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Ben Wikler: “Ron Johnson is a huge vaccine skeptic and COVID vaccine…”

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

The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show

Published July 28, 2026 | Video Starts at 33:42

So at one level it's that I also think that Ron Johnson holds teletown halls all the time. He speaks to the concerns of people who feel that they're marginalized from the political system. He Ron Johnson is a huge vaccine skeptic and COVID vaccine skeptic. I totally disagree with him about those issues, but there are a lot of people who see him speaking to concerns that they. (33:42–33:48)

CLAIM

Asserts that Ron Johnson is skeptical of vaccines, including COVID vaccines.

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

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“The United States Republican House majority [was affected by the North Carolina state Supreme Court race].”
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“Kamala Harris lost Wisconsin by less than a percentage point.”
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“Harris had done better than she had in any other battleground state in terms of how she did versus how Biden did.”
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“Democrats are the party that wants to make government work for people.”
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“Our government, in so many ways, is set up to meet a million different goals other than delivering great public services.”
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“There's a ton that gets in the way right now of having a government that's capable of being responsive and effective.”
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“It's never been more urgent to have a government that is both responsive and effective.”
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“Democrats can rebuild trust in government and in themselves by being excellent and actually delivering.”
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“There were times in American life when parties were a huge part of your daily and monthly and weekly existence.”
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“When you became a naturalized citizen of the country, the local Democratic Party and sometimes the Republican Party was there to greet you.”
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“If they [Republicans] had won that super majority, they could have destroyed the Wisconsin Elections Commission and guaranteed future…”
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“It's in the state party's constitution that it is neutral in primaries.”
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“It's also part of that tradition to have the public get to call the shots.”
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“Wisconsin was the state that created open primaries.”
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“In 1948, there was this watershed moment. Joe McCarthy had just become the Republican senator in Wisconsin and the Democratic Party of…”
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“There is a essentially unified message this election cycle around affordability.”
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“Our federal government works for a cabal of far right billionaires and not for working people.”
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“Republicans in Wisconsin in the governor's race had a contested primary, and then it evaporated when Donald Trump tapped his favorite…”
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“I've seen Republicans running as Democrats in order to become spoilers.”
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“Maybe 90% of voters already know who they're going to support even before they know who the candidates are.”
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“The GOP has announced they're going to run a campaign of hate, that Axios had this report that they're going to run a campaign trying to…”
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“Ron Johnson holds teletown halls all the time.”
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