Steve Daines: Republican Senate Majority a 'Firewall for Freedom'

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) told Breitbart News Daily that the Senate Republican majority is the “firewall for freedom” from leftists such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D), his campaign opponent.

Daines spoke to Breitbart News Daily host Alex Marlow about his efforts to defend his seat from Bullock during the 2020 Senate elections.

While polls have shown a close race between him and Bullock, Daines says his oppoenent’s slide to the left and unwillingness to protect Montana’s values would help him as the state approaches its Senate election in November.

He told Breitbart News Daily, “Well, first of all, he has been our governor now for two terms. This is his eighth year as governor; he is well known, the economy in Montana has been doing well. I was the first Republican U.S. senator elected to this seat in 101 years. So Montanans go down to ballots, and they vote in much according to who they think is going to protect Montana values more so than what party they represent. But, let me just tell you something simple in this race: I will fight for our Montana values, and Steve Bullock is too liberal. This is about protecting who we are as Montanans and our way of life. My liberal opponent Steve Bullock won’t do that.”

Daines said that he had served Montana as a staunch conservative, while Bullock has increasingly adopted leftist positions that run counter to Montana’s values.

“Let me share some contrast: I am a staunch defender of the Second Amendment. He wants to take people’s guns away, he said on national TV, while he was running for president he wanted to ban semiautomatic firearms. I think Montanans’ jaw dropped when he said that. I stand with President Trump on securing our borders. He’s pro-sanctuary cities. I want to build the Keystone XL pipeline, in fact, that comes through Montana. He doesn’t. I wanted to dismiss that sham impeachment, and I voted not to impeach the president; Steve Bullock wanted him impeached and removed from office. The list goes on and on, Alex.”

Daines also noted that Bullock, after he ended his bid for the Democrat nomination for president, eventually decided to run for the Senate after spending months saying he will not run for Daines’ seat.

It’s instructive to see how he got into the race. He told Montanans over and over and over again, ‘I’m not running for the U.S. Senate.’ Over and over again. And then just when the filing deadline approached … he met with Barack Obama in Washington, DC, and then Chuck Schumer flew out to Montana the first week of March and met through a face-to-face meeting and talked him into the race. He is beholden to Chuck Schumer,” Daines said. “The votes here in the United States that will define the future of the United States Senate, the United States Supreme Court, the Circuit Court, like taxes, like regulations, like border security, he will be lockstep with Chuck Schumer.”

The Daines campaign also put out an ad on Wednesday highlighting the many times that Bullock said that he would not run for the U.S. Senate.

“By the way, if Schumer has control of the Senate, will be in lockstep with Pelosi. That ought to send a chill down the spine of every patriot in this country,” he added.

In contrast, Daines noted that a Senate Republican majority has confirmed conservative Supreme Court justices, given more federal circuit courts a conservative majority, and cut regulations. 

 “With four more [years] of President Trump, with a Republican Senate, moves all twelve of them, to a majority Republican-appointed judges, including the infamous ninth circuit,” he said.

Daines charged that Montana might be the pivotal race that could determine whether Republicans keep the Senate and if they could continue to be a barrier to leftist policies.

“As we’re looking at the overall Senate map, 53 Republicans in the U.S. Senate, that is going to be the overall firewall for freedom in this country. We can’t have Schumer have the Senate, and many are looking at the overall map and saying that you know what? The majority may come down to the state of Montana,” he said.

“What happens in Montana will have a direct effect on the rest of the country,” he added.

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