Kamala Harris was in Milwaukee on Tuesday but several Wisconsin Republicans said they wished the vice president had gone to the U.S.-Mexico border instead.
The critics included U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., according to FOX 6 of Milwaukee.
“Happy to have her visit Milwaukee but she really ought to inspect the crisis President Biden created at the border,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday, according to the station.
“Happy to have her visit Milwaukee but she really ought to inspect the crisis President Biden created at the border.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 16, 2020. (Associated Press)
Harris was in town to tout Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which Johnson blasted as a “boondoggle,” according to FOX 6.
“Instead of creating more opportunities, it will kill people’s jobs, increase their taxes, and further implement radical leftists’ agenda,” Johnson said.
State-level Republicans in Wisconsin also blasted the vice president’s trip.
“We appreciate the visit to Wisconsin, but respectfully, you have much bigger problems to deal with now,” state Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke and Speaker Pro Tempore Tyler August wrote in a joint statement, according to FOX 6 of Milwaukee.
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“As the person who is supposed to be the most qualified to address this issue, we implore you to start taking action now to help our southern border,” they added.
“As the person who is supposed to be the most qualified to address this issue, we implore you to start taking action now to help our southern border.”
Both Steineke and August were among Republicans from around the country who have toured the border region recently – as the GOP tries to underscore that neither Harris nor President Biden have visited the border since taking office.
August said he and Steineke were invited by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, and that the trip was funded in part with campaign donations, not taxpayer dollars, FOX 6 reported.
The Wisconsin state Republicans noted that they believe the entire U.S. should share in helping to secure the border – and prevent the burden from being placed solely on the border states.
“This should not fall on the backs of Southern border states themselves,” Steineke said. “It’s just as much about our security as theirs.”
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Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, had sent Wisconsin National Guard troops to Texas in 2018 to help secure the border, but current Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, withdrew the troops soon after taking office in 2019, FOX 6 noted.
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, left, a Republican, sent the state’s National Guard troops to the southern border but his Democratic successor, Tony Evers, withdrew them. (Associated Press)
Harris’ stop in Milwaukee included a visit to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, where she toured the school’s clean energy laboratories. The vice president also participated in a roundtable discussion about the Biden administration’s plans to invest in research and development projects, FOX 6 reported.
Accompanying Harris during the stop were U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., plus several university and business officials, according to FOX 6.
Before flying to Wisconsin, Harris on Tuesday morning addressed the Washington Conference on the Americas, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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“Our administration firmly believes in the potential of the region, and in the power of the people of the region,” the vice president said. “Latin Americans are shaping their own future. They are writing their own story.”
Harris has announced plans to visit the so-called “Northern Triangle” region of Central America in June.
The nations of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are where many of the migrants trying to reach the U.S. are traveling from, and Harris has said she hopes to address the “root causes” of why they decide to leave their home countries.