How on Earth could Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) vote against enhanced immigration vetting? President Trump wondered aloud during a rally for Republican candidate Mike Braun Thursday night.
'What In the World?': @POTUS Blasts @SenDonnelly for Voting Against Immigration 'Vetting' https://t.co/SlEMCkNPua
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 11, 2018
The president noted that Donnelly had also been a no vote on Obamacare and tax reform - decisions which earned him the nickname "Sleepin' Joe." The Republican National Committee gave Donnelly a similar sounding nickname via a press release Thursday - "Do-Nothing Donnelly."
"This November, Indiana will face an important choice," Trump said. "You can send a really incredible swamp person back to the Senate like Joe Donnelly, or you can send us Republicans like Mike Braun to drain the swamp."
Or, he told the crowd, you can send us Mike Braun. The audience awarded that comment by chanting, "Drain the swamp!"
Vice President Pence reminded Hoosiers the same thing - that Donnelly has been a no show on big, important votes.
Hoosiers deserve to know when @realDonaldTrump asked Joe Donnelly to support the policies that Indiana needs. Joe Donnelly voted no.
— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) May 10, 2018
When the time came to cut your taxes, Joe voted no.
When the time came to repeal and replace the disaster of ObamaCare, Joe voted no. pic.twitter.com/huM8I6qy1w
Pence unloaded his ire in a similar fashion on another moderate Democrat in Congress who voted against tax reform. When Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) voted against the tax cuts, he subsequently turned his back on working families, Pence told West Virginians. He had the same message for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota.
Manchin, Donnelly and Heitkamp are three of the nation's most vulnerable Democratic senators. The common denominator? They all represent states that voted heavily for Trump in 2016.