A House Democrat running for Senate in a key battleground state has slammed voters who support then-President-elect Donald Trump in a resurfaced interview.
“I think Donald Trump has run a xenophobic campaign that brings out the worst people in the world that we won't and will never sue,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). ” he said. said in a 2016 interview Shortly after Trump won the presidential election.
Gallego also said in the interview that he would work to “protect” the American people from Trump's policies, including the “stupid” people who voted for him.
Fox News Digital reached out to Gallego's camp for comment but did not receive a response.
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Congressman Ruben Gallego criticized supporters of then-President-elect Donald Trump in a 2016 interview. (Getty Images)
“Ruben Gallego believes that if you support President Trump, you are a bad person,” NRSC spokesperson Tate Mitchell told Fox News Digital. “Mr. Gallego is running for a far-left Senate seat, not for the entire state of Arizona.”
Arizona's presidential election is expected to be one of the closest in the nation. Real Clear Politics (RCP) average This shows Mr. Trump holding a narrow lead, but the RCP average also shows Mr. Gallego has a lead over his Republican challenger, Kali Lake.
Despite the former president's popularity in the state, Gallego has been a vocal critic of Trump during his campaign.
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Congressman Ruben Gallego. (Getty Images)
Gallego called President Trump a “crazy politician.” MSNBC interview He regularly went after the former president on social media, including posts earlier this year suggesting that Trump and Lake were a threat to democracy.
Lake has argued on the campaign trail that Gallego is a rubber stamp for the Biden-Harris administration.
“President Trump's consistently strong lead in Arizona has driven record inflation and made the state less safe by opening the border to millions of unchecked illegal immigrants,” Kamala Harris said. “This proves that Arizonans are fed up and dissatisfied with Ruben Gallego's policies,” a spokesperson for Lake told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
“As voters learn the truth about Gallego's voting record and the fact that he has voted 100% for the Biden-Harris agenda, they will reject the radical Reuben just as they rejected Kamala Harris. I will.”
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U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake (R-Ariz.) speaks during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
The Cook Political Report ranks the Arizona Senate race as “Lean Democratic.”
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report
