The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel engages in a blatantly misleading hit piece disguised as a fact check while ignoring the real issue with WE Energies donations: Gov. Tony Evers got 12 times more than Tiffany.
In a classic case of faux outrage dressed as journalism, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a so-called fact-check under the headline: “Has We Energies donated thousands of dollars to Tom Tiffany?” Journo Hope Karnopp technically answers “yes”. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) received about $11,500 from the WEC Energy Group PAC, the political arm of the parent company that owns We Energies, over more than a decade.
But here’s what the Journal Sentinel doesn’t want you to focus on: Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has received $136,000 from the exact same PAC — more than 12 times what Tiffany got. That inconvenient truth is buried in a single throwaway sentence near the very end of the article, almost as an afterthought.
The piece pretends to be a neutral fact-check but is really a targeted hit job to justify Mandela Barnes’ attack. Tiffany has been hammering Governor Evers over soaring energy costs and proposed We Energies rate hikes. Karnopp’s “fact-check” seizes on Tiffany’s smaller donations to imply hypocrisy while quietly acknowledging but not emphasizing that the incumbent Democrat has been the far bigger beneficiary of the utility giant’s political largesse.
Let’s look at the numbers the Journal Sentinel itself reports to fit their cherry-picked narrative (sourced from Wisconsin Ethics Commission and FEC records):
- Tiffany’s haul: Four small state-level donations totaling $2,000 from 2010 to 2019 when he was a state lawmaker, plus five federal donations totaling $9,500 during his congressional runs from 2019 to 2023. He has received no donations since launching his campaign for governor.
- Evers’ haul: Six donations totaling $136,000 from the WEC Energy Group PAC.
The article notes in passing that the PAC “contributes to both Democrats and Republicans,” but it doesn’t analyze the disparity or question why Evers, the sitting governor with direct influence over utility regulation whose Public Service Commission has granted over $2.2 billion in rate hikes, has been such a favored recipient. Instead, the focus stays locked on Tiffany’s small donations. Why the fixation on Tiffany’s $11,500 when Evers pocketed $136,000?
This isn’t about pretending corporate PACs don’t exist or that politicians from both parties take them. The problem is the Journal Sentinel’s framing, which weaponizes one candidate’s donations to justify attacks from their opponents.
We Energies serves hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin families who are already facing rising bills. Voters deserve to know exactly who has benefited most from the company’s political spending. By burying the Evers numbers and centering Tiffany, Karnopp and the Journal Sentinel aren’t fact-checking; they’re narrative-crafting.
If a Republican governor had received $136,000 from a major utility PAC while families struggled with energy costs, you can bet the Journal Sentinel would have led with it. The same standard should apply here.
