Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) aired a new ad Monday against “defund police” Democrat challenger Mandela Barnes for appearing on Russian state television to rationalize violence against American law enforcement.
“Mandela Barnes rationalized violence against American police officers” on “Vladimir Putin’s propaganda news outlet” just days after five police officers in 2016 were killed in Dallas, Texas, the ad says.
The ambush against police was the deadliest day for police since 9/11, the ad explained.
The ad then shows Barnes’s interview on Russia Today claiming the “police officers are overexercising their badges.” Speaking in a second segment, Barnes told Russia Today “this probably was a retaliatory attack” on police.
The ad comes after a report surfaced about Barnes previously appearing on Russia Today several times to speak about the “total epidemic” of alleged U.S. police brutality in 2015 and 2016.
Barnes is one of the most radical Democrats in the 2022 cycle. He has pushed for defunding police, allowing felons to retain the right to vote, and believes the inmate population in Wisconsin should be cut in half. According to Wisconsin Right Now, Barnes has allowed at least 884 convicted criminals back onto the streets by releasing them on parole.
Barnes has claimed police do not prevent crimes. “Police don’t prevent crimes from happening,” Barnes falsely stated on Real Talk with Henry Sanders. “We don’t live in a surveillance state nor would you want to.”
Barnes believes in abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), permitting driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, and giving in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. He has derided small business owners as “selfish” for wanting to serve customers during the pandemic.
Barnes also favors an entirely government-run healthcare system, eliminating the Senate filibuster, packing the Supreme Court, and passing the Green New Deal, which would destroy the American economy to reshape it into a socialist utopia.
Johnson is currently leading Barnes by 6 points, according to the most recent polling.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.