Here & Now

Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch on Trump for WI

Frederica Freyberg:

Former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch was not in Charlotte, but was cheering the ticket on from Wisconsin. She joins us now from her home in Concord. Thanks very much for being here.

Rebecca Kleefisch:

Absolutely. Good to see you.

Frederica Freyberg:

Interestingly, the Republican Party presented no new 2020 platform at this convention except to support the president’s “America First” agenda. How would you describe what that is?

Rebecca Kleefisch:

Well, I would say the Americans — or “America First” agenda, Frederica, is about prioritizing our national interests. One of the things the president spoke about last night that I think America frankly needed a good reminder of, is how he has prioritized America on a global scale. I think people start to forget in the midst of some of the cultural dissents that we’ve seen and the coronavirus and COVID-19 health care crisis that al–Baghdadi and Soleimani are dead and that we have a USMCA – United States/Mexico/Canada agreement. We’re bringing manufacturing jobs and agriculture jobs back to the heartland of this country. Those are all things that I think sometimes get rolled to the backs of our minds when we look at the news cycle.

Frederica Freyberg:

There was a lot made, speaking of news cycles, of fact-checkers being kept very busy during this convention. The Washington Post, for one, described the speeches as a “fire hose of false claims and a tsunami of untruths.” So how are voters supposed to separate fact from fiction?

Rebecca Kleefisch:

Well, I think you have to look at the actual data and the actual statistics. The speakers who are on the RNC stage, just like the speakers on the DNC stage, have facts and data that they use in order to build their argument for election. And I am a former journalist, a recovering journalist, and just like you Frederica, we each as journalists choose how we represent facts. What things make it into that first sentence, what things make it into the headline. And I think as rhetoric soars, sometimes facts are there, but then when the journalists choose to put them through a filter, they determine that with a couple of tweaks, things aren’t exactly the same. I’ve seen this time and time again on PolitiFact.

Frederica Freyberg:

I have to move along, but now you’re saying that it’s the fact-checkers that are skewing the facts. But so I actually want to move along to something very, very important as well. The president’s theme of law and order comes through loud and clear. But he really had no specific mention of what happened in Kenosha to Jacob Blake or about the teenage vigilante now charged with murdering two demonstrators. What would you like to say about what has happened in Kenosha, including about that teenage shooter?

Rebecca Kleefisch:

Personally? My heart goes out to Kenosha. I think Julie Jackson, the mother of Jacob Blake, was very eloquent in making the family statement when she asked for peace and she said Jacob would not want this civil unrest in the wake of the shooting. But as a journalist, I find it very disturbing that we see politicians coming out and trying the cop involved in the shooting before the facts have even been fully investigated by our Department of Justice. That’s dangerous behavior in a free country, where we know that you are innocent until proven guilty. And so I think we need to let the facts shake out. We need to pray for Kenosha. We need to be prayerful about the recovery of Jacob Blake, keep a mind’s eye to what his children have seen and be very hopeful about change in the future. But I think one of the most important things that needs to come out of the Kenosha situation is body cameras. It’s going to be very challenging for DOJ to investigate this when Kenosha does not have body cameras and when people are talking about defunding police, but yet they want more accountability and transparency, body cams give you that.

Frederica Freyberg:

I have to ask you about your comment about the teen shooter. What about accountability there?

Rebecca Kleefisch:

Oh, I think that there must be accountability. And you’ve seen, the DA has already issued charges. Once again, the investigation will ensue but I think in this age of social media where everybody is taping things on cell phones, we become judge and jury in our own households on our couches after watching Twitter and Facebook. That’s dangerous behavior. We need to let DOJ do its job.

Frederica Freyberg:

We need to leave it there. Former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, thanks for taking your time.

Rebecca Kleefisch:

You got it.