Just over three months since the riots of January 6 at the U.S. Capitol, Wisconsin Republicans can’t quit the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
This Saturday the semi-literate Wisconsin Conservative Digest is hosting another conference, “The Big Rig: 2020 and Election Integrity Training.”
Kevin Nicholson, a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate who is expected to run for either Senator or Governor in 2022, is one of the featured speakers. Nicholson, according to the program, is expected to speak on “Growing the Conservative Movement and Messaging.”
Nicholson and his organization No Better Friend Corp did not respond to multiple emails requesting a comment on whether the Republican believes the 2020 election was stolen. Nor did they respond to questions about how Nicholson supported the effort by some Republicans to refuse to count Wisconsin’s electoral votes on January 6.
In 2018, Nicholson ran for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. He lost to former state Sen. Leah Vukmir in a primary marked by a contest to be seen as the biggest supporter of President Donald Trump.
Also scheduled to speak is state Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) on proposed changes to the state’s election laws. Brandtjen, a promoter of conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 presidential election, is the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
Brandtjen recently claimed to be a target of “cancel culture” when she was criticized by a Democratic colleague for her past promotion of the idea that the 2020 election was stolen, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The criticism by Rep. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) was in response to Brandtjen’s committee being given subpoena powers to investigate the 2020 election, saying the process lacked credibility with Brandtjen leading it.
“He’s basically saying that I don’t get an opinion because I still think that Donald Trump was a good president,” she told the Wisconsin State Journal. Brandtjen later denied that the committee’s work is an effort to overturn the 2020 election.
