Tennessee Democratic senatorial candidate Phil Bredesen has wavered on issues from abortion to campaign financing throughout his political career, leaving some critical about what he will offer to Tennesseans if elected in November.
“Tennesseans can’t get a straight answer out of Phil Bredesen,” National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) spokesman Michael McAdams told The Daily Caller News Foundation Monday. “The only thing voters can count on is when push comes to shove, Phil Bredesen is going to be in the pocket of Chuck Schumer and will be a rubber stamp for Democrats’ radical agenda of open borders and higher taxes.” (RELATED: Marsha Blackburn Will Fight For Life In The Senate)
New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer is the Democratic Party’s minority leader, after replacing Harry Reid in November 2016.
Bredesen, Tennessee’s former governor, has expressed opposition to abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), giving a flat “no” to the agency’s destruction, according to the Times Free Press on July 10. Despite his claims that he doesn’t support abolishing the agency, he accepted $5,000 from Empire PAC, an affiliated PAC of New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Gillibrand has been one of the leading voices calling for the abolition of ICE.
“I don’t think ICE today is working as intended … it has become a deportation force, and I think you should separate the criminal justice from the immigration issues,” Gillibrand said on CNN’s “Cuomo PrimeTime” June 28.
Bredesen has called for the administration to extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, allowing illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country.
“Exiling them to a country that is completely foreign to them is morally bankrupt. We are better than that,” he told the Times Free Press.
Bredesen has also waffled on campaign finance, saying in April that he wouldn’t contribute any personal money to his race, but then lending himself $3.4 million.
He also said he’ll support President Donald Trump when his policies are good for Tennesseans, but also criticized Trump’s tax cuts.
“These new tariffs will hurt us. They hurt our auto industry, our farmers, even Tennessee exports like Jack Daniel’s,” he said, according to the Tennessean.
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Bredesen has wavered on his abortion stance a number of times as well, advocating for expansive abortion rights and then backtracking when convenient. He has ties to Planned Parenthood and has called for the public to fund Down syndrome abortions in his past. He also refused to sign a law prohibiting taxpayer dollars from going toward abortion services associated with Obamacare in 2010.
“Tennessee voters deserve better than someone who will be a total tool for Chuck Schumer and out-of-touch Washington Democrats,” NRSC Spokesman Michael McAdams said in a statement, the Tennessean reported.
Bredesen is duking it out with pro-life Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn for the senate seat. Tennessee will hold its Senate race on Nov. 6.
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