ICYMI: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Slams Ron Johnson, Endorses Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate
MADISON, Wis. —
In a scathing editorial, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsed Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate over Sen. Ron Johnson.
The editorial board criticized Ron Johnson’s self-serving and out-of-touch agenda — threatening funding for Social Security and Medicare, turning his back on Wisconsin’s job industry, and highlighting his involvement with January 6th fake electors.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Editorial: Vote for Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes to defend our democracy. Here’s why.
Key Points:
- Democracy is on the ballot Nov. 8.
- And we believe that means a vote for Democrats Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate and Tony Evers for governor.
- Johnson has played fast and loose with the facts for years.
- He’s an anti-science superspreader of conspiracies who has claimed sunspots cause global warming and warned that the vaccines that saved millions of lives could make the COVID-19 pandemic worse. He has touted unproven remedies for the virus and even suggested that gargling with mouthwash could kill it.
- It took Johnson more than a month to acknowledge the obvious: that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump for the presidency. And even then, the senator held a sham hearing the next day that allowed Trump’s lawyers to air arguments that had been shot down in courtrooms across the country.
- Johnson later threatened to vote against the certification of electors from swing states when Congress met for the ceremonial counting of Electoral College votes.
- Though he had a change of heart after the deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he continued to downplay the violence, claiming the attackers were “people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law.”
- Johnson’s office also was involved in an attempt to pass a document regarding “Wisconsin electors” to then Vice President Mike Pence just minutes before Congress was to certify the vote. Johnson’s explanations for what happened — and for what he and his staff knew — don’t add up.
- More recently, the senator has suggested the government should rewrite the rules for the two government programs seniors rely on most — Medicare and Social Security — making them subject to annual political fights in Congress rather than mandatory payments as promised. And he’s claimed before a Republican group that climate change was “bullshit.”
- All the while, this incompetent senator has compiled an appallingly slim list of accomplishments for 12 years in office. He even took a pass on trying to help Wisconsin workers when a large state contractor was moving jobs out of state, saying: “It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin.”
- His opponent, Mandela Barnes, is young at 35 but has served two terms as state representative and one as lieutenant governor. He comes from solid middle-class roots in Milwaukee and knows what it’s like to work hard.
- His positions on the major issues facing the country are reasonable, measured and mainstream.
- On immigration, Barnes favors comprehensive reform and a path to citizenship, not abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, as some Johnson supporters have claimed.
- [Barnes] favors giving police the resources they need to keep the public safe but also spending money on crime prevention, including for schools and job creation.
- Our take on Barnes: He’s a quick study who will lean progressive but remain pragmatic. Most importantly, he will focus on helping working-class constituents rather than delivering tax cuts to billionaire donors as Johnson has done.
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