No, Ron:
Right-wing Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) claimed a debate audience burst into laughter during one of his answers last week because college students in the crowd were fed “leftist propaganda.”
Someone dared to “let in” college students to watch the televised debate at Marquette University last Thursday in Milwaukee, Johnson complained Sunday to Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.
“My guess ... college students” in the crowd laughed at him, Johnson said.
“Let’s face it, our colleges today aren’t exactly teaching history. They’re really not talking about the relevant things that students really oughta learn in college,” Johnson continued. “They’re being taught leftist propaganda.”
In case you need a reminder about why people laughed at this clown:
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).
Also, here’s a nice endorsement today for Mandela Barnes (D. WI) from The Wisconsin State Journal editorial board:
This editorial is an endorsement of Mandela Barnes, the young and capable Democratic lieutenant governor and former state representative who is challenging the stale and negative incumbent. Barnes is the much better choice for Wisconsin voters who want a senator more in touch with ordinary people’s lives, and more willing to seek greater opportunity for all of his constituents.
A Milwaukee native who grew up in a working-class family, Barnes would become the first Black U.S. senator from Wisconsin if elected. He told our editorial board last week that the first thing he wants to pass if Democrats expand their majority in the U.S. Senate is nonpartisan redistricting. Voters across the state have approved advisory referendums demanding fair maps so voting districts can’t be surgically drawn to protect entrenched politicians from competition and accountability.
Unlike Johnson, Barnes supports federal legislation to restore reproductive freedom in Wisconsin. Barnes would back legislation allowing women access to safe and legal abortions just as Roe v. Wade had done for a half century. Johnson favored strict limits on abortions in the past. He only tried to soften his position recently to save his reelection bid. He claims he wants to let the public vote on the controversial issue, yet he didn’t get behind the Democratic governor’s attempt to do just that.
Unlike Johnson, Barnes will bring an open mind and much-needed optimism to the Senate. That will be a refreshing change from Johnson’s cantankerous and stubborn mistrust of institutional knowledge and norms.
Unlike Johnson, Barnes backs popular proposals for a higher minimum wage, legal marijuana for adults, limits on the size of ammunition magazines and incentives for clean energy. Showing how backward and uninspired he can be, Johnson calls climate change “B.S.” and unsolvable.
Barnes is far more in tune with Wisconsin’s values, such as ensuring children get off to strong starts in life. Johnson suggests other people’s children aren’t his concern.
And a friendly reminder to make your calendars:
Barack Obama, who twice won Wisconsin by large margins, will travel to the battleground state in the final weeks of the current midterm elections, seeking to boost Mandela Barnes, the young lieutenant governor looking to unseat the Republican Ron Johnson in a key US Senate contest.
Barnes would be the first Black senator from Wisconsin. He held early leads over Johnson but the Republican, a prominent figure on the GOP hard right, has surged back. This week, a Marquette University Law School poll showed Johnson in the lead.
Barnes, who is from Milwaukee, has been trying to energize Black voters in a contest that could decide control of the Senate, which is currently split 50-50 and controlled by Democrats through the vote of the vice-president, Kamala Harris.
Obama, the first Black US president, is set to hold an early voting event on 29 October, less than two weeks before election day, in Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin and home to its largest group of African American voters.
Politico reported this week that the Barnes campaign was reaching out to high-profile Democrats, seeking support as he slips in the polls. Joe Biden, Harris and Bernie Sanders were also named as potential guests.
Details to come. Also, here’s a brutal new ad from VoteVets:
Click here to register to vote in Wisconsin or check your voter registration.
Click here to learn more about early voting.
Health and Democracy are on the ballot next year and we need to keep Wisconsin Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Mandela Barnes (D. WI) and his fellow Wisconsin Democrats campaigns:
Wisconsin Democratic Party
Minocqua Brewing Company SuperPAC
Tony Evers for Governor
Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate
Brad Pfaff for Congress
Josh Kaul for Attorney General
Doug La Follete for Secretary of State
Aaron Richardson for Treasurer