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U.S. Senator Braun Speaks in Jasper, Mulls Governor Campaign, Dubs Putin a "Butcher"
By Kris Norton
After taking the first portion of his address to adhere to his campaign promise of running for no more than two terms in the U.S. Senate, Braun later mulled the possibility of a future run for Governor of Indiana.
"I think that in listening to what I said early on and knowing that I ran a business for 37 years - did it without borrowing money other than maybe for a building - a lot of those tools can't be used when you're one of a hundred on the board of directors of the biggest business in the world..." Braun said. "I'll have to make my mind up here in probably less than a year, and I'm considering it."
Though he spends his work weeks in Washington, D.C., Braun says that he is constantly on the lookout for issues that matter to Hoosiers.
"I do keep a close eye on local and state issues," Braun said. "To me, part of this job is to make sure that I'm representing Hoosiers first and try to do a good job for Americans, total."
On the world stage, Braun says that the United States, in part, emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine through shutting down the Keystone Pipeline and other key reserves.
"You've got to be good in running a business or a government, in knowing the interplay between what you need to do to get through to today, to where you don't handcuff yourself tomorrow," Braun said. "That's what happened with those policy groups, that's what emboldened Putin"
"What can we do?" Braun asked. "An ounce of prevention would've been worth a pound of cure."
Braun says that missteps based on incoming government intelligence played into Russia being able to make its move.
"We saw all their equipment, all their material, moving on satellite back in September and October," Braun said. "We should have been doing things that was moving material and other things over there before the cat was out of the bag."
Braun didn't mince words when speaking about Vladimir Putin.
"Now we've got a butcher," Braun said. "We've got a guy that's on the same pantheon with Hitler and others, up there, that has made a bad decision because he didn't think that he was going to run into the tenacity of the Ukrainians."
On the topic of major issues facing the United States, Braun shared about a recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. While at the border, Braun claims, he and other politicians could hear individuals on the other side of the border heckling - acknowledging that President Biden would let them keep attempting to cross.
"On the other hand, look at the people that would make a trek like that," Braun said. "[To] put your lives at risk, give up know knows how much of their life savings or how to borrow to do it."
During the question and answer session, Braun shared that he would be in favor of looking at upping the number of Mexican immigrants given asylum each year - on the condition that it be done legally and diligently.
Braun stated that in the past month, Border Patrol logged 212,000 confrontations with immigrants at the border, and that anywhere between 300,000 to 500,000 individuals may cross illegally per month in the near future.
On the topic of climate change, Braun says that the issue has recently moved "from the back burner to a mid burner, if you had a stove that big".
Braun says that ebbing the effects of climate change will be a joint effort between world governments, and that the U.S. stands to lose if it is the only one making significant changes.
"Folks that really think this is doomsday if we don't shut our economy down and do things that will make no difference if India, China, and the rest of the world would do it," Braun said. "All we'll do is hamstring our own economy and let our geopolitical enemies win the day and lose the clout to really do something about it."
On the horizon, Braun sees a potential bright spot. Braun says that in his conversations with energy leaders, advanced nuclear technology may be key. Advancements to seriously reshape the climate issue might only be a decade away. It's bridging the gap correctly, Braun says, that may shape the future of the United States.