An awkwardly worded tweet by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker didn’t get the response he probably intended as voters pounced on its unwitting double meaning.
If you like the past 8 years, Walker implored voters on his Twitter page November 1, “vote @HillaryClinton.”
The Wisconsin governor clearly doesn’t really want voters to choose Hillary because he was appearing with Republican nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on the same day. However, his specific wording left that up to interpretation.
Some commenters even tweeted that they were taking Walker’s advice… literally.
@thetrudz I didn’t know who Scott Walker was and as soon as I saw that tweet I thought, oh he is a HRC supporter
Walker followed his tweet up with a few clarification tweets:
If you liked past 8 years, you might be a liberal elite living off of the federal government in & around Washington. @TheDemocrats
Nationally, the past 8 years gave us failed Obamacare & a labor force participation rate that was lowest since 1977. @TheDemocrats
Great to rally a huge crowd in Eau Claire for @realDonaldTrump, @mike_pence, @RonJohnsonWI, and the entire Republican ticket.
The relationship between Walker and Trump has been fraught since they competed against each other for a brief time on the campaign trail, with Trump even trashing Walker’s record in Wisconsin. The Eau Claire appearance was only the second time that Walker has campaigned with the Republican nominee in the state. At a previous rally in Republican stronghold county Waukesha, Trump appeared with former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson instead.
Wisconsin is an unusual state; it has a Republican governor, attorney general, state Assembly, and state Senate. However, it has been a blue state in presidential years when turnout is higher. Clinton currently leads in Wisconsin in the RealClearPolitics polling average by a fairly comfortable margin of 5.7 percentage points, but that’s down a point since October 26. Republicans may also be focusing some attention on the state in a bid to boost turnout for Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who is trailing in a grudge match bid with former Senator Russ Feingold.
When it came to Walker’s tweet, though, the jokes were flying:
That Scott Walker tweet:
Can’t stop giggling at Scott Walker’s tweet. What’s the over under on how much longer it stays up? :D
Scott Walker’s tweet failed epically 😂.
@wendymfelton It is such a cute pic. First time I have been happy to see a Scott Walker tweet
See different pathways for each candidate for electoral college victory here. The breakdowns show how formidable the math is for Trump even with the tightening in the polls.