MILWAUKEE — After officially launching her campaign for governor Thursday morning, former Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch says she’s ready to lead Wisconsin in a new direction.
“[I’ll bring] strength, guts and preparedness,” Kleefisch told WTMJ’s Scott Warras when asked what traits she’d bring to Madison that would be different. “[Governor] Tony Evers failed when he shut down the economy through a one-size fits all approach all across Wisconsin, and chose winners and losers.”
Kleefisch criticized Gov. Evers over his handling of the pandemic and his response to the violent protests in Kenosha last summer after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
“He is so not up to this moment in history,” she said. “It’s time we replace him with someone who is strong and that’s why I am running for governor.”
Kleefisch also indicated how she plans on handling the pandemic moving forward.
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of the solutions that we’ve seen, however I don’t think a part of that combination is forcing the government in between doctor and patient relationships,” she said. “I don’t think the government should be telling people what they should do with their healthcare period.”
Wisconsin Democrats took aim at Kleefisch after she launched her campaign.
“Rebecca Kleefisch is radically wrong for Wisconsin,” said WisDems Chair Ben Wikler. “As Scott Walker’s lieutenant governor, Kleefisch championed a far-right agenda that deeply hurt Wisconsinites. She opposed affordable health care expansion, supported disastrous cuts to transportation funding, gutted funding for public education, and rejected much-needed federal funding for partisan reasons. We can’t let Rebecca Kleefisch bring her radical agenda to our state and roll back the progress made by Gov. Evers.”
You can listen to the entire interview with Kleefisch above.