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    • Indiana Senator-elect Jim Banks talks Trump’s 2024 victory and more
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    Indiana Senator-elect Jim Banks talks Trump’s 2024 victory and more

    Umito Posted on

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    Hoosiers appealed to Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Banks Tuesday to become Indiana’s next U.S. senator to a wave of great republican victories in Indiana statewide elections.

    Banks, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trumpwon his race with nearly 60% of the vote. He will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate in January where he will work alongside U.S. Senator Todd Youngthe senior senator from Indiana.

    The senator-elect spoke with IndyStar Thursday afternoon about Republican victories in Indiana, what a Trump victory means as he heads to the U.S. Senate and the first actions he wants to see from the chamber accomplish after Trump’s return to the White House.

    This interview is edited for length and clarity.

    You won on Tuesday by about 20 percentage points. What do double-digit victories by Republican candidates in statewide elections mean for the Republican Party?

    JIM BANKS: Ultimately, this is all because of Donald Trump. Donald Trump has coattails, and now three times more Donald Trump was on the electoral rollwe won seats in Congress. He’s bringing the Republicans with him, because Donald Trump has changed the Republican Party.

    Trump won Indiana: Where did he do better, worse here than in 2020?

    What I mean by that is that there are union and worker voters who voted Democratic, who are Trump Republicans. You see it in steel workers and in the region, in factory workers in Fort Wayne and places like Terre Haute and Evansville. I mean, these working class towns and communities across Indiana that were once Democratic are now heavily Trump Republican, because the Democrats have completely abandoned the working class voters that were once part of their coalition, their party. They’re voting Republican now because Donald Trump represents their values, and the new Republican Party represents them.

    You are close with Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance. Have you spoken to them since Tuesday?

    BANKS: I texted them to congratulate them, thank them for their support and I’ve been in touch with a lot of my friends on the Trump team. Once again, the result was better than we expected. We now have a mission and a mandate, and President Trump is focused today on making important decisions to complete the Cabinet, and I know he will name his chief of staff soon. This will all happen very quickly. And all of a sudden, I find myself in a position where, as the next senator, I will vote to confirm these appointments to the Senate.

    Who is Jim Banks? Once a Trump skeptic, Jim Banks vows to be his ‘conservative fighter’ in US Senate

    If the new Trump administration considered you for a cabinet or other role, would you consider it?

    BANKS: I was the first candidate of this electoral cycle, almost two years ago, who Donald Trump endorsed to become a United States senator. That’s exactly where Donald Trump wants me to be in the Senate, and that’s why Indiana just elected me.

    I am fully committed to serving as Indiana’s senator for the next six years, and I have an important job and role to play in supporting President Trump in the United States Senate. This is what Indiana expects of me, so President Trump is asking me to do something else, it’s not going to happen.

    You enter the United States Senate with a Republican majority. What issues do you hope the chamber will address after your swearing in?

    BANKS: When Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, he will get into a vehicle and drive to Pennsylvania Avenue. He’s going to open that door and walk into the Oval Office, and he’s going to sign executive orders to restore Trump’s border policies, the Remain in Mexico policy. It will eliminate catch and release, and it will allow us to complete the construction of the border wall. And he’s going to count on me and the Republicans in the US Senate to support him and fund the border wall.

    And then after that, we’re going to begin the process of deporting the more than 15 million illegal immigrants who have entered this country under the leadership of Joe Biden. So in the United States Senate, I’m going to help ensure that happens. This is what voters demanded on election night. They’re tired of open border policies, and the Democrats’ crazy policies have driven up the cost of groceries, the cost of gas, and the cost of living for the working class of this country. They expect our majority in the United States Senate, and I believe we will maintain the majority in the House, to put an end to the crazy policies of the last four years. They have done so much damage to this country.

    The Senate will have to choose a Republican majority leader. Do you have any ideas about who you will support?

    BANKS: We have three senators who introduce themselves: Rick Scott, John Cornyn and John Thune. This will all happen next week. The House will meet to elect the president and House Republicans will meet to elect their leadership nominees, and the Senate will have to do the same. I will attend the Senate organizational meetings and I will tell you what I am looking for: I am going to support the best candidate who is going to support Donald Trump.

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    You will work with Indiana’s other U.S. senator, Todd Young, who has criticized Trump’s bid for re-election in 2024. How do you plan to approach working with him on issues affecting Hoosiers?

    BANKS: Todd and I have been friends for a long time. He’s another veteran. We have worked closely together over the past eight years, he in the Senate, me in the House, on issues important to Indiana. This is not going to change.

    Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at [email protected] or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.

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