MADISON - Assembly Speaker Robin Vos kicked off the Memorial Day weekend by falsely accusing Gov. Tony Evers of forcing troops to wait hours to greet him.

The allegation is not true, according to the Wisconsin National Guard and those who attended the event at the 128th Air Refueling Wing at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

The Republican leader on Friday acknowledged he had his facts wrong but didn't delete a tweet making the false accusation.

He made the false claim late Thursday in response to a tweet from the Democratic governor about welcoming troops home.

"Heard from one of the troops that you made those that landed first wait hours for the second plane after being gone almost a year so you could greet them all together and save you time," Vos wrote.

That's not what happened.

"Everything went well and on schedule," said Rep. Ken Skowronski, a Republican from Franklin who attended the event. "Everything was great."

Skowronski said Friday he was not aware of Vos' tweet and didn't know what he meant by it.

"They weren't waiting around," Skowronski said.

When the first plane arrived, the troops, returning from the Middle East, got off and Evers and other officials shook their hands, Skowronski said. Representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy attended the event.

A second plane arrived within an hour and those troops were greeted by the group and the troops' families. A ceremony was then held.

The schedule was set by the Wisconsin National Guard.

"While we prefer to bring all our soldiers home together, this particular unit was split into three different flights due to its size — two of which came in (Thursday) within an hour of each other so the National Guard made the decision to hold one large brief ceremony to honor the service and sacrifice of the soldiers and their families," spokeswoman Jackie Halverson said by email.

"The governor’s office did not request any accommodations nor did we delay anything, in fact we were able to work with the airline to get the second flight home earlier than scheduled so the troops could return to their families sooner."

Vos abandoned the claim Friday after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported his statement was false.

"It appears what was reported to us was wrong," Vos wrote in a Friday tweet. "Glad that @GovEvers did the right thing and didnt make them wait as we were told he would."

Vos did not release the name of the person who he says told him the governor required the troops to wait for hours. Spokeswoman Kit Beyer did not say whether Vos tried to contact National Guard leaders before making the false allegation.

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said Republicans are trying to divide voters by making false claims that suggest Democrats are unpatriotic.

“It’s an easy thing to do — it’s a way to score easy, cheap political points because some people are going to believe it," he said.

In September, then-Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch contended without evidence that Barnes had knelt during the national anthem at a widely attended event. Before losing to Barnes in November, she admitted she had no facts to support the claim and said she no longer believed it was true.

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Vos and Evers have clashed for months over the state budget and other issues. This week, Evers suggested Vos and other top Republicans wouldn't meet with his aides because they are women. Vos called that allegation false and ridiculous.

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Vos highlighted that debate in a flurry of tweets he posted Friday after his initial claim was debunked.

"Elected officials should admit when they are wrong," Vos wrote. "I hope this is an example for Gov. Evers to also admit he was wrong to falsely accuse GOP leaders of being sexist this week."

In another tweet, Vos suggested the National Guard should change how it conducts its ceremonies welcoming troops home.

"Our servicemen and women deserve our utmost respect and dignitaries officially thanking them in a ceremony is important," he tweeted. "But what’s more important to me is allowing them to go home and be reunited with their entire family as quickly as possible."

Molly Beck of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.