Buy a photo

Rebecca Kleefisch, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin.(Photo: Erik S. Hanley / Now News Group)Buy a photo

MADISON – GOP Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch stepped back Tuesday from her false accusations about her opponent during the national anthem, claiming that she now believed him after making unproven allegations.

Kleefisch first asserted two weeks ago that Mandela Barnes was kneeling in the national anthem. She said that she had heard the claim of someone else but did not want to say who it was.

Barnes said that he did not consider his comments as an apology.

"Do not tell me you're sorry because you're not," said Barnes in response, citing the words of pop star Rihanna "Take a Bow". "You are only sorry that you have been caught."

RELATED: Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch states without proof that the opponent knelt during the national anthem

Kleefisch dropped her claim Tuesday, one day after claiming that she was at the event with Barnes when he knelt during the anthem.

"I was looking at the flag and not my opponent," said Kleefisch on WTMJ-AM (620). "It was later said that he was kneeling briefly and I repeated what someone else had said. And he said he did not do it and I have to believe it and I must apologize for repeating something that was said to me. "

Kleefisch did not say whether she intended to apologize directly to Barnes or whether she was only doing it as part of her on-air interview with conservative radio host Steve Scaffidi.

Later, Barnes said in an interview that he just wanted to "talk about the real problems she was trying to create a diversion".

"It's not necessarily an excuse for me – it's apologetic because you've been caught," Barnes said. "It was not the hot plug (she) thought it would be."

On Monday, some Democrats accused Kleefisch of biting the race, as most of the NFL players who knelt during the anthem were African-Americans.

Kleefisch made his first complaint two weeks ago on Twitter. She repeated it and explained Monday by telling reporters that she had heard that Barnes had taken a knee at the national anthem at the opening of the fair. State in August.

Kleefisch and Barnes attended this event with hundreds of others. Kleefisch said that she did not see what happened because her eyes were on the flag.

Kleefisch was not able to prove that Barnes had knelt during the national anthem in the two weeks following his claim and that Barnes called him a liar.

Democrats who were there on Monday told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper that they had not seen Barnes kneeling.

GOP Governor Scott Walker, who led the state with Kleefisch for the past eight years, was also present. One of his assistants said Walker was looking at the flag, not Barnes, during the event.

Barnes runs on a ticket with the director of public schools, Tony Evers, against Walker and Kleefisch.

Evers and Barnes said they supported the rights of football players and other people to protest racial injustice at the national anthem if they so wish. Walker and Kleefisch opposed these protests and tried to make them a problem during their reelection.

Read or share this story: https://jsonl.in/2Nph18v