Exclusive — Sen. Mike Lee Warns: Evan McMullin Would Caucus with Democrats

Sen. Mike Lee; inset-Evan McMullin
Leigh Vogel/Getty Images; Rick Bowmer/AP

Evan McMullin, Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) challenger in this year’s Senate race, voted for President Joe Biden and supports Democrat policies and would likely caucus with them, despite presenting himself as an independent, the Utah senator warned during an interview on Breitbart News Saturday.

Lee spoke to Breitbart News Saturday about the emergence of third party ads starting to expose some of the vile things McMullin has said about Republicans and the Republican Party, going as far as deeming them “un-American,” bigots, and racists. Lee noted that his own campaign ads have largely focused on the issues — not on McMullin.

“But he still has yet to touch down on most policy issues in his campaign. He’s so busy falsely accusing me of being you know, I don’t know, a Putin ally and trying to overthrow Republican democracy in America and calling me a constitutional conman,” he said, that McMullin cannot seem to find time to discuss “actual policy.”

“The press loves it. The local media loves this guy. They never asked him any hard questions. They read pieces about him every single day,” he said, explaining that the third party ads exposing McMullin’s true thoughts about Republicans triggered the so-called independent into meltdown.

Meanwhile, Lee said, voters in Utah are concerned about issues. Namely, inflation.

“As I travel the state from one end to the other, there are three issues that come up. The first one is inflation. The second one is inflation, and so was the third,” he said.

“Inflation is wreaking absolute havoc in Utah, as it is in many places,” the senator explained, adding that it is “worse here than it is in many areas of the country.”

“The average Utah family, average Utah household, incurred an additional $925  a month every single month in their basic monthly household expenses since the day Joe Biden took office. That’s a big problem. And you know, there are not many people —  at any point along the economic spectrum — there are not that many people, certainly in my state, who can afford to just lose an additional thousand bucks a month.

(Dan Dalton / iStock / Getty Images Plus; Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“And remember, Evan McMullin voted for Joe Biden. He campaigned for Joe Biden. He’s praised everything Joe Biden has done and he ever talks about, and he’s criticized everything Republicans have done,” Lee said, reminding listeners that McMullin is on the left’s side.

LISTEN:

“He has, in the meantime, become the Democratic candidate in this race. He’s endorsed by the Utah Democratic Party. So even though he calls himself an independent, calling yourself that doesn’t make you that if, in fact, you’re the Democrats’ guy,” Lee said, warning that McMullin is trying to play “coy” with voters.

“Right out of the gate, McMullin was most insistent on the fact that he would not under any circumstances caucus with Republicans,” Lee said, explaining that he has boxed himself into a corner and would not really be able to exist as a freestanding senator.

Lee warned that if McMullin wins, “he would end up caucusing with the Democrats.”

“He courted, sought after, and obtained the endorsement of the Democratic Party. He did that by embracing democratic principles, by expressing broad, vague support for what appears to be HR 1 … among many other liberal democratic policies. Remember the bill that would make it illegal for states to have voter integrity laws, and that would basically lead to the registration of millions of illegal aliens in the voter registration files?”

“So having campaigned for and obtained the democratic endorsement, raised millions of dollars on Act Blue from Democratic donors nationwide, voted and campaign for Joe Biden — there’s no planet in which if elected to the Senate, Evan McMullin wouldn’t caucus with the Democrats,” Lee added, emphasizing during the interview that McMullin would jeopardize Republicans gaining a majority in the Senate. And with Democrats remaining in power, crime will run rampant even further.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference after passage of the Inflation Reduction Act at the U.S. Capitol August 7, 2022, in Washington, DC. The Senate worked overnight Saturday into Sunday as they moved toward final passage of Senate budget reconciliation deal, which Senate Democrats have named The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The final vote was 51-50, with the tie-breaking vote being cast by Vice President Kamala Harris. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“That will be the result and there’s so much at stake in this election, this election cycle,” Lee said, noting that the liberal media establishment in Utah “love” Evan McMullin. “They’re reading only puff pieces about him. They never asked him any tough questions or even … policy questions,” he said.

“They also publish polls showing it to be really close. What that does is that brings in more money, more fundraising opportunities for Evan McMullin to raise millions of dollars on Act Blue and bring it to Utah — a state with one TV media market, relatively inexpensive as an investment for Chuck Schumer … and his ilk. And so that’s why these things can become their own problem. And if we’re not careful, they will win,” he warned, warning again that Utah “tragically” turned into a battleground state this year.

“I can really use your support. People have thought for a long time Utah is safe, and usually it’s a lot safer than this time. This time, it’s not,” he said, urging Americans to help “get a Republican majority to keep Joe Biden under control.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.