OPINION:
“We stand with Walker.” That phrase was spray painted on giant pieces of plywood that were posted in farm fields along the interstate on my way home from Madison to Milwaukee. It was a reaction to the tens of thousands of protesters who were occupying the Wisconsin State Capitol in opposition to our common sense conservative reforms.
The support was organic. When it was time to print yard signs for the recall election that followed the protests, we used the same phrase. It was prophetic as we won with more votes than in the original election. We stood up to the bullies and the people stood with us.
Now, we need to do the same for leaders standing up to the radical bullies today. I stand with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp who signed comprehensive election integrity legislation. The radical left is trying to intimidate them, but they must not back down.
Unfortunately, the lies of Stacey Abrams and Joe Biden cost Atlanta the Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. The Cobb County Travel and Tourism Bureau estimates a loss of more than $100 million. Many minority-owned businesses would have benefited from the money spent on the game.
Ironically, Colorado has 15 days of early voting while Georgia now has 17. Both states require identification to vote. More than 50% of Atlanta is Black while less than 10% of Denver is Black. This was never really about race. Sadly, it is all about politics: The governor of Georgia is a Republican while the governor of Colorado is a Democrat.
If this was really about race and voting, why did Democrats pick Milwaukee for their national convention in 2020? I signed into law a requirement to show photo identification to vote. Wisconsin even has fewer days of early voting than Georgia. Again, the difference is that the state has a Democratic governor and the city a Democratic mayor.
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Apparently, voter ID laws are only bad when you are a Republican.
Even The Washington Post gave President Biden four Pinocchios for his lie about the Georgia law requiring polls to close early. It is simply not true – yet the Biden administration continues to repeat the lie,even after the error was reported by the mainstream media.
Moving further south, we see the successes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He kept his state largely open, while aggressively moving to vaccinate seniors and other vulnerable groups. The left and many in the media attacked him, yet the facts clearly show the success of his actions.
Unlike New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s policies led to COVID-19 patients being placed in nursing homes, Mr. DeSantis’ actions saved lives and the state’s economy. Instead of giving him an Emmy or book deal, the press hounded him.
The worst of the worst was CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” The show aired selective footage of Sharyn Alfonsi confronting Mr. DeSantis at a news conference. Even though others taped the exchange where Mr. DeSantis said Publix was the only outlet ready to vaccinate people in Palm Beach County and that he had consulted local officials, they edited out most of his response.
Even the mayor of Palm Beach County, Dave Kerner, a Democrat, called the story intentionally false. He said his comments were excluded from the “60 Minutes” piece.
Ron DeSantis is easily the most effective governor in America right now. Unlike the false narrative that lifted Mr. Cuomo up last year as the “Gold Standard,” Florida’s governor has actually produced positive results. That’s why the media and Mr. Biden are out to get him.
Increasingly, members of the media have become agents of misinformation for radical activists. NBC News anchor Lester Holt said last week, “I think it’s become clear that fairness is overrated.” It was a clear sign that the media does not want to provide balance, they want to push their own agenda.
Beyond the simple question of fairness, the larger problem with that mindset is that the legacy media so often get things wrong. Mr. Biden announced this week that every adult will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19. Before the election, The Washington Post ran the headline, “Trump says, without evidence, every American will get coronavirus vaccine by April.” They were wrong and Donald Trump was right.
Mr. Holt’s own network did a fact-check on the statement that a vaccine could come by the end of the year. They declared that it would take a “miracle.” Then, in December, they ran a story about how the FDA authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. They were wrong and Donald Trump was right.
Bottom-line: We need to stand up for conservatives who call out the lies and speak the truth. Our republic depends on it. I stand with Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Kemp. Despite the bias of many on the left, their common sense conservative approach will continue working and winning for their states.
• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at swalker@washingtontimes.com or follow him @ScottWalker.
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