Contrary to the media’s outraged reporting, Tom Tiffany and likely Republican lieutenant governor candidate Will Martin did NOT split over Juneteenth Day, which honors the emancipation of slaves. They’re NOT in conflict.
They’re united in what is likely to be a really interesting and inspiring ticket. But, no, that’s not the story the Wisconsin media want to tell. [Read our previous story: 11 Interesting Facts About Will Martin.]
At first, when I read the headlines pitting Tiffany against Martin over Juneteenth Day, I cringed. I cringed because I wish Tiffany would stop letting the media lead him down these sideshow rabbit holes, like the weaponization fund, the 2020 election and now this. He takes the bait every time. They’ve got a paradigm in mind and, facts be d*mned, they will twist the facts to fit it.
It’s 2026, and voters want their current problems solved. On the economy, Tiffany is far stronger than the wild-eyed tax-and-spend liberals (at least one an anti-capitalist). The Democrats’ Senate caucus couldn’t even bring themselves to get rid of taxation on folks’ tips and overtime; Wisconsin Democrats are all okay with taxes being jacked up for 400 years (all points he’s also tried to make).
As James Carville stated, “It’s the economy, stupid.” And every column inch spent on sideshows is a column inch we’re not spending discussing how much Fran Hong hates capitalism or how your property taxes will soar if any of the Democrats gets rid of Act 10, as they want to do. Tiffany is running to the far right even though he doesn’t have a primary. He’s running like it’s a race in the arch conservative 7th congressional district, and I don’t get that, although I suspect it’s a strategy to convince disenfranchised Trump-only voters to get off their electoral duffs and vote in November.
Tiffany was right, though, when he pointed out the double standard. Hong was one of the 6 Democrats to vote against making child gro*ming a felony in #Wisconsin, but the media aren’t running big headlines pitting her against her party.
Republicans Are Embracing Will Martin; Democrats Are Trying to Destroy Minority Candidates
I’m a careful reader of stories and comments, and I noticed that, buried in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s own diatribe (er story), was evidence that Tiffany and Martin really haven’t split on Juneteenth Day after all, as the story and headline claim.
Meanwhile, on the Democrat side, the insider Democrat elite establishment is orchestrating to keep the two top minority candidates from winning the governor’s primary (Hong and Mandela Barnes.) They’re also orchestrating to wreck the careers of three legislative free-thinking Democrat minorities (Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, Russell Goodwin and Enrique Camacho.) And the lone white guy running as a Democrat for governor, Tom Barrett’s godson Joel Brennan, was accused of saying the ugly quiet part out loud.
Meanwhile, Republicans throughout the state – and Tom Tiffany – have welcomed an inspiring black candidate, Will Martin, with a warm and loving embrace. I’ve seen Will at multiple events, and he is always surrounded by conservatives who welcome him warmly as part of their political family, from little old ladies to farmers to the younger generation to the “establishment” elite and Tom Tiffany. Everyone likes Will Martin.
The Milwaukee Courier, a historic black newspaper, reported that Brennan “seemed to admit that Wisconsin is not yet ready for a non-white governor when he was asked directly… if he viewed being white as an asset or liability.” Urban Milwaukee reported that Brennan touted himself as a “white centrist” to donors. Brennan denies this.
The Democrat Party’s mistreatment of black, Hispanic and Asian candidates is not the story the ideological largely white axis of Madison-Milwaukee elite media prefers to tell, although Brennan’s comments got some coverage.
They want to falsely paint Tiffany as an ornery old white racist pitted against his own likely black lieutenant governor. Only it’s not true. (Meanwhile the fact ornery old white governor Tony Evers isn’t endorsing his former black lieutenant governor, Barnes, gets ignored.)
Both Tom Tiffany & Will Martin Want to Celebrate Juneteenth Day
Let’s unpack.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story breathlessly claims that Tiffany and Martin “appear” to be divided over Juneteenth. First of all, appear is a hedge word I don’t let my journalism students use in their stories. It implies the writer is unsure. If you’re not sure, don’t make the claim. You can either prove it or not. They don’t.
The Journal Sentinel’s evidence is that Tiffany opposed – and opposes – making Juneteenth a federal holiday. What was his reasoning?
“My vote reflected my belief that America has one Independence Day, and that is July 4th,” Tiffany said. “Juneteenth and other historic events should be celebrated, as they have been for years, but I do not support the premise of establishing another Independence Day when July 4th serves as a unifying moment for all Americans and reminds us of our ongoing work to build a more perfect Union.”
So Tiffany believes Juneteenth should be celebrated. He just doesn’t want to create new federal holidays for any historic event – no matter how momentous. I’m personally fine with Juneteenth being a federal holiday, to be clear, but that’s not the point of this article. And I believe it’s something we should all celebrate.
What did Will Martin say?
In an extremely eloquent essay that demonstrates his continued value to the ticket, Will outlined what Juneteenth means to him and why it should be celebrated.
Read his piece. It is on all of his social media and ours. It’s extraordinary. But this doesn’t surprise me. I’ve met and interviewed Will Martin, and he’s an extraordinary human who is a deep thinker. He’s also paid his dues, working in the Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker administrations. He’s focused on fiscal issues, and he hosts an inner city #Milwaukee radio show.
Here’s what he said, in part, “So, on this and every Juneteenth, I celebrate how Wisconsin and the Republican Party helped the USA become a more perfect union. It is not a substitute for the Fourth of July; it is an extension of the freedom ignited across this nation 250 years ago.”
The media leapt on the substitute line because they’re desperate to make Tiffany falsely look like a racist, a stereotype debunked by his and his party’s embracing of a candidate like Will Martin (there is so much goodwill that they’re even overlooking some old donations to crazy Democrats when he was running a business.) The media don’t know what to do about Martin, so their strategy, subconscious or not, pits the two against each other, creating conflict that doesn’t exist. Heck, both campaigns recently posted a video of them walking together to patriotic music.
Instead, the media could have done a story focused on Martin’s inspiring words about Juneteenth. But that might help a Tiffany-Martin ticket if Martin gets through the primary as many expect.
Martin said Juneteenth is not a substitute for the Fourth. But Tiffany never said it was. He said he prefers not to make a federal holiday out of additional historical events, including it. I’d suspect that Tiffany would concede it’s not a substitute for the 4th. In fact, that’s kind of his point.
Martin also pointed out that his great-great grandparents were not free. He eloquently documented how it was the Republican Party that freed the slaves and passed the core civil rights statutes. He wrote that he also celebrates, on Juneteenth, how the Republican Party, which was founded in Wisconsin, helped the U.S. become a more perfect union.
His messages about the Republican Party got predictably mostly scrubbed from the media stories determined to falsely make the GOP candidate look racist.
The Journal Sentinel pounced, demanding Martin comment about the “apparent” division, there’s a hedge word again, but all Will said was, “Like so many Americans, I have been celebrating Juneteenth for years and will continue to do so, regardless of its federal status.”
“What is important to me is honoring my ancestors and the soldiers, both white and black, who fought to free them,” Martin added.
David Varnam, a nice guy who is also running as a Republican for lieutenant governor, basically said the same thing but because he’s not black, the media didn’t falsely accuse him of splitting with Tiffany. They “appear” to want the race conflict (see how that works? What a handy rhetorical device.) But this is a column, not a news story.
Varnam said, in part, that “Juneteenth, whether a federal holiday or not, is a celebration of an important historical event in our history.”
Tiffany also said Juneteenth should be celebrated. Furthermore, and this is key. The Journal Sentinel story, by Mary Spicuzza, then revealed:
“Neither Martin nor Varnam answered questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about whether they believe Juneteenth should be a federal holiday.”
Got that? So Tiffany, Varnam and Martin agree that Juneteenth should be celebrated, and it’s not even clear whether Varnam or Martin think it should be a federal holiday. Good for them for not taking the conflict bait.
The headline is even worse. It says that Tiffany and Martin “split on meaning of Juneteenth.”
No they don’t. Where in any of this did they split on the “meaning” of Juneteenth? The headline is false or, minimally, unsupported by evidence.
Alternate headline proposal: “Republican Candidate Will Martin Praises Republican Party on Juneteenth Day” or “Will Martin Explains the Significance of Juneteenth Day.” But those headlines are too positive and true.
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