by Democrat electors in our history," Johnson asserted. "Again, you didn’t—this wasn’t what this interview was going to be about,” he griped. “I’ll come and I’ll provide you the information, but I’m absolutely certain about that."
A top Johnson aide tried to get a bogus slate of pro-Trump electors to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6. Pence's aide refused the offer.
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