Oops, 3rd District Kansas Democratic candidate Sharice Davids has been caught in an embarrassing bit of dissembling at a politically inopportune time.
Much in the news this past week was the report that a young Iowa woman, Mollie Tibbetts, was seized while out jogging by an illegal alien and stabbed to death. If there was ever a time not to be caught advocating for the abolition of ICE it was this week.
Credit here goes to the Kansas City Star for reporting on the Davids’ duplicity. “In the face of attack ads from U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, Sharice Davids’ campaign denied this week that she supports abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” reports the Star’s Bryan Lowry, “but during a July podcast interview the Kansas Democrat said she supported defunding the agency.”
Two weeks before the August primary, host Jordan Valerie Allen on the Millennial Politics Podcast asked Davids. “And just to clarify, you do support defunding ICE?” Davids answered unequivocally, “I do.”
The conversation between Davids and Allen was more disturbing than the Star reported. At one point, Allen asked, “How do you hope to dismantle this white supremacist immigration system?”
Davids accepted the question as legitimate. “Well one is starting the conversation,” she responded casually. “I mean even just what you’re talking about which is what is the root of immigration policy that we’re seeing playing out now.”
Yoder was appalled as, one suspects, were most residents of the 3rd District. “I’ve traveled to the southern border to see their work firsthand,” said Yoder of the ICE agents. “I’ve met with agents putting their lives on the line every day to stop the flow of drugs and crime into our country.”
Yoder continued, “The notion that our system is built on white supremacy and racism is beyond the pale. My opponent must disavow these comments and explain to the voters why she agreed with them in July and why she has tried to hide her radical views on this issue until yesterday’s news reports.”
