Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) took his Democratic challenger, Mandela Barnes, the state’s Lt. governor, to task Friday night during a heated and crucial debate.
According to Breitbart, Johnson held nothing back as he leveled a significant accusation against his opponent — one in which he claimed Barnes helped “incite” the deadly Kenosha riots that unfolded in August 2020.
Johnson also accused Barnes and the governor of not doing enough to step in and stop the riots and destruction that occurred that night, which was significant.
The timing for Barnes to get owned in a debate is critical, as the midterm elections are barely one month out, and Barnes, who once led Johnson in the polls, is now trailing.
Bombshell accusation
Johnson held nothing back as he excoriated his opponent on stage.
Debate: Ron Johnson Slams Barnes for Inciting 2020 Kenosha Riot https://t.co/x9sEWgiWnk
— James Keay (@reach147) October 8, 2022
“Let’s take a look at what happened in Kenosha. The day after the first night of rioting, when the used car lot was set on fire, instead of trying to calm things down, the Lt. Governor gave a press conference and said it felt like it meant that it was carried out against one of our community members,” said Johnson.
He added: “He incited the riot. He and the governor didn’t provide the manpower to stop the riots.”
“If you are going to focus on a riot, let’s focus on 570 riots and two thousand police officers injured,” Johnson continued, referencing the 2020 “summer of riots” that caused death and destruction across the country that the mainstream media swept under the rug long ago.
Barnes’ defense
Barnes didn’t have much to say in the wake of Johnson dropping that truthbomb on him.
In true Democrat fashion, he quickly pivoted to the Capitol riots, where he told the audience that a police officer was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher — an unfortunate incident, but a grain of sand compared to the race violence perpetrated by Black Lives Matter over the summer of 2020.
“[An officer] was hit in the head with fire a extinguisher,” Barnes said as he spoke of Jan. 6. “When we talk about respect for law enforcement, let’s talk about the officers he [Johnson] left behind because of insurrection he supported.”