Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) says Republicans are getting blamed for something they didn’t do — failing to pass the SAVE America Act — and he wants that frustration redirected at Democrats instead.
Speaking during Breitbart News’ Fight Club Roundtable, hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow and Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle, Johnson said it’s “harmful to America to take your frustration out on Republicans, for example, for not passing the SAVE America Act.”
“It’s Democrats who won’t vote for it,” Johnson said. “You know, we’re all voting for election integrity. We’re all voting for voter ID. Democrats won’t. And the only thing, you know, you can get upset about it, you know, the Republicans is we don’t have the votes to overcome the filibuster.” Johnson said he has agreed, “reluctantly,” to end the filibuster.
“But to this audience in particular, I wanna make sure, do not, do not take it out on Republicans of what we’re not able to accomplish, because taking it out on us helps ensure Democrats win. And when Democrats are in control, they destroy this country,” Johnson said, pointing to Obamacare as his example.
What’s in the bill
Asked by Marlow how his background investigating fraud shapes his view of the need for the legislation, Johnson explained the bill covers more than ballots.
“We can’t pass the SAVE Act or SAVE America Act, which has the additional things about boys and girls sports, that type of thing, because Democrats won’t vote for it, and that’s the bottom line,” Johnson said.
He argued Democrats oppose election integrity measures because they serve what he called the party’s goal of “turning America into a one-party nation,” adding, “There’s a reason Democrats opened up the border and flooded America with millions of people completely unvetted. Because they would go into sanctuary cities, and they’d be reliably voting for Democrats.”
Johnson also said Democrats aren’t held accountable by the media or other institutions, calling that “our biggest problem there in terms of elections.”
Comparing standards abroad
Johnson noted that the U.S. State Department advises other countries on running free and fair elections, yet the U.S. doesn’t follow the same standards it recommends, citing same-day and in-person voting rules versus weeks of advance voting allowed in the U.S.
“I’m not sure even SAVE America Act goes far enough,” Johnson said, calling for the country to “re-embrace true voter integrity.”
He pointed to a trip by someone he identified as Bernie Marino to Colombia, his family’s home country, where he spoke with election officials about their process. “They ran a very high integrity election in a reasonably, let’s face it, potentially corrupt nation,” Johnson said. “Their election, officials could not believe. What we allow in America.”
“They have very strict election integrity measures, which we don’t have. But again, Democrats can vote against it, even though 80 percent of Americans want it.”
