He deserves to be laughed at:
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had a raucous audience laughing during a campaign debate Thursday when he complained he had been “set up” by the FBI.
Johnson was responding to an attack by his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, that the senator was once warned by the FBI that the Kremlin was trying to turn him into a “Russian asset.”
Johnson was informed at an FBI briefing in 2020 that he was the target of Russian disinformation as part of a campaign to make him useful to the Kremlin, the senator confirmed to The Washington Post last year.
Barnes warned in his face-off Thursday with Johnson, in the second of two televised debates in Milwaukee, “We cannot trust Sen. Johnson to protect democracy abroad because we can’t even trust Sen. Johnson to protect democracy here at home.”
Johnson fired back at Barnes’ “wild charge.” His claim that the “FBI set me up with a corrupt briefing and then leaked that to smear me” brought laughter from the debate audience.
Johnson accused the FBI of being tainted by corruption, which he said he has been “trying to uncover and expose” (a point met with more audience laughter).
Here’s how much of an asshole Johnson was during the debate:
Here are some more highlights from the debate:
Expect to see some big names coming to Wisconsin:
Barnes’ campaign has privately reached out to Barack Obama’s team to get the former president on the trail in the closing days of his challenge to Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, two people familiar with the outreach told POLITICO. Democratic officials helping to coordinate midterm campaigns in the state also are in touch with other party luminaries about upcoming visits.
Among other proposals, Wisconsin Democrats have discussed bringing in President Joe Biden, two people familiar with the conversations said. They are in various stages of planning with Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Sanders is traveling to Wisconsin in the coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the trip, though it’s unclear if he will appear with Barnes and the person did not provide any further details.
“Sen. Sanders believes that in the coming election we need to energize working-class voters and grow turnout,” said Faiz Shakir, a top adviser to Sanders. “He intends to play an active role in making that happen.”