GOP state majority leader slams far-right MAGA rep for proposing Wisconsin retract electoral votes for Biden: 'It is illegal'

More than a year into Joe Biden’s presidency, some far-right MAGA Republicans in Wisconsin continue to promote the false, totally debunked claim that former President Donald Trump really won the state. One of them is State Rep. Timothy Ramthun, who has introduced a resolution calling for Wisconsin to take back the ten electoral votes that were cast for Biden.

But Jim Steineke, the Republican who serves as majority leader for the Wisconsin State Assembly, has slammed Ramthun’s proposal as “illegal.”

Steineke tweeted, “Rep Ramthun just attempted to pass an Assembly resolution to recall WI’s presidential electors. Not only is it illegal, it’s just plain unconstitutional. As chair of the Rules Committee, there is ZERO chance I will advance this illegal resolution. #EndofStory.”

But the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Molly Beck notes that even though Steineke forcefully shot Ramthun’s proposal down, some far-right MAGA Republicans have claimed otherwise.

Beck reports, “Popular conservative website Gateway Pundit falsely reported the move had been successful. Kari Lake, a Republican candidate for governor in Arizona, then tweeted to her 107,315 followers ‘**HUGE BREAKING NEWS** — Wisconsin Assembly Votes to Withdraw Its 10 Electors for Joe Biden in 2020 Election.’ As of Tuesday morning (January 25), the tweet reporting inaccurate information was still up despite Gateway Pundit recasting the story. The tweet had been liked more than 11,000 times and shared by more than 5000 people.”

Predictably, the Gateway Pundit attacked Steineke as “corrupt” and a RINO (Republican In Name Only).

In the Wisconsin House of Representatives, Ramthun has been a vocal supporter of the "Big Lie" — repeatedly claiming that the election was stolen from Trump because of widespread voter fraud. But that false claim has been totally debunked, and vote recounts have made it abundantly clear that Biden won Wisconsin’s ten electoral votes fair and square.