Senator Mike Braun: How In The World Did That Assassination Attempt Take Place?
Source: Tom Williams / Getty
Tony Katz:
This race officially begins… JD Vance, Ohio Senator. He will be in that vice presidential slot. Was there at the convention night one in Milwaukee. President Trump showed up, bandage on his ear, Lee Greenwood singing. It was a show for sure. Senator Mike Braun joins me right now of Indiana Republican candidate for governor in the state of Indiana… Sir, let’s start with this pic of JD Vance. You’ve only been with him a short time in the Senate. You’re take of JD Vance.
Senator Mike Braun:
I think he’s an excellent pick, Tony, because he of almost any senator, has been a true believer of Make America Great, the Trump platform, the irony, you know, when he is publicly out there, very easy to see, you know, he’s a convert. He didn’t put it all together until he kind of figured out what Trump’s arrival on the scene meant in the 1st place. I know in my case, trying to decipher 2015, 2016, let’s face it, that was a very unlikely kind of navigation. But when you did put it together, it was half the country teed off with business as usual in DC. He’s been there long enough. I think he is now kind of seeing the light and he’s young, vibrant, and he has been there since his time in the Senate as a stalwart. Supporter, and not to mention he’s one of the smartest guys in the US Senate when it comes to articulating a point of view. I think it was an excellent pick all around. I think we had several to choose from that would have been very good. I think Trump hit it on the money in the case of JD.
Tony Katz:
One of those people who was on the short list was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. If it wasn’t for the residency issue, both the senator and the president coming from the same state, and the Electoral College issues that presents, do you think it would have been someone like Marco Rubio or possibly also from Florida, Representative Byron Donalds?
Source: Joe Raedle / Getty
Senator Mike Braun:
I think it would have made it tougher. I think when you look at the political impact of JD, this election, any way you look at it is going to be determined through Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. And there’s no one better suited to get out and campaign and go after the swing votes in any one of those three states, and we should make the effort into all three of them. And if you bring any one of them along, that pretty well seals the deal. And there’s no one better suited than JD… He’s younger. I think that was important. I think that he also represents someone that obviously was in competition with Trump. And when you look at some of Trump’s most kind of passionate supporters now, they were navigating against him. In some way, either just editorializing or actually running against, I think that’s something to take note of too. I think JD does really well in the Rust Belt, where we’ve got to be strong and the other six or seven swing states are important, but none more important than the three I mentioned.
Tony Katz:
Talking to Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, Republican candidate for governor. He will be there for night two of the Republican convention. I don’t disagree. We talk about Michigan, we talk about Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, of course, further solidifying Ohio. These things matter greatly in in this race, and we saw the total apathy in 2016 from Hillary Clinton in in these places the. One of the things that’s now getting discussed, I brought it up earlier, Jennifer Rubin, I brought this up in the Washington Post, Nicole Wallace bringing this up from MSNBC. They can’t wait for a debate between JD Vance and Kamala Harris because, because Kamala Harris is going to wipe the floor with him.
Tony Katz:
Are you looking forward to these debates, Sir?
Senator Mike Braun:
All I can tell you is spent a lot of time with JD, watched him. There are three or four senators that are going to be very, very good at articulating the point of view that I think takes our country in the right direction. JD would be one of them. He’s very good at making the point. When you say that someone like Kamala, with her time on public display is going to put it all together? I think that’s a stretch #1. I think it’ll be an excellent debate. I think JD will hold his own. He’ll win… I think they’re looking for stuff. Since they rode Biden from the day he got there until now, kept it all behind closed doors. I remember early on being at the White House he was using note cards talking about supply chain issues. So those of us that have been in DC since Biden has been there know that he was not at the top of his game from his arrival. They just thought it would be best to ride that. They didn’t know how that was going to evolve over time. And not to mention their policies. I mean, they promoted big government, sugar high economy and open borders. When you really should be voting for which way to go, it should be on the merits of what you stand for, not personality, not all the other stuff. If we articulate that well, we can win with force in November. And I think JD as VP is going to be as good as anyone Trump could have picked.
Tony Katz:
You also saw what took place just three days ago with the assassination attempt on President Trump and now hearing about the Secret Service being in the building where the shooter was but now having no one on the roof, how this was allowed to happen, the level of security failures here. Is there talk in the Senate about getting information and getting to people who are responsible and looking for their jobs?
Senator Mike Braun:
It begs so many questions. And yes, the talk will be in the Senate, the talk will be in the House. But again, politically, to go beyond talk and really investigate on something that seems so egregiously a dereliction, I think that’s going to come from the house. They’ve got the power to investigate and the will to do it. And yes, with all the information, not only that you had ahead of time in terms of what a perimeter would be of safety and all the queues and temps that happened up to 1/2 an hour ahead of time. How in the world did that take place? And through a miracle, you know, it wasn’t a tragedy. That begs so many questions. Somebody needs to be fired. And the lady that says she’s going to keep running it to me if she’s not gone… (with) someone replacing her, that also makes you wonder not only the efficacy of our current administration, but are they, (or) would they be trying to make excuses for poor management of not only that agency, but many others? So yes, we need to.
(reference: World News Tonight interview with Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle)
Senator Mike Braun:
That was so close to being an epic tragedy. We can’t let that fade. And I think most of that interest and actually action about it will come from the House, not the Senate.
Tony Katz:
You have people, as reported by Axios and a host of others on the political left saying we’re resigned to the fact that Trump’s gonna have a second term. We’re just gonna try and keep the Senate and win the House. To that concept is do Republicans, do you believe, have a strategy of winning the Senate? Are there races that we should be keeping an eye on? That will make the difference.
Senator Mike Braun:
If you go back to the debate, you even look at the all the things that you could kind of maybe talk about coming out of what happened Saturday. Let’s not forget this country is divided as closely as it can be. I think there are only three to 4% of voters that are movable. They are generally faster footed than we are. I think you need to take anything that might look like it’s going to tilt the scales. Don’t count on it. Get out there, make the case on policy. I think when you’re actually going to come down with the time we got. Left, you’re going to have to make that as the basis of your campaign, not the things that might be temporarily in your favor. And remember, probably three to five percents at play. So that means talk about the sugar high economy, talk about the open border, talk about all the other policies. Since Biden has been in place compared to what it was like pre COVID when Trump was in place. Keep it simple. Don’t count on this to carry us through. That would be my advice.
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