As Mr. Gallagher silents, Republican state chair and individuals for Mr. Gallagher’s seats are among those who express their anger and apprehension.
Republicans and conservatives in Wisconsin’s District 8 have a mix of emotions following Rep. Mike Gallagher’s (R-Wis. ) announcement that he would retire on April 19, during a time limit that will prevent a special election to fill the seat before November.
The terms “bewilderment”,” confusion”, and “frustration” came up in conversations with The Epoch Times. The throughline was “anger”.
” It’s going over like a stone thrown through a window”, said Ken Sikora, head of the Oconto County Republican Party. ” I suppose the expression “angry” would become appropriate.”
” Anger is definitely a word I’ve heard”, said former Wisconsin State Sen. Roger Roth, one of the Republicans hoping to replace Mr. Gallagher.
The head of the Brown County GOP, Doug Reich, described the feelings on the ground as” 100 percent frustration”.
” There’s a lot of people upset”, said Wisconsin State Sen. André Jacque, even in contention for Mr. Gallagher’s seats.
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” The great question—why? No one, including Mike Gallagher, has told us why”, said Ronald Zahn, a liberal activist from Wrightstown, Wisconsin.
” We’re puzzled, and because there’s no answer, there’s anger”, he added.
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis. ) and other Republican officials have suggested that Democrats, particularly Wisconsin governors, would have too much leeway in the state. Tony Simmons.
The government may not choose a special election day that comes after Nov. 5, according to a note from the National Republican Congressional Committee’s attorney, which leaves a Democratic seats opened in the days immediately following what appears to be a contentious vote.
A special election wo n’t allow for the opening to be filled before November. It does, however, give Wisconsin’s Democratic governor—who is certainly looking to complete Republicans any favors—a opportunity to monkey around with the procedure”, a cause close to Mr. Gallagher told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Sikora, for his part, dismissed the notion that a particular vote would create a risk in the highly Democratic 8th District.
” We’re not gonna drop”, he said.
Congressman from Anti-TikTok is Gearing Up to Join TikTok’s Palantir.
Mr. Gallagher is a part of Palantir, a security firm that has benefited the most from his contributions to him over the past few years and was a key player in the push to boycott TikTok. The Wisconsin senator and former member of the military intelligence community who served on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP ) helped spike that work. He was the primary supporter of the anti-TikTok act that was approved by the House in March.
Alex Bruesewitz, a conservative influencer with ties to the Eighth District, told The Epoch Times,” I find it very problematic and unethical that just days after Gallagher led the effort inside of Congress to ban TikTok he was hired by a multi-billion-dollar company that advocated for the ban of TikTok.”
The issue is that we choose these people because they are paid a lot of money and are given opportunities to meet other people. The rest of us have no choice but to go out and try to find someone else, according to Mr. Sikora, while they take that and use it to enrich their own lives.
” That does not have a good appearance, and I think it furthers people’s cynicism and, I guess, anger towards the system in Washington, D. C.”, Mr. Reich said of the Palantir news.
” Is he trading in his experience in Congress for a cushy, big salary? We do n’t know enough”, said Mr. Zahn, adding it was possible that Mr. Gallagher’s “extensive knowledge and experience” made him a good candidate regardless of his actions in relation to TikTok.
Mr. Jacque, one of the candidates for Mr. Gallagher’s seat, questioned the lawmaker’s decision not to resign quickly.
” I think that if you have the appearance of a conflict of interest, whether or not it actually exists, that appearance, essentially becomes the reality in the public if it ca n’t be dispelled”, he said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee ( AIPAC ), which is likely to spend$ 100 million on Congress this election cycle, was also a top contributor to the lawmaker—and Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, recently flew to Israel to show solidarity with the nation in its battle with Hamas. The business has grown to become a significant supplier of defense goods to the nation.
The Epoch Times has repeatedly contacted Palantir, a business that was initially funded in part by the Central Intelligence Agency’s venture capital arm, In- Q- Tel, for comment. Palantir was not made commentable by a source close to Mr. Gallagher.
As the days pass and Mr. Gallagher leaves, some of his northeastern Wisconsin constituents are particularly concerned about his silence.
After a powerful storm swept through much of the Eighth District as part of President Donald J. Trump’s April 2 visit to Green Bay, Mr. Sikora claimed on April 5 that he and his family were up to day three without power. According to Mr. Sikora, the outgoing representative has been missing in action.
” Mr. Sikora has not contacted the congressman’s office about this issue. Our team is always ready to help if any person is having issues and needing assistance from a federal agency, as is always the case,” a source close to Mr. Gallagher told The Epoch Times.
Departure
The lawmaker made his imminent departure in a joking statement on March 22.
Some neighborhood Republicans have made speculative decisions that might have led to his departure.
Mr. Sikora, a , restauranteur, linked Mr. Gallagher’s departure to his controversial February votes against impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
However, it seems that the area’s conservative grassroots were unpopular.
Mr. Sikora, the Oconto County GOP chair, said that he, Waupaca County GOP Chair Joel Bartel, and Mr. Reich of the Brown County GOP rebuffed Mr. Gallagher’s attempts to meet with them in Door County after he voted against impeaching Mr. Mayorkas.
” This was a moment to bring the district together between our congressman and party leaders.” We]cannot ] put into words how disappointing this situation has been”, Mr. Sikora and Mr. Bartel said in a joint letter to Mr. Gallagher that was shared with The Epoch Times.
According to a letter that Mr. Reich shared with The Epoch Times and confirmed by Mr. Reich, Mr. Reich also bowed out of the meeting.
His vote has now divided our party, and Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump ally, may be tempted to run for president as a result. I’ve heard that people in the north are putting their Gallagher signs in the wrong direction. This is not good”! Mr. Reich wrote at the time.
Mr. Bruesewitz highlighted a link between Mr. Gallagher’s reported future employer and Mr. Mayorkas’s agency.
” Palantir also has a contract with Mayorkas ‘ DHS”, he said.
In January 2021, he wrote that” the president’s call for a peaceful march, however irresponsible in context, will make an eleventh-hour impeachment for” Incitement to Insurrection” appear partisan and pointless.
” Obviously, he was voting against his own president at the time”, Mr. Sikora said.
Trumpism has a visceral dislike.
The lawmaker made his resignation announcement just ten days after a similar announcement from now-current Republican Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo. ), one of the other Republicans who voted against impeaching Mr. Mayorkas and a constant critic of President Trump.
” I think it’s the next three people that leave that they’re going to be worried about”, Mr. Buck told Axios on March 12.
” I think Mike Gallagher ca n’t stand Trump and this is his way of flipping him off”, Mr. Sikora said.
Mr. Zahn said he was unaware of any stated support for President Trump by Mr. Gallagher, “even though Trump’s policies and Mike Gallagher’s policies align on almost every issue”.
” He has a visceral dislike for Trumpism”, he said.
Mr. Roth, one of the candidates for Mr. Gallagher’s seat, did n’t dismiss the notion that the early departure was intended as a stick in the eye to the current GOP, now more firmly under President Trump’s control than ever.
” That could very well be”, he said, adding that he thought the lawmaker should have stayed through November.
” Politics certainly can get personal”, Mr. Jacque said when asked about the possibility that Mr. Gallagher’s early departure was meant as a negative signal to President Trump and today’s GOP.
If Mr. Gallagher is dramatically rejecting” Trumpism” through his early retirement, one avatar of the movement has tried to respond in kind.
Trump Ally Bruesewitz Is Making a Mulling Run
While many suspect there is no love lost between Mr. Gallagher and President Trump, Mr. Bruesewitz’s loyalty to the former president is hard to question. President Trump checked his name at their Green Bay rally on April 2 and on April 2 he.
” You do n’t know who Trump is going to mention. It is not always the best conservative candidate”, Mr. Zahn said, adding that he “enthusiastically will support Trump” despite preferring Florida Gov. When both Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy were the primary candidates,
Mr. Bruesewitz, who has floated the idea of running for Mr. Gallagher’s seat, will make a big announcement in Green Bay on April 8.
The influencer told The Epoch Times that” Wisconsin 8 will elect a political outsider who fully supports the MAGA movement in November.”
” I think he’s gonna run, but] I’m ] not 100 percent sure”, Mr. Sikora said of Mr. Bruesewitz. He suggested that President Trump’s endorsement, should it come, would be” the only one that really matters” in the end.
