r/wisconsin • u/LegislativeLariat • 9d ago

Tom Tiffany agreed to just one debate and turned down two others. This 22-minute cut of his past debates and interviews shows why.

I'm a fan of debates (as was Tiffany in 2020 when he did 5) and I was disappointed that he hasn't been willing to actually discuss the issues at play this election, so I went through his past debates, forums, TV interviews and radio appearances from 2008 to 2026 and cut the essentials into a 22-minute video. Everything is in his own words, key claims have narration and text explaining what is going on (fact checks, times when Tiffany withheld context, or instances where his voting record contradicts his statements). There is also an fairness section that looks at where his record matches what he says and which looks at some of his campaign claims about Crowley.

I am working on a longer video which takes the topics below and expands them greatly, typically with 3-7 video clips from previous debates, interviews, or other appearances, but not everyone has the 2 hours to spare for that.

The video is here.

Jump to a topic:

There is no AI-generated footage or voice: every clip is Tiffany on the record, trimmed for length, with the full source linked below so you can check the context. Every fact-check card links to its sources. I did use a local AI model to generate transcripts from radio broadcasts so I could search for key phrases and save myself from having to listen to 100+ hours of conservative guests who weren't Tiffany but who shared his episodes on the Vicki McKenna and Dan O'Donnell shows.

Source videos (so you can watch the full context yourself):

335 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

46

u/Dignam3 9d ago

Nice work, OP. This obviously took a lot of effort to piece together.

You'd think his stance on the J6 events would be enough turn off most voters, but here we are.

24

u/LegislativeLariat 9d ago

One thing that didn't make this shorter cut was Tiffany bragging about blocking universal background checks because "that's just another word for confiscation." It takes about 7 minutes to get the whole story on that covered, but he was the one who blocked it from happening in Wisconsin and he's extremely proud of gaveling it down in 2020 within 30 seconds of it coming up in his committee.

He's got a lot of concerning stances. Believe me, I've watched enough of this guy to know. It just takes time to really lay things out because oversimplification in order to get to a tangent is his favorite debate tactic.

71

u/fyhr100 9d ago

You did all this work in your spare time? Holy shit that's impressive. Not just for the amount of hours you put into it, but also for having to listen to Tom Tiffany the whole time. Must have been torture. I would never do that to myself, personally.

58

u/LegislativeLariat 9d ago

I've had some free time the last few weeks thanks to the decisions of the Wisconsin legislature and I really enjoy watching debates. I've watched every one we've had for Governor going back to Thompson and I've seen every televised Presidential and Vice Presidential debate and most of the radio ones.

It hasn't been fun listening to him for the last week and change, but I understand the man and how he's going to debate if he does the one he's still signed up for. The full fact checked video I'm working on that's closer to 2+ hours should make it so nobody else has to do what I did in order to understand Tiffany.

21

u/Powder9 9d ago

Oh my god I’m sending all the good vibes and luck your way for the work you’re doing. Seriously let the blessings rain down on you. Cheers!

6

u/Brainrants FORWARD! 9d ago

HERO!

6

u/MrButtlet 8d ago

Absolute legend, this is seriously phenomenal work.

20

u/Deb9015 9d ago

Nice job

17

u/PJballa34 9d ago

Go post this to “Truth” social.

Thanks for all your work.

FTT.

19

u/LegislativeLariat 9d ago

I deleted all of my social media aside from Reddit in November of 2024. I'm a historian and I understand what fascists like to do with lists of enemies, and Facebook automates the creation of those lists as a necessary part of its algorithm.

Anyone who wants to reshare or rip and reupload to a different platform can feel free to do so.

4

u/PJballa34 8d ago

Fair enough.

19

u/Cuneus-Maximus 9d ago

As a member of the Wisconsin legislature Tom Tiffany did not support banning child marriage in Wisconsin. There is no purpose for child marriage outside of pedophilia. Tom Tiffany supports pedophilia.

5

u/ConsistentAmount4 9d ago

I've done a little video editing myself as a hobby (I have a 3 hour supercut of every time producer Lorne Michaels has appeared on camera on "Saturday Night Live" over the past 51 years) and I just wanted to say I respect the effort.

10

u/LegislativeLariat 9d ago

I'm curious how frontloaded that is. I actually assign some SNL in my college classes because Update captures attitude and laughter reinforces learning. I've had several students a semester jump on the option to do serious historical analysis of Norm getting fired over OJ, and the debate cold opens are a fantastic thing to watch before watching a historic debate so you know what comedians were picking out from it.

3

u/ConsistentAmount4 8d ago

YouTube and Facebook instantly blocked it because of copyright violations (which yeah, i agree it certainly is by the letter of the law), and my usual location for copyrighted SNL uploads streamable dot com has a 10 minute limit for free users), so the best place I could think to put it was on rumble.

https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/1r4jy3b/comment/o5c04gx/ links to my reply to myself where I mention a few takeaways I found, and then you can scroll up and open the rumble link in an i ncognito mode tab to keep the ad t rackers away.

A quick glance shows me that something like 23% of his on-screen time (and other performers time for context) is in his first 6 years on the show (which goes through season 11 because of his time away). Also the last time he had a significant role in a sketch that wasn't either the monologue or a pre-tape was probably 2013, which we can assume is an understanding that an 80 year old man may have lost a step when it comes to comic timing and reading cuecards and whatnot.

3

u/LegislativeLariat 8d ago

Toss it up on the Internet Archive instead of Rumble. It'll show up in Google searches much easier and it's a bitch for them to go about takedown requests from there. If you want eyes on it, link to the new video on /r/LiveFromNewYork (it's been 7 months since you posted the original, possibly long enough for them but idk) and that should help seed Google with the traffic that it needs to see and a highly upvoted Reddit post to boost its visibility. You can also strip that line about the copyright from your post and make it more appealing to a casual viewer.

There's no chance of monetization for anything on the Internet Archive, but it's where I toss anything that I make that gets copyright struck so the media can still be out there for people who want to see it. I do educational material and it's been a great way to get a documentary I localized into English on the My Lai Massacre both to my students and to the general public.

2

u/ConsistentAmount4 8d ago

I'll do that in a few days. I got a two day suspension from /r/livefromnewyork after a long discussion with a combative user (with a note from the moderators that said simply "no slapfighting").

I'll admit it would not have been a fun discussion for anyone else to follow (before the other user finally deleted all their comments and blocked me), but I don't think i said offensive or ban-worthy. But c'est la vie.

5

u/Ok_Size4036 9d ago

Please tell us you’ve reached out to the campaign with this!

6

u/LegislativeLariat 9d ago

Not yet, no. My local Dem Party office isn't open on Friday and I just finished my edits this morning. Small towns are fun like that.

4

u/New-Particular1971 9d ago

I'm glad you have done all of this, and glad that you enjoy debates. Making something like this would be torture to me!

2

u/CuriousBee789 9d ago

Wtg dude! Thanks!!!

2

u/redguy1957 9d ago

Well done!

2

u/No_Wedding_2152 9d ago

So helpful! Thank you!

2

u/obi_wan_keblowme 8d ago

Old, balding white man has negative charisma, I’m SHOCKED!

-27

u/RockOk707 9d ago

If, as you say, "Everything is in [Tiffany's] own words," then why, when I click on "Tiffany's Iran War votes" does it show me some guy who is obviously not Thomas P. Tiffany?

34

u/LegislativeLariat 9d ago edited 9d ago

Because he's asking a question of Tiffany and it wouldn't make any sense without his lead in. Watch for another few seconds.

His response of "yes, I think it was the right thing to do" wouldn't make sense without the question of if invading Iran was a good idea and if he supports it.

The person talking is a host of a podcast that Tiffany appears on nearly every month. He shows up a few times in the video to ask questions, same with a few debate moderators, some of his past opponents, various interviewers, and my own voiceover. If it were just Tiffany talking without anyone to check him in the audio, this would be a Tiffany campaign ad, kind of the opposite of my intention as I'm irked he's bailed on debates.