Scott Walker finds himself in a war of words with a black Wisconsin lawmaker who has used racially charged rhetoric to criticize the 2016 Republican presidential candidate.
Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin said Gov. Scott Walker’s policies have “literally” tightened the noose around the necks of African Americans in her state.
Walker’s presidential campaign initially told the Washington Examiner it would not comment on Moore’s remarks, but later changed course and decided to go on the offensive.
Moore, a black congresswoman, told reporters on a conference call that Walker’s policies are “tightening the noose, literally, around African Americans” in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, as an AP reporter tweeted. Moore’s objections specifically relate to Walker’s opposition to the minimum wage, voter identification laws and requiring public assistance recipients submit to drug testing, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Asked whether Moore would would walk back or clarify her comments about Walker, a spokesman for Moore declined to comment. The Walker campaign, however, ultimately decided not to remain silent and fought back against Moore’s characterization of the governor’s record.
“These comments are inflammatory and inappropriate,” said AshLee Strong, the campaign’s spokeswoman, in an email. “Governor Walker will continue to focus on presenting solutions for Americans and uniting the country, while others continue to create division.”
The Walker campaign’s decision to shift from ignoring criticism to tackling it head-on appears representative of a shift the governor has flirted with on the stump in the recent past.
Following the first GOP presidential debate earlier this month, Walker saw his position in national polls dip. During the debate and in the immediate aftermath, Walker sought to show the contrast between himself and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He later shifted his attacks from Clinton to congressional Republican leadership’s inaction as he began selling his plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. He has specifically cited the new GOP-led Congress’ failure to gut President Obama’s signature healthcare legislation and immigration.
In recent days, Walker has suffered from an onslaught of criticism related to dissimilar answers he gave about his thoughts on birthright citizenship and the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Perhaps smelling blood in the water, fellow GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, has relentlessly bashed Walker’s healthcare plan. In a phone call with reporters on Friday, Jindal continued to trash Walker’s proposal as another federal entitlement program but chose not to comment on Donald Trump’s laudatory comments regarding single-payer healthcare made at the televised debate.
Walker, too, has largely avoided publicly criticizing other GOP presidential candidates, including Trump and Jindal. But his decision to begin criticizing congressional Republicans’ work and his campaign’s decision to push back against Wisconsin Democrats, may signal that Walker has adopted a different attitude on the campaign trail.
Walker began his campaign with the message that he is a “fighter who wins.” His early comments on the stump frequently referenced his three electoral victories in four years in Wisconsin. As the final months before the Iowa caucuses approach, perhaps Walker intends to publicly display the fighter, rather than the victor, more forcefully.
