Democrats “will burn this country down to keep and obtain political power,” including blocking Republican-led legislation that would protect Americans from electric bill hikes caused by AI data centers, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said on Thursday.
Moreno spoke about Democrats blocking Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-OH) Ratepayer Protection Act ahead of the midterm elections during a Breitbart News Fight Club Roundtable hosted by Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow and Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle. Democrats blocked the bill again in a 57-43 procedural vote — short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster and open debate — even though the House version of the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 417-3.
“This was a dirty trick to make Republicans look bad,” Marlow remarked. “Could you explain the dirty trick to people?”
“It was Jon Husted’s bill. He wrote the thing, he fought for it in the House. It was extremely successful. He gets to the floor of the U.S. Senate. We’re thinking, ‘My God, this thing’s gonna pass. It’s a no-brainer. Make the data centers pay for their own power.’ Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) from New Mexico says, ‘I object. It doesn’t go far enough.’ My point of view is like, ‘Fine. What do you wanna do?’ Well, he offers a bill. I said, ‘Well, can we do both? You know, we’ll move the needle down the road, and get something done, and then if you wanna pass your bill, let’s do that, and you go make the case to the House and see if the president will sign it,”‘ Moreno recalled.
WATCH — Moreno: Democrats Blocked Data Center Bill to Lower Electricity Costs, but Media Won’t Cover:
“Of course, all the Democrats hid behind him because all it takes is one Democrat to object to fast track. So to Leader Thune’s credit, he said, ‘Well, let’s expose them all. Let’s put the bill on the floor, have a roll call vote.’ Here’s what’s crazy: [Democrats] didn’t technically vote against the bill. They voted against ending debate on whether we should even consider the bill. See, that’s what the media won’t tell you. There was no vote to say, ‘should we pass the Ratepayer Protection Act?’ It was, ‘should we end debate on whether we should take this bill up and consider it?’ The Democrats were so gung-ho on killing any thought of actually saving America’s electricity prices that they didn’t even want to consider the bill, and it went down in flames” he continued.
On Wednesday, only four Democrats broke from their party to support the bill, including Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
Moreno slammed left-wing media for not covering the issue fairly and relying on Democrat talking points to defend why voting against the Ratepayer Protection Act before election recess is actually a smart move.
“If every American was as informed as the people watching this broadcast right now, Republicans would win 98 percent of the vote. Most Americans love this country. Most Americans understand what’s at stake. But most Americans don’t have the ability to have the information that you guys provide your listeners,” Moreno said. “The media won’t cover. Do you think CNN, Abby Phillip, is going to come on and say, “Oh, by the way, the Democrats wouldn’t even consider a bill that would lower your electricity prices?’ No. You know what they say? ‘President Trump, uh, uh, you know, his ballroom is, uh, you know, has the wrong color steps on the left side, uh, facing the portico. Let’s talk about that for 45 minutes because that’s obviously what American citizens care about.’ This is ridiculous. They frame every issue as, ‘this was a fraud bill, et cetera.”‘
Moreno added that calling the bill a “fraud” is “totally ridiculous,” given that it passed 417-3 in the House.
“[Democrats are] all politics all the time. Here’s the difference, what I’ve learned in 18 months, between a Democrat and Republican. Republicans will never do anything to hurt this country. Democrats will burn this country down to keep and obtain political power,” he said. “That’s the fundamental difference.”
“I would never look at it and say, ‘Hey, this is good for America, but it benefits the Democrats. I’m not going to do it.’ If it’s good for America, I don’t care who sponsors it. I’m all in. Democrats don’t view it that way. It’s very, very sad,” he continued.
WATCH — Remember What They Did to You! Bernie Moreno: If You Want Gas to Go Down, Don’t Put Dems in Charge:
Boyle asked Moreno to explain to Americans what the Ratepayer Protection Act would actually do, and called it “one of the most common-sense pieces of legislation.”
“It’s basically codifying President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which says if you’re going to build a data center — and again, it’s up to the local community, obviously, and by the way, they shouldn’t be taking tax incentives at all — they have to produce their own power. Simple,” Moreno explained. “You’re not going to raise the electricity prices of people who live in that community.”
“That could have been the law of the land a week ago if it wasn’t for Democrats,” he continued.
To attend the next Breitbart Fight Club roundtable event—where you can interact LIVE with the nation’s top leaders and ask them YOUR questions — join the Breitbart Fight Club at the “Middleweight” membership level, billed annually.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
