Less than a month before he leaves office, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a series of bills on Friday that takes away some authority from his incoming Democratic successor.
Walker also revealed he doesn’t know how a Venn diagram works.
Democrats and some Republicans have criticized the bills, which limit early voting, give the Legislature authority over an economic development agency, and lessen the powers of the incoming governor and attorney general, who are both Democrats.
The bills were rushed through the state Legislature and signed just 24 days before Walker leaves office — prompting protests that they amounted to a Republican power grab.
On Friday, Walker disagreed as he signed the bills, and he showed a chart to illustrate that the new governor’s powers would be the same as his.
“Despite all the hype and hysteria out there, these bills do nothing to fundamentally diminish executive authority,” he said. “The bottom line is the new governor will continue to be one of the most powerful chief executives in the country.”
But let’s take a closer look at the chart:
On the left, it shows the powers of Walker’s administration. On the right, there’s a list of Gov.-elect Tony Evers administration’s powers. The lists are the same, which is noted in the middle of the chart.
People were quick to point out that’s not the point of a Venn diagram, which is supposed to show differences between two things with their similarities where the circles overlap.
This is not even close to how a venn diagram works. https://t.co/sLuZVibskM
If Walker wanted to say both administrations’ powers were exactly the same, he should have just put everything in the center.
Wait, that's a really confusing Venn diagram. Shouldn't all the powers that are the same be listed in the middle part of the diagram? https://t.co/5Z65a3yJMO
People created their own charts to explain the situation.
@oneunderscore__ @chrislhayes
@oneunderscore__
(Most of them weren’t fans of Walker, either.)
Fixed the Venn diagram.
hey Scott Walker, this is how a Venn diagram works
And they pointed out elementary school children are pretty great at making Venn diagrams.
one of these is a venn diagram
A Wisconsin Democratic state representative even piled on.
1: This isn’t how a Venn diagram works. 2: This isn’t how democracy works.
Though Walker signed the bills into law Friday, opponents have vowed to challenge them.
“I will be reviewing our options and do everything we can to make sure the people of this state are not ignored or overlooked,” Evers said at a press conference.
And the National Redistricting Foundation, which is backed by former attorney general Eric Holder, announced it will be supporting a local challenge to the new laws by the liberal One Wisconsin Now.
“This is a shameful attack on our democracy by politicians who will do anything to hold onto power,” Holder said in a statement.
We will sue to stop Wisconsin Republicans from undermining our democracy. https://t.co/0CAkmWYWvX