(NETWORK INDIANA) For opposite reasons, Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly and Republican challenger Mike Braun are trying to emphasize their points of agreement with Trump while proclaiming their independence. During a primary debate, Mike Braun wouldn’t name any point of disagreement with President Trump. He still won’t, beyond conceding he’s sometimes bothered by the chaotic atmosphere at the White House. Even there, while Braun says he’s “not a tweeter,” he says Trump’s in-your-face style is what got him elected. He says voters wanted to shake up a government that doesn’t work.
Donnelly has blasted Braun as a rubber stamp, pouncing on Braun’s declaration he’d be a vote for Trump’s agenda — he says a senator needs to judge issues for himself based on what’s good for Indiana and the country. Braun says he’s always been an independent thinker, but says he and Trump end up in sync because they’re both viewing Washington through a businessman’s eyes.
As a Democrat in a usually Republican state, Donnelly has increasingly highlighted his points of agreement with Trump, from wall funding to the “right to try” law to give terminally ill patients access to experimental treatments — he boasts it’s one of 21 bills he co-sponsored which Trump has signed into law. But he says he’ll also tell a president of either party when he believes the White House is off base.
