Derrick Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL and Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District, told Breitbart News Daily that Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) lackey in the House Ways and Means Committee.
On Saturday, Van Orden secured the endorsement of the Wisconsin Third Congressional District Republican Party. Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) backed Van Orden’s candidacy.
Van Orden hopes to unseat Rep. Ron Kind (D-PA), who has represented the district since 1997. Kind represents one of the 30 districts that President Donald Trump won during the 2016 presidential campaign; it serves as one of the many districts that could help Republicans regain the House in 2020.
Van Orden said that despite his moderate image, Kind voted overwhelmingly with progressives such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
He told Breitbart News Daily host Alex Marlow, “Ron Kind has been in office for 22 years, so it’ll be 22 years coming up. Interestingly enough, in 2016 President Trump did take this district by four and a half points but did not have a Republican candidate to run against Ron Kind. And I believe if they did, he wouldn’t be in office right now.”
“The problem is, this guy Ron Kind has been able to raise so much money from special interests that he gets his message out as a hometown boy. … And then folks don’t realize that he is Nancy Pelosi’s whip for the Ways and Means [Committee] and that he votes with the ‘Squad’ 93 percent of the time,” he added.
Marlow noted that Kind is similar to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who often touted her bipartisan credentials during her presidential candidacy but often voted with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Van Orden said that Kind “claims to be a moderate. That’s just not true.”
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. Eastern.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.