Trump called him to overturn 2020 results 20 months after the election: Wisconsin Assembly speaker

Robin Vos, a Republican, told Milwaukee’s WISN that the former president pushed him to take back the state’s electoral votes for Joe Biden this month.

Former President Donald Trump allegedly called Wisconsin’s state Assembly speaker, Robin Vos, this month and urged him to try to void the results of the 20-month-old 2020 presidential election.

Vos, a Republican from Milwaukee, said in an interview that aired on Tuesday for Milwaukee’s WISN, “He would like us to do something different in Wisconsin.”

After the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling this month that limited the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in future elections, Vos claimed that Trump contacted him “last week.” According to the judgment, a decision made by the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2020 to increase the usage of drop boxes due to the pandemic was “unlawful,” and moving forward their use should be limited to election clerk offices.

After the decision, Trump went to social media to force Vos to act. Trump has consistently claimed without providing proof that the boxes contributed to rampant voter fraud.

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court has just declared the ‘Unlock’ Boxes, or Ballot ‘Stuffing’ Boxes, to be ILLEGAL,” he wrote in a July 9 post on Truth Social, his social media platform. “It’s now up to Robin Vos to do what everybody knows must be done. We need FAIR and HONEST Elections in our country.”

Vos, Trump continued, “has a decision to make! Does Wisconsin RECLAIM the Electors, turn over the Election to the actual winner (by a lot!), or sit back and do nothing as our Country continues to go to HELL?” 

Vos told WISN that Trump also called him.

“He makes his case, which I respect … I explained it’s not allowed under the Constitution. He has a different opinion,” Vos said, adding that he also told Trump that the ruling “does not go back and say what happened in 2020 was illegal. It just says going forward it can’t happen.”

Requests for comment from Trump’s office regarding Vos’ account of their alleged call were unanswered.

The House committee looking into the riot on January 6 has looked into efforts by Trump and his friends to exert pressure on state legislatures to overturn election results in crucial swing states that Joe Biden won, notably Wisconsin, in the weeks following the election. The committee will have a hearing in the evening on Thursday to examine Trump’s prolonged inactivity while his fans attacked the Capitol.

In the meantime, a criminal investigation into attempts by Trump and others to convince Georgia lawmakers to overturn Biden’s victory is being carried out by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

While Trump no longer has the power of the presidency behind him, he hinted in a post on Tuesday that Vos, who’s running for re-election this year, could lose to a GOP challenger if he doesn’t do what he wants. “I don’t know his opponent in the upcoming Primary, but feel certain he will do well if Speaker Vos doesn’t move with gusto. Robin, don’t let the voters of Wisconsin down!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Adam Steen, Vos’ opponent, has attempted to take advantage of Trump’s criticism of Vos.

“We are all disappointed in Vos, but not surprised,” Steen wrote in a tweet, which contained a screenshot of one of Trump’s posts. “All the more reason to #TossVos on August 9th!”

Asked about Trump’s criticisms, Vos told WISN: “I think we all know Donald Trump is Donald Trump. There’s very little we can do to control or predict what he will do.”