PolitiFact | Wisconsin

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This partnership of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and PolitiFact helps you find the truth in Wisconsin politics. Scroll down to search through our fact checks and analysis.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Pants on Fire

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All Fact-checks for Wisconsin

stated on November 6, 2021 in Panel discussion

“Within two years, there were two 500-year (storm) events” in Wisconsin.

true

mostly-true

stated on November 19, 2021 in Twitter

Kyle Rittenhouse was an “armed person” crossing state lines when he came to Kenosha protests in 2020.

true

false

stated on November 20, 2021 in a Facebook post

“The gas station where they initially attacked” Kyle Rittenhouse “is owned by his grandparents.”

true

false

stated on November 5, 2021 in News release

“Wisconsin is almost equally divided on partisan lines” and therefore new Legislative maps could be drawn to “represent that 50-50 split.”

true

barely-true

stated on November 5, 2021 in TV interview

"Only a court can decide that somebody is incompetent to vote" -- the state Election Commission "cannot force facilities, private facilities, to allow special voting deputies" inside.

true

mostly-true

stated on November 15, 2021 in a post on Facebook

“500 National Guardsmen being called to Kenosha ahead of the Rittenhouse verdict. Had they done this in the first place, there wouldn’t have been a trial.”

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false

stated on November 15, 2021 in a Facebook post

Timothy Simpkins, a Black teen shooter, got 1 day in jail and $75,000 bail, while Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teen, got 2 months in jail and $2 million bail. “I think it’s pretty evident ... that white privilege is a myth.”

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half-true

stated on November 13, 2021 in a viral image

Kyle Rittenhouse’s mother “drove him across state lines and dropped him off in the middle of a riot armed with an assault rifle” in Kenosha.

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false

stated on October 28, 2021 in Twitter

Says President Joe Biden “is in talks to pay illegal immigrants $450,000.”

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half-true

stated on October 30, 2021 in TV interview

“If you’re a low-wage worker and you’re single and don’t have children, we’re literally taxing you into poverty."

true

mostly-true

Rebecca Kleefisch

stated on October 23, 2021 in Campaign email

The Biden Department of Justice “would use the FBI to target parents who speak out against critical race theory.”

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false

stated on November 5, 2021 in an interview on the Pat McAfee Show

"This idea that it's the pandemic of the unvaccinated, it's just a total lie."

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Wisconsin Senate Republicans

stated on October 26, 2021 in Twitter

“States run elections, not the federal government.”

true

barely-true

Kelda Helen Roys

stated on September 28, 2021 in Email

Says gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch “worked with Scott Walker to sign five abortion restrictions into law that took away services and threatened doctors with prison time for providing safe and legal abortions.”

true

true

stated on August 8, 2021 in Twitter

“The seasonal cold and flu is actually more dangerous for kids than the Coronavirus” and “there is very low transmissibility from children to their families and communities.”

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barely-true

stated on September 23, 2021 in Twitter

Says Rebecca Kleefisch played a key role in the Foxconn deal, “the largest attempted government handout to a foreign company in American history."

true

mostly-true

Democratic Party of Wisconsin

stated on September 13, 2021 in Instagram

“The Walker-Kleefisch administration slashed $800 million from public schools."

true

barely-true

stated on September 24, 2021 in Twitter

Says Joe Biden's IRS reform proposals "would require banks and credit unions to hand over private information about routine transactions to the IRS."

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barely-true

stated on October 3, 2021 in Twitter

“The annual Pentagon budget hovers over $750 billion annually, twice that of the much debated Build Back Better Act that costs about $350 billion annually as currently proposed.”

true

true

stated on August 29, 2021 in TV interview

"The vast majority of the (refugees) coming into Fort McCoy are not the SIVs" and some have "no documentation at all."

true

mostly-true

Fact-checking claims about Kyle Rittenhouse, shooter in Kenosha, Wis., protests

Fact-checking claims about Kyle Rittenhouse, shooter in Kenosha, Wis., protests

By Tom Kertscher • November 17, 2021

Fact checking Kenosha shootings, violent protests one year later

Fact checking Kenosha shootings, violent protests one year later

By Vanessa Swales • August 24, 2021

Updating Evers' promises on tax cuts, education spending, expanding broadband and more

Updating Evers' promises on tax cuts, education spending, expanding broadband and more

By Madeline Heim • July 27, 2021

Are state legislators really seeking power to overrule the voters?

Are state legislators really seeking power to overrule the voters?

By Louis Jacobson • July 14, 2021

What Ron Johnson gets wrong about the COVID-19 vaccines

What Ron Johnson gets wrong about the COVID-19 vaccines

By Madeline Heim • April 23, 2021

Was ‘Democracy in the Park’ illegal?

Was ‘Democracy in the Park’ illegal?

By Eric Litke • March 10, 2021

Fact-checking Biden's Milwaukee visit

Fact-checking Biden's Milwaukee visit

By Eric Litke • February 17, 2021

A look back at our Act 10 fact checks

A look back at our Act 10 fact checks

By Eric Litke • February 9, 2021

Checking Evers' promises on Act 10, prisons, commissions

Checking Evers' promises on Act 10, prisons, commissions

By Eric Litke • January 22, 2021

9 key fact-checks about the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin

9 key fact-checks about the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin

By D.L. Davis • January 4, 2021

Pants on Fire in Review 2020 -- Wisconsin

Pants on Fire in Review 2020 -- Wisconsin

By Haley BeMiller • December 28, 2020

COVID-19 fact checks in review -- Wisconsin

COVID-19 fact checks in review -- Wisconsin

By Madeline Heim • December 28, 2020

Top Flip-O-Meter fact checks 2020 -- Wisconsin

Top Flip-O-Meter fact checks 2020 -- Wisconsin

By Haley BeMiller • December 28, 2020

Top 10 Kenosha-related fact checks of 2020

Top 10 Kenosha-related fact checks of 2020

By Eric Litke • December 28, 2020

Top election fact checks -- Wisconsin

Top election fact checks -- Wisconsin

By Haley BeMiller • December 24, 2020

Top 10 fact checks of 2020 -- Wisconsin

Top 10 fact checks of 2020 -- Wisconsin

By Eric Litke • December 24, 2020

Rudy Giuliani, Trump legal team push conspiracy theories, baseless claims about 2020 election

Rudy Giuliani, Trump legal team push conspiracy theories, baseless claims about 2020 election

By Samantha Putterman • November 20, 2020

Fact-checking Trump’s election fraud falsehoods in White House remarks

Fact-checking Trump’s election fraud falsehoods in White House remarks

By Daniel Funke • November 5, 2020

Fact-checking the avalanche of Wisconsin election misinformation

Fact-checking the avalanche of Wisconsin election misinformation

By Madeline Heim • November 4, 2020

Split in voting methods puts COVID, mail center stage in Wisconsin

Split in voting methods puts COVID, mail center stage in Wisconsin

By Eric Litke • October 10, 2020