By Tiffany Li
For WisPolitics
CHICAGO: U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., knocked GOP U.S. Senate Eric Hovde as a “carpetbagger” and a “fraud” during an address today at the Wisconsin DNC delegation’s breakfast gathering.
Warnock expressed his support for U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in her reelection bid.
“I’m gonna make sure we send [Baldwin] back to the Senate,” Warnock said. “[Republicans] keep parachuting in billionaires who have, at best, a tenuous connection to the state … carpetbaggers, that’s right. And then they try to pretend like they’re connected to the folks in Wisconsin, and they take off all their clothes and get in a freezing cold lake. One thing I know is that people, especially young people, can spot a fraud a mile away. Tammy Baldwin is the real deal.”
Hovde is a Wisconsin resident but owns a bank and a home in California.
Warnock also spoke about the pandemic’s toll on Americans, saying it exacerbated political polarization. He said Dem presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were the right choice to unite Americans.
“Think about the trauma of 9/11 and as traumatic as that was, we lost 4,000 lives at least in the immediate aftermath of that. Covid has taken 1.2 million Americans and counting… You wonder why people are vulnerable to the ugliness of demagogues who are trying to convince us that we’re each other’s worst enemy. Part of that is just sheer grief,” Warnock said. “That’s why we need leaders who will remind us that we’re tied together, that we’re not each other’s adversary… We need leaders who will remind us that we’re all in this thing together.”
Also speaking at the breakfast were Baldwin, Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, DNC Secretary Jason Rae, U.S. Rep Jamie Raskin, D-Md, U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
Harris will officially become the Democratic nominee this evening.
Baldwin commended Harris’s work as a prosecutor and her record on reproductive rights.
“As a California attorney general, Kamala Harris was the top prosecutor for the largest state in the nation, standing up for the rule of law and taking on perpetrators of all kinds, which is exactly the kind of experience we need at a moment like this,” Baldwin said. “As vice president… her fervent effort to restore reproductive freedom when our Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade has been nothing but inspiring.”
Baldwin also spoke in praise of Walz and emphasized Wisconsin’s crucial role in deciding the outcome of the presidential election.
“When [Walz] was in the House of Representatives, I teamed up with him to work on issues relating to dairy farming. He gets us,” Baldwin said. “In picking a fellow Midwesterner, it is clear that this campaign knows that the path to the presidency and to control of the United States Senate — and, I might add, control of the House of Representatives — runs directly through the Midwest of these United States…We are the battleground state, and we will likely determine who occupies the White House and which party controls the Senate.”
Baldwin leveled similar attacks against Hovde. She called Hovde a “self-funding multi-millionaire” and accused him of being from California and not Wisconsin. She also said Hovde “celebrated when Roe was overturned,” “would reverse and repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety,” and “wants to cut Social Security and Medicare while giving new tax breaks to the ultra wealthy.”
Hovde spokesman Zach Bannon characterized the attacks from Warnock and Baldwin as cover for their records.
“Once again, Sen. Baldwin and her allies resort to lies and personal attacks because their policies have failed the American people,” he said. “Wisconsinites are ready for change and will hold Sen. Baldwin accountable for her decades of failure this fall.”
Warren highlighted the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act as key achievements of the Biden administration and evidence of the Democratic Party’s effectiveness. The Senate was 50-50 split between GOP and Democratic senators for the first two years of the Biden administration, with Harris as the tie-breaker.
“We know what we want to do as a country, and we know that Democrats can get it done. Two years, the skinniest possible majority, and we delivered, delivered, delivered,” Warren said. “This is the moment for Democrats… We have leadership that is about building a stronger future, not for billionaires, not by dividing this, not by putting other people down. We believe that we build a future in this country by expanding opportunity for everyone. That’s why I’m proud to be in this fight, and Wisconsin — America is counting on you.”
Rodriguez emphasized the stakes of the election as well, asking Wisconsin Dems to put in the effort needed for them to win.
“Voting rights are on the line in this election… integrity, honesty, leadership, that’s what’s on the line in this election. And we’re going to have to dig a little deeper,” Rodriguez said. “I’m going to ask you to do a little more. You’re going to have to take this energy, take this excitement, and bring it back to Wisconsin.”
Watch the video at WisconsinEye.
