Michelle Mortensen talks Trump, social media, government spending
Stormy Daniels is a “distraction,” not an impeachable offense. Social media companies shouldn’t arbitrarily discriminate against conservatives, and Republicans who voted for the omnibus spending package should be ashamed of themselves. That’s according to Michelle Mortensen, a former TV reporter now running to represent Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.
Trump hasn’t “done anything that comes anywhere close to” an impeachable offense, Mortensen said while filming Nevada Politics Today. “Stormy Daniels is a distraction. All of the Russia stuff is a distraction. For a year, we had to hear from Democrats saying, ‘When there’s smoke, there’s fire.’
“Y’all, there was no smoke and there certainly wasn’t any fire.”
Mortensen said that, as a former reporter, she knows there is “bias” in the news because “presenters always have a slant.”
She also attacked social media companies for discriminating against conservatives and Republicans, but said she was “leery” of regulation.
“As a company they do [have a First Amendment right to censor conservative content], but at the same time you can’t just arbitrarily pick and choose,” said Mortensen. “That’s where you cross the line — when you’re arbitrary.”
Mortensen said she “would not have voted for” the recent omnibus spending bill, because she’s a “big believer in a balanced budget.”
“We need to elect people who are brave enough to make the tough decisions and are willing to tell you the truth. I’m infuriated by that omnibus spending bill. What we learned are that the Republicans and Democrats are one and the same.
“Shame on every Republican who did for vote for that, who gave enough more funding to Planned Parenthood.”
She declined to directly condemn Trump for signing the bill, saying, “He’s in a tough spot. I’m not in his spot, so I’m not going to judge him there.”
Mortensen expressed her support for Trump’s compromise efforts for participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“We realize that some of these people are really innocent victims of things that were completely out of their control,” she said. “We also realize that there is rule of law and that we have de facto amnesty at the moment. We need to address the problem.”
She said she would have supported Trump’s final proposal: an expanded DACA in exchange for border wall funding.
She vigorously pushed back on the contention of Danny Tarkanian, one of her primary opponents, that Trump has endorsed his candidacy.
“You can say anything,” she said. “You can say the sky is purple. Doesn’t make it true.”
