Lt. Gov. candidate Mandela Barnes compares Trump immigration policies to a 'race to create a superior race'
MADISON - Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Mandela Barnes this week said President Donald Trump's immigration policies are "like a race to create a superior race."
"The Trump administration has shown they have this over-willingness to make people feel less than human," Barnes said during a Thursday interview on the Millennial Politics podcast. "It speaks to the way they treat people at the border, it speaks to the whole concept of building a wall. It’s like a race to create a superior race in many aspects and it can seem very extreme but that is the direction that we are headed. We have to do everything that we can to stop it."
Barnes is the running mate of Democratic governor candidate Tony Evers, who is challenging Gov. Scott Walker's bid for a third term.
Podcast host Jordan Valerie Allen said, "I'm really glad to hear you say this is about, essentially, ethnic cleansing. We don't see politicians willing to admit that very often."
Barnes said the process "doesn't just happen right away."
"These things aren’t just so apparent there’s a buildup over time you get to that place and next thing you know we become this kind of state that we would be compelled to go to war with," Barnes said.
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Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesman Alec Zimmerman said Barnes was comparing Trump to Nazi Germany.
"This is a grossly absurd and offensive accusation," Barnes responded in a statement. "My point was and remains that the policies of the Trump administration have often been actively hostile towards minorities and have moved us backwards on the issues of race relations."
"With the type of divisive policies coming from Washington, states will have to work to ensure we treat everyone with respect and dignity. Our culture of acceptance is what makes Wisconsin special," he added.
Brian Reisinger, spokesman for Walker's campaign, tweeted Barnes' comments "will be a difficult sell to the working families who voted Republican in 2016" if Evers agrees with them.
Scot Ross, executive director of liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, took a shot at Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump in response.
"No one who has heard Trump’s adult sons speak thinks he’s creating a superior race." On the other hand Trump is a complete racist, misogynist and @ScottWalker hasn’t called out a single racist or misogynistic thing Trump has said," Ross tweeted.