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Mandela Barnes: “ICE is about as unpopular as the president, maybe less so.”

Featuring: Mandela Barnes, Democratic | Former Candidate, U.S. Senate Wisconsin

Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor

Published July 22, 2026 | Video Starts at 22:39

And as many law enforcement agencies have worked to restore and rebuild trust in communities, this will be the quickest way to erode that trust. Because ICE is about as unpopular as the president, maybe less so. Okay. Prison in Green Bay dates to the late 1800s. There's been a debate about whether it should be closed. I want to ask you two questions. One, should it be closed? (22:39–22:44)

CLAIM

Asserts that ICE is very unpopular, potentially less popular than the president.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Mandela Barnes

“The former governor implemented the largest cut in public education in the state's history.”
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“If we have a uniform set of accountability for any school receiving a dime of public dollars... over half the schools would be out.”
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“It's not transgender students who have been getting away with tax breaks that have created the world's first trillionaire and destabilizing…”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 15:11-15:21
“Public sentiment on immigration enforcement in this country is an all-time low, even with Republicans.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 25:44-25:52
“The affordability crisis is something that is new to a lot of folks, but it has been a consistent problem.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 01:10-01:17
“There was a study that showed that [the deal] would have created a structural deficit.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 01:59-02:07
“We need to create a system of long term permanent affordability for folks where we tax the wealthy, we tax billionaires, we tax out of state…”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 02:14-02:22
“My plan says that if you aren't paying a living wage, you don't deserve tax breaks.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 03:54-04:00
“If you're threatening to outsource American jobs, Wisconsin jobs, artificial intelligence, you don't deserve tax breaks.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 04:01-04:08
“Minnesota is just a little bit higher than ours. And guess what? Didn't kill the economy. They're creating more jobs, more people are moving…”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 04:42-04:50
“Fully funding our schools means the state needs to meet its commitment of 2/3 funding.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 05:28-05:34
“The 2/3 funding is the benchmark.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 07:33-07:35
“We also have a very high child poverty rate in this state.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 08:05-08:09
“The program should not be statewide, for sure. The program should not have the income gaps lifted.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 11:37-11:45
“It has completely destabilized public education in Wisconsin.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 11:46-11:51
“It's not transgender students that are driving up costs at the grocery store.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 14:59-15:04
“It's not transgender students who are going to Iraq or, excuse me, Iran, waging a war that's driving up oil and gas prices.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 15:03-15:12
“I do want to get rid of Act 10.”
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“Act 10 opens the door for bargaining, for negotiating.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 17:37-17:41
“These data centers have proven a level of irresponsibility and that level of irresponsibility is causing real harm.”
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“There's no reason we should be subsidizing data centers here in Wisconsin.”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 18:40-18:44
“Why should we give $2 billion or any, any money to trillion dollar companies?”
Campaign 2026: Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) - Candidate for Governor | Uploaded July 22, 2026 | 18:43-18:49
“Significant pay increases for executives, those bonus packages, that's not a reasonable cost.”
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“Using ratepayer dollars for lobbying and political donations, that's also driving up costs.”
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“Our utility companies aren't truly at risk.”
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“We put out our plan to temporarily freeze the race.”
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“Local law enforcement should get involved [in immigration enforcement] if we're talking about a person that's wanted for a dangerous…”
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“If a facility is not [keeping people safe], then of course, the facility should be closed down.”
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“We need to do a much better job at rehabilitation.”
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“I'm not cutting any resources [for law enforcement].”
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“The Department of Homeland Security needs to be completely revamped.”
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“We need to create a more just and a more humane immigration enforcement agency.”
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“Republican legislators see [transgender issues] as a way to evade accountability on other issues where they have failed people of this…”
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“If ICE agents... run afoul of the Constitution, they should be prosecuted.”
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“When those jobs were shipped overseas because [A.O. Smith] executives felt they could make more money, it left an entire void.”
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“We see this egregious accumulation of wealth into the hands of a few people while working class people continue to get left behind.”
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“We see the decline of more manufacturing jobs and job growth in lower income and lower salary jobs.”
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“We have a wealth of opportunity in clean energy manufacturing here in Wisconsin and we need to take advantage of it.”
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