By James Wigderson for Media Trackers
The do-nothing record of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was on full display on CNN on Wednesday when she was asked what she did to oppose the border-control family separation policy when President Barack Obama was in office.
“As so many people in this country were certainly outraged by the cages, thermal blankets, and the facilities housing these kids – you know, they were all there in 2014 under President Obama,” CNN reporter Brooke Baldwin said to Senator Baldwin. “My questions to you, Senator Baldwin, is did you speak up against them then?”
The senator seemed confused by the question and gave a nonsensical answer.
“You know, on the, on this issue, when we get into, a, a moment when we’re making progress, and then when it, uh, when it stalls, uh, we turn around,” Senator Baldwin replied. “I think we all need to continue to be focused on it and press it through. The American people need confidence that we can solve problems. Nobody believes that we have, uh, an immigration system that works. It is broken, it needs fixing, and we’ve just got to resolve to do that.”
The CNN reporter, however, followed up with another question to Senator Baldwin.
“But were you worried about it then?” the reporter asked. “Did you raise your voice under the Obama Administration?”
“You know, in numbers of cases, usually, ah, I remember a constituent who was in detention at the border, uh, arguably, ah, very inappropriately, um, and we, uh, you know, raised our voice in that instance and many others,” Baldwin replied. “But that’s, uh, we’ve got to do this now in unison. It’s not enough to do it case-by-case, or Senator or House member by House member. We’ve got to resolve to fix this issue.”
Baldwin’s inability to cite a time when she opposed the Obama-era family separations at the border drew criticism from her Republican opponents.
In a statement Wednesday, Delafield businessman Kevin Nicholson said Baldwin only cares about issues when she can use them for partisan political advantage.
“Career politicians like Tammy Baldwin only care about the complex issues surrounding illegal immigration policies when it can be used in a partisan manner – and Wisconsin voters are sick of this politics-as-usual behavior,” Nicholson said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is an Obama-Baldwin induced immigration ‘crisis.’ Baldwin’s inaction, as fully displayed on CNN today, proves that point.”
State Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) accused Baldwin of fake outrage.
“This is just the latest example of Senator Baldwin faking outrage, instead of taking action. It’s just like when she chose to do nothing when she learned our veterans were dying at the Tomah VA, but faked outrage after it became public,” Vukmir said in an email Thursday. “Senator Baldwin doesn’t lead and doesn’t take on problems, she sits back and plays politics with the lives of our vets and our children.”
