Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch on Tuesday backed off from and apologized for a false claim that her Democratic challenger took a knee during the national anthem at the Wisconsin State Fair, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Kleefisch first made the claim during a Twitter spat in which Governor Scott Walker said Barnes was in favor of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. She later doubled down on the claim, telling reporters that she had been looking at the flag during the anthem so couldn’t see what Barnes was doing — but heard from someone that he had taken a knee.
Barnes called out the lie, though, and Kleefisch was forced to retract and apologize for the claim today.
“He has said that he didn’t do it and I have to believe him and I have to apologize for repeating something I was told,” Kleefisch said on WTMJ radio this morning.
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry cause you’re not,” Barnes said in response. “You’re only sorry you got caught.”
