INDIANAPOLIS – Rep. Braun could only tell a series of new lies during a bumbling interview on Fox News last night as he attempted to respond to footage of the lies he himself told at last Monday’s Senate debate.
During an interview Tuesday evening, Fox News anchor Bret Baier pressed Rep. Braun to explain the lies he told during last Monday’s debate, relying on a video Joe’s campaign had compiled from Rep. Braun’s debate performance. In a repeat performance of last Monday, Rep. Braun was unable to truthfully answer questions about topics like his Statehouse voting record, his repeated calls to cut the defense budget, and his failure to protect Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions.
On his voting record at the Statehouse:
Fact: During Rep. Braun’s three years at the Statehouse, he voted with the Republican majority for Speaker Bosma’s agenda 98% of the time. [Indy Star, 10/11/18]
Last Night’s Lie: “In the state legislature, there’s probably only a handful of bills – in my memory, it would have been road funding, it would have been any education bill, almost every bill, or many of them were nearly unanimous.”
Follow Up Fact: Rep. Braun claims he broke with his party primarily on education bills – but when he broke with his party, it was typically to vote against popular legislation supported by both parties, including voting against an amendment to ‘claw back’ tax breaks from Carrier and other companies like them after they shipped jobs to Mexico in 2016, or a proposal to codify HIP 2.0. [Associated Press, 5/1/18; Indy Star, 10/11/18]
On cutting defense spending:
Fact: Rep. Braun has specifically called for defense spending cuts in addition to across-the-board cuts and said he’d vote against a pay raise for servicemembers. [Facebook, AFP – Indiana, 2/20/18] (VIDEO)
Last Night’s Lie: “So support for the military, I like what President Trump did in that last bill to actually re-enable the military.”
Follow Up Fact: Rep. Braun said at a previous debate that he would have opposed a spending bill supported by President Trump this past spring, which included about $300 billion in additional funds for military and nonmilitary programs. [Facebook, AFP – Indiana, 2/20/18; New York Times, 2/8/18]
On refusing to protect pre-existing conditions:
Fact: Rep. Braun vocally supports three GOP proposals that would gut protections for pre-existing conditions. [Politifact, 8/20/18]
Last Night’s Lie: “I don’t know where they get that because most of what they’ve been running against me on these negative ads, we don’t know what the foundation of it is. But I want to be crystal clear, I would never be for any replacement that didn’t cover pre-existing conditions and also had any limit on coverage. The real important thing is, I’ve done it at my own business…”
Follow Up Fact: Rep. Braun still has yet to point to a single concrete proposal that would keep pre-existing condition protections. His company’s insurance plan does not offer protections for employees with pre-existing conditions until they reach a whopping $5,000 deductible for individuals or $10,000 for families. While Rep. Braun claims he doesn’t know where those numbers came from, it would be alarming if he didn’t: they’re taken directly from his own company’s insurance benefit guide, which was obtained by Politico and CNN. [Politico, 10/5/18; CNN, 9/26/18]
###
