The group chanted “What do we want? Dead cops!” and advocates “disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement.” But that hasn’t stopped Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) from supporting Black Lives Matter (BLM) and pandering to it by proposing a bill that would further handicap police, say critics.
In fact, either totally tone deaf or preparing for what he fancies a leftist future, Braun went on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show last night and doubled down in an appearance that some say has ended his career.
Most damning were Braun’s comments about terroristic BLM. In fact, on the June 25 episode of the “Against the Grain” podcast, the senator was asked point blank if he supported the group and answered, “I support that movement because it’s addressing an inequity that has not been solved from the grassroots level.”
In reality, the “inequity” — unless it’s the one where liberals get off for what gets conservatives charged (see Roger Stone et al.) — is imaginary. The truth: Police are more likely to shoot white than black suspects relative to the races’ different homicide rates and the rates at which they feloniously shoot police.
So BLM was born of a lie and feeds on that lie, and thus did Carlson tell Braun that he “was very surprised by that endorsement that you gave on camera of Black Lives Matter.”
“Black Lives Matter has, of course, called for the murder of police officers,” the host added, before hitting the senator with both barrels and asking, “Why do you support it? And are there any other race-specific revolutionary movements that you support?” (video below).
After polishing up his credentials by saying “Tucker, I come from Main Street” (in Beijing?) and generally dodging the question, Braun responded to Carlson’s pressing of him with, “I support anybody that does have a grievance to be able to air it.” (Of course, the KKK has numerous grievances.)
Whether Braun is just ignorant or is actually willing to court evil in expediency’s name, the reality is that Carlson wasn’t exaggerating. Just consider the video below, in which BLM protesters can be heard chanting “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!” in 2014, and “Pigs in a blanket. Fry ’em like bacon!” in 2015.
Then there are BLM’s positions. Aside from wanting the abolition of police, they also demand the “repeal of all immigration restrictions,” “the legalization of sex work,” “the destruction of the nuclear family,” and “the forced reallocation of farmland” (à la Zimbabwe), according to a June 15 report by Carlson.
There’s more, too. BLM also wants “race-based reparations specifically, quote, ‘in the form of a guaranteed minimum livable income for all black people,’” the host further informed. But this wealth transfer wouldn’t just be for descendants of slaves, but also for African and Caribbean immigrants, “who on average now earn more than native-born Americans,” Carlson added (video below).
Many of BLM’s radical positions can be seen at its website (as of this writing) here. Its older “Guiding Principles” page, now removed from its site, can be found via an archiving service here.
As for Braun’s bill, the Reforming Qualified Immunity Act, the senator’s defense of it on Carlson’s show was essentially that it was a political expedient. He also, sloppily, cited as police misconduct what in reality appeared the self-defense shooting of Rayshard Brooks earlier this month.
In fairness, libertarian Reason magazine treats Braun’s bill more kindly, writing that it “would reform qualified immunity for all public officials — not just cops.” Whatever the case, Braun’s BLM support indicts either his judgment or character. And while a recent Rasmussen poll showed that a striking 62 percent of Americans have a positive view of BLM — and while Braun claimed that Carlson’s audience supported him — this certainly wasn’t reflected in his Twitter respondents (sampling below).
Senator, you are not “Main Street,” and as a @TuckerCarlson viewer, I do not support your endorsement of an anarchist terrorist group. Nor do I support your betrayal of the officer who shot a man who STOLE his taser and fired it at him.
— Cora Munro (@Cora_Munro1757) June 30, 2020
Time to find a new line of work!
— JT Lewis (@thejtlewis) June 30, 2020
That was a disaster…when you find yourself in a really deep hole, stop digging. Best question you didn’t answer…”where’s the bill for the law abiding citizens who’s businesses were destroyed by the mob”
You simply had no response to a common sense question #GOPsheep
— Jeff McCoy (@Sowetardid) June 30, 2020
Hey, sir, Tucker just exposed you. I mean he didn’t run around you, he ran straight through you. Just resign now you sounded unprepared.
— Drew Po (@_Drew4) June 30, 2020
Might as well call yourself a Democrat at this point. You said the left would spin it? Sir, you just did that exact thing.
— MamaBear? (@MommaJo71) June 30, 2020
@TuckerCarlson certainly made @SenatorBraun simultaneously seem like a coward and an idiot.
— Roger L. Simon (@rogerlsimon) June 30, 2020
Indiana, that’s your senator? You can do better.
— John Durrett (@AtlantaJohnD) June 30, 2020
In fact, it was hard to find anyone in the thread supporting the senator.
So is the Indiana pol more Braun than brains? Perhaps it’s that he’s more about positioning than principle. Meaww.com theorizes that the senator is “preparing for a post-Trump order.” Remember that the Left has been capturing the culture and scaring all from peon to prince into submission, and Braun doesn’t have to run for re-election till 2024. So he may be trying to position himself in what he believes will be tomorrow’s Overton Window.
Whatever the explanation, it’s entirely possible that, tomorrow, the window will either close on Senator Braun’s political career — or on the Republic.
Image: screenshot from YouTube video
Selwyn Duke (@SelwynDuke) has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.