On Thursday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Independent Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn responded to a question on three or four things he disagrees with Democrats on by listing the border and industrialized hemp and responded to a question on whether there are any other issues where he breaks with Democrats by stating, “I don’t consider myself a political pundit. I haven’t really been a political person, until, I believe it was 2021.”
Osborn began by saying that “I feel like, right now, both parties have sold out to corporate interests and the money interests.”
Host Leland Vittert then asked, “Okay, so, being in the Senate means you’ve got to vote for things and be for or against things. Give me three or four things that you disagree with the Democratic Party on right now.”
Osborn answered, “Well, I’ve always said, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, they failed on the border, right? Without a border, we don’t have a country. I agree with President Trump, what he just did as far as [descheduling] industrialized hemp. Look, industrialized hemp could put our nation in position to have building materials that are fire-resistant, like, I’m not going to get into that. But, at the end of the day, look, I’m for the people. Again, I’m a mechanic, my campaign is for –.”
Vittert then cut in to say, “You said you didn’t appreciate me putting you up with Mamdani and Graham Platner. You say you’re not a Democrat. I asked you to give me three things that you disagree with the Democratic Party on, and all you’ve told me is that you agree with Trump on closing the border. So, I guess you disagree with Democrats on an open border, and industrialized hemp. That’s it? There’s nothing else you disagree with Democrats on?”
Osborn responded, “I don’t consider myself a political pundit. I haven’t really been a political person, until, I believe it was 2021. I cut my teeth in politics on the picket line, standing up for workers. I never asked anybody on the picket line or when I was president of my local union, what political affiliation they had, what party they were in. That doesn’t mean a whole lot to me. What means — everything means to me is where we’re at as far as [where] costs are at. And, right now, people are getting killed, farmers are getting killed with their inputs. They’re getting killed with fertilizer, diesel fuel. I’m getting killed at the pump and grocery lines. … Everybody wants to put me into a box. You’re trying to put me into a box. I’m not in a box.”
Vittert then cut in to say that Osborn isn’t talking to him about policies, and “I’m trying to figure out what you’re going to do to fix those costs. You can’t go into the U.S. Senate and say, here’s a bill to lower costs. You’ve got to actually say things. And I’m wondering what those things are, for example.”
Osborn responded, “Well, I think, first and foremost, the most important issue of our time and every generation alive right now is campaign finance reform, right? It’s getting the money out of politics, it’s ending Citizens United, it is getting the dark money out of politics. You shouldn’t be able to donate $330 million to any political campaign. It shouldn’t cost $100 million to run for U.S. Senate in Texas, Montana, Ohio, Florida in 2024, or $1 billion for the president. Because what you’re left with is you’re left with somebody beholden to the corporate interests. I don’t take corporate money. I don’t want to be a part of the problem. I want to be a part of the solution.”
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