Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) on Wednesday dodged a question on whether she spoke out against migrant family separation at the U.S. southern border during the Obama administration.
Baldwin has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy, which has led many children to be, in accordance with federal law, separated from their parents who are prosecuted for entering the U.S. illegally. CNN host Brooke Baldwin asked the senator about any steps she may have taken back in 2014 to criticize then-President Barack Obama for similar immigration actions.
"But here's a question for Democrats, because you hear the president now, on a lot of topics and this one included, looking back to previous administrations, 'Well, they should have done more,' right?" Brooke Baldwin said. "So as so many people in this country are certainly outraged by the cages and the thermal blankets and the facilities housing these kids, they were all there in 2014 under President Obama, and my question to you, Senator Baldwin, is, did you speak up against them then?"
Senator Baldwin did not answer the question.
"You know, on this issue that we get into a moment where we are making progress and then when it stalls, we turn around. I think we all need to continue to be focused on it and press it through," she said. "The American people need confidence that we can solve problems. Nobody believes that we have an immigration system that works. It is broken. It needs fixing. But we've just got to resolve to do that."
The senator's answer did not seem to satisfy Brooke Baldwin.
"But were you worried about it then? Did you raise your voice under the Obama administration?" the CNN host asked.
"You know, in numbers of cases, usually, I remember a constituent who was in detention at the border, arguably very inappropriately, and we, you know, we raised our voice in that instance and many others," the senator said. "But that's—we've got to do this now in unison. It's not enough to do it case by case, for a senator or House member by House member. We've got to resolve to fix this issue."