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Ben Wikler: “Republicans had rigged [Wisconsin] for total control.”

Featuring: Ben Wikler, Democratic | Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview

Published January 14, 2025 | Video Starts at 03:05

And so I've been the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for six years. When I ran for chair, Wisconsin was a state that Republicans had rigged [Wisconsin] for total control. It's a state with a long progressive history. It also has a history on the far right, the Joe McCarthy, McCarthyism and HUAC and all that stuff. He was from Wisconsin. (03:05–03:08)

CLAIM

Asserts that Republicans manipulated Wisconsin's political system for dominance.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ben Wikler

“Republicans are actually the party of the far right, ultra rich.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 01:26-01:30
“Republicans held a special session to rip power away from Governor Evers and our Attorney General Josh Kwahl.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 04:26-04:33
“We flipped 14 state legislative seats [in Wisconsin].”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 05:36-05:39
“We had the highest turnout in the country in Wisconsin.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 05:44-05:47
“There were some really, really great things that the Biden administration did...that cut the poverty rate, child poverty rate in America, in…”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 06:46-06:55
“Republicans killed those pandemic supports.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 07:05-07:09
“Every other Democrat supported making permanent support for families across the country.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 07:39-07:45
“Republicans pulled the rug out and people saw their income drop.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 07:45-07:49
“Republicans are about to go on the attack again.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 08:41-08:46
“Building up an independent progressive media ecosystem is something that the Democratic National Committee and the DNC chair can help do.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 11:30-11:38
“The right does a lot of working the refs, they do a lot of yelling at reporters who report objectively in order to get them to tilt their…”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 12:05-12:13
“Republicans essentially writing stories for people and then serving them up these scoops and different things.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 12:35-12:41
“The right is doing versions of [corporate PR video news releases] all the time to try to define the national conversation.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 12:59-13:06
“We should train and support and deploy more people to go on conservative media and blow up their narratives.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 13:18-13:24
“Big media companies are bending over backwards to placate Trump.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 14:39-14:43
“Democrats bring down taxes for working families and bring up support.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 16:16-16:21
“We want to expand Social Security instead of privatizing it.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 16:20-16:24
“Republicans are trying to shred [public schools] and privatize them.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 16:24-16:28
“Trump is about to try to pass a multi trillion dollar tax cut for billionaires.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 20:19-20:44
“Republicans won't let the biggest tax cuts for the wealthiest people expire.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 20:19-20:44
“Republicans were trying to hurt real people in order to help the super rich and big insurance companies.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 22:23-22:29
“The right controls the biggest media engines in the country.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 23:04-23:08
“Republicans are legalizing wage theft and making it so that you can not pay workers the money that they're owed.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 26:16-26:23
“Republicans are trying to smash unions.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 26:30-26:32
“The reason why young people can't afford houses in the country [is due to economic policies].”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 27:29-27:32
“The reason why it's so incredibly expensive to get a higher education [is due to economic policies].”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 27:33-27:38
“In Wisconsin, we have the biggest state party on the Democratic side in the country.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 29:11-29:16
“We sometimes have hundreds of staff [in Wisconsin].”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 29:11-29:17
“In North Carolina, they had a state Supreme Court that flipped to the Republicans.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 32:02-32:06
“The Republicans flipped it [North Carolina Supreme Court] and then they rigged that state so much that Democrats lost three U.S. house…”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 32:05-32:11
“Republicans have a House majority right now [due to the North Carolina Supreme Court flip].”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 32:10-32:13
“April 1st in Wisconsin, Brad Schimmel, extremist politician, was the right wing attorney general for four years.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 35:00-35:06
“We had an abortion ban from before the Civil War that after the Dobbs decision suddenly in effect came into effect.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 38:53-39:00
“Every abortion provider in Wisconsin stopped providing abortion care in our state.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 39:01-39:10
“If we can win the state supreme court race in 2023, if we can reelect Governor Evers and Attorney General, call and stop Republican…”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 39:11-39:22
“That law [abortion ban] is now tied up in court and it's going to go to the state Supreme Court.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 39:27-39:31
“Tammy Baldwin, who we just reelected, she went after the drug companies that had massively jacked up the prices and got them to bring them…”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 40:25-40:33
“Defeated the number one policy priority for the Trump administration, which was to gut the Affordable Care Act and gut Medicaid.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 42:48-42:55
“Trump had said he was going to do it on day one.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 43:04-43:07
“Helped protect health care for tens of millions of people.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 43:41-43:44
“Wisconsin, which had been rigged for Republican control.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 43:44-43:48
“Move Wisconsin from being to the right of the national popular vote in the previous two elections now to being more Democratic.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 44:31-44:38
“In 2010, Republicans took over [Wisconsin]. They suppressed votes, they gerrymandered the maps, they changed campaign finance laws, they…”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 44:39-44:39
“Flipping 14 state legislative seats while other states were losing them.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 44:47-44:51
“The far right tries to rig the economy to pull up the ladder.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 47:53-48:01
“Republicans fought tooth and claw to keep [the world where people are chained to jobs for health insurance].”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 49:51-49:54
“Democrats passed [the Affordable Care Act] with no Republican votes.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 49:58-50:02
“A federal guarantee that a health insurance company could not deny you health insurance just because you had a pre-existing condition.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 50:06-50:11
“When we have a growing, thriving economy, then we can afford to make an environmentally sustainable economy.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 53:00-53:07
“When we stop a tiny group of people from monopolizing everything, then you can have 100 more things bloom.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 53:17-53:25
“The Great Depression gave rise to the New Deal.”
Democrats Best Weapon Against MAGA _ Ben Wikler Interview | Uploaded January 14, 2025 | 55:22-55:25