Press Release

Just hours after the Star Tribune revealed Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis’ past comments demeaning the agriculture community, and his record of voting against the bipartisan Farm Bill, Lewis doubled down in a new interview saying, “I don’t take back anything I said” and “I have nothing to take back.”

Lewis made the comment this afternoon on WCCO’s Chad Hartman Show where he was repeatedly asked–three different times–whether he regretted saying the government shouldn’t have anything to do with farming.

Here is the transcript of Lewis doubling down on his comments:

HARTMAN: “…You still didn’t answer your part: Should–do you take back what you said?”

LEWIS: “I don’t take back anything I said, because what I said was — and what I did in the United States Congress was vote for farm bills, vote for a whole host of things, including extending crop insurance, to hog farmers just last April. I have been on the frontlines of this, Chad. I have nothing to take back.”

Yesterday, the Star Tribune reported on Lewis declaring “‘government shouldn’t have anything to do with farming’” and that “‘we have glamorized a certain industry, as valuable as it is.’” The DFL also released footage of Lewis suggesting he would let farms fail, comparing farms to hardware stores, and finally calling agriculture “their own worst enemy.” When in Congress, Lewis was the only member of the Minnesota delegation–Republican or Democrat–to vote against the bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill that included efforts to expand broadband access, conservation, agricultural research, support the federal sugar program, and to expand support for veteran, minority and beginning farmers. The House passed the Farm Bill 369-47.