Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines introduced a resolution forcefully condemning what he called the “failed experiment” of socialism on Monday, warning that the United States had “two paths to take” — with one leading to “freedom,” and the other, “complete government control, undermining our constitution and our American way of life.”
The resolution comes as a new Fox News poll showed 54 percent of voters thought the U.S. moving from capitalism toward socialism would be a “bad thing” — even as 53 percent of Democratic primary voters said it would be a “good” development. The growing divide is expected to play a pivotal role in the 2020 presidential election.
In his prepared remarks introducing the resolution, obtained by Fox News, Daines criticized the Green New Deal and “Medicare-for-all” — as well as the increase in partisanship on Capitol Hill. Less than an hour earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., similarly condemned “hyperventilating hacks” seeking to sow division, rather than make policy.
“We are at a pivotal time in our great nation’s history,” Daines said. “We have shown the world time and time again the genius of American ingenuity and the grit of American determination. However, a radical, socialist, far-left movement is growing across this country. And it has taken root as the new voice of the Democratic Party.”