Tom Tiffany sits down and says little with Up Front

Caught the Up Front show this morning, and it included an interview with both Democratic Guv nominee David Crowley and GOP Guv nominee Tom Tiffany. I wanted to give you Tiffany's interview (which begins at 7:42 of this clip) because even though Matt Smith wasn't exactly going Mike Wallace on Tommy Tiff, Tiffany still looked lame and scared.

Off the bat, Tiffany tries an attack on Crowley claiming "there's not a dime's worth of difference" between Crowley and Hong and that "the leadership of the Democrat (SIC!) Party has capitultated to this Democrat (SIC!) Socialist movement".

Now does Tiffany say what policies Crowley and Hong agree or how the Party has "capitulated" to the DSA "movement"? NO, OF COURSE NOT! Does Matt Smith ask "In what way has that happened?", to make Tiffany answer how he can say that? NO, OF COURSE NOT! He just moves on to the next question.

Tiffany pulls another bunch of empty statements later on when he talks about what really matters in this election.

TIFFANY: [Democrats] are going to try to divert from the real issues of this campaign and there's a reason for that. That's because they've been giving the 400-year property tax increase (something that's only possible by WisGOP refusing to fund schools at the state level) , the over $2 billion in rate increases - at this place we're sitting at right now, his utility bills went up $400 a month in the last year, and that's because they've just been rubber-stamping these increases. We have to deal with the affordability issue, and I'm going to do that.

Does Tiffany say HOW he's going to "deal with the affordability issue"? OF COURSE NOT! He's a Republican, do you think he knows anything beyond complaints and generalities? And does Smith ask how that's going to happen? OF COURSE NOT!

Smith asks what role Donald Trump and his support of Tiffany will have in the election, and that's where the Tiffany Tap Dance begins.

TIFFANY: ...the other side, they're going to campaigning against Donald Trump. I'm going to be campaigning for the State of Wisconsin, and I've really stayed foused throughout this campaign. This is about being governor. This isn't about being in Wisconsin and shouting at Washington DC. You control the things you can control, and that's what I'm going to do as Governor."

Oh? What happens in DC doesn't have any effect on what happens for the Governor of Wisconsin, despite the fact that nearly 30% of Wisconsin's state budget comes from the federal government?

But those federal aids may be getting lower under Trump/GOP. For example, UW-Madison reported a drop of $27 million in federally-funded research under the first year of Trump 2.0, due to loss of 145 federally-funded grants. In addition to the loss of potential findings and improvements for overall life, the loss of grants is a loss of jobs and economic activity, particularly with higher-educated people who have a lot of options on where to live. And do you think a Governor Tom Tiffany would do anything to advocate to the Trump Administration for those jobs or improvements?

Know how else a Governor "shouts at Washington DC"? By asking for disaster aids when weather events strike. Which seems really important given the headlines we've seen over the last year with this Administration.

“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

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— Murshed Zaheed (@murshedz.bsky.social) July 29, 2026 at 6:05 PM

We saw a similar dynamic play out here in Wisconsin, as the county David Crowley runs did not get tens of millions of dollars in aid requested after record rains hit Southeastern Wisconsin this time last year.

Disaster relief for six Wisconsin counties inundated by historic flooding back in August has again been denied by the federal government. It’s the second time that Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Grant, Milwaukee, Door and Grant counties have been denied assistance from the Trump administration since the floods drowned parks, damaged homes and trapped people in their cars in the middle of the night.

This latest denial was in response to an appeal filed by Gov. Tony Evers in November, after the first denial came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). At the time, Evers stressed that the extreme storms had left over $26.5 million in disaster costs.

In a statement Monday, Evers called the new denial “completely unsatisfactory,” saying that the Trump administration had again denied the relief for Wisconsin “without any explanation” and calling for the decision to be reversed. “Wisconsinites have been hard at work to build back from these historic flooding events, but folks are not out of the woods yet,” said Evers. “Efforts to rebuild will cost tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that local communities will be on the hook for, and it’s really disappointing to see our federal leadership turn their backs on Wisconsin, our families, and our communities in our time of need. We will continue to advocate to the Trump Administration and our federal partners that Wisconsin needs these resources to rebuild and recover, and we will continue to do what we can to support our local partners however we can in the meantime.”...

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley called the denial for disaster relief “deeply disappointing” in a statement Monday. “My administration has worked to rebuild and recover after last summer’s historic storms and flooding,” said Crowley. “Without federal assistance, the financial burden of these public infrastructure repairs falls to local governments to cover. Communities rely on intergovernmental partnerships in times of crisis, and this decision by the Trump administration erodes that public trust. To move forward, my administration will continue working with the State of Wisconsin, our municipalities, and community partners to identify responsible funding solutions to rebuild our roads, bridges, parks, and public buildings. Our residents should not be forced to shoulder the full cost of disasters beyond their control, and we will continue advocating for the resources our community deserves.”

Relatedly, doesn't Tom Tiffany have a job right now in Washington DC that pays $174,000+ per diem expenses and benefits? Couldn't he do something right now to deal with a pointless, losing war in the Middle East and record profits in the US that are raising prices and causing problems back here in Wisconsin? Shouldn't he be using his position as an elected Congressman to vocally push for aid to go to the Fox Valley after their devastating storms from late July, like Governor Evers has done?

Sure leads one to ask a simple question of Tom Tiffany.

via GIPHY

To Matt Smith's credit, he does ask about another item where the presidency and the Governor of Wisconsin would interact - certifying the presidential elections, which is something Tiffany voted against doing in 2020. And Tiffany's answer is both lame and non-reassuring.

SMITH: The Democrats are going to come at your hard for your vote on the 2020 election. Do you regret that at all, not voting to certify the results?

TIFFANY: No, Joe Biden won the election, and we've lived with the consequences of the massive inflation after he became president. Inflation went up the most in 40 years, and now it's up to us to do everything we can to fix those problems that were created from that. I'm looking forward, not backward.

SMITH: Do you regret your vote, though?

TIFFANY: I'm looking forwards, not backwards.

So not only does Tiffany not want to talk about why he decided to throw out the votes of Americans to keep Trump in office after 2020, he seems to think it was OK because...he didn't like how the Biden Presidency went?

Hey Tommy, if you don't like the outcome of what Wisconsinites choose in the 2028 elections because you think having Dems in charge is a bad outcome, WILL YOU STILL VOTE TO CERTIFY THE ELECTION? Because it sure seems like what you're saying you won't.

This guy is weak, and has nothing but surface-level complaints to go along with lots of weaknesses in both votes and policies. He should be hit constantly until he gives a real answer with real substance, which will damage his campaign even more, since Tiffany's solutions (what few they are) are going to be things that Wisconsin voters do not want.

I don't count on our corporate media to do that job (they love that dirty Uihlein/Hendricks ad money), but all Dems and their supporters sure should, and Dems should be filling in the blanks for the many things Tom Tiffany won't talk about.