Donnelly Responds To Criticism On Family Company Outsourcing

U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly pushed back Wednesday against criticism that his family’s company outsourced jobs to Mexico.

At a campaign event Donnelly held with Rexnord and Carrier union workers on outsourcing, Donnelly says his involvement in his brother’s company ended more than 20 years ago.

And he says when it comes to his 2018 re-election campaign, voters should look at what he’s done in Washington D.C.

“Look, I’ve voted against every single bad trade deal that ever came along. I’ve been fighting this battle for years and years and years,” Donnelly says.

And he pushed back against Republicans who’ve criticized Donnelly’s ties to his brother’s company.

“The reason they’re doing this is, because they’ve been missing in action on all of these efforts to keep jobs here in the United States,” Donnelly says.

Former AFL-CIO president and machinist union member Chuck Deppert says the criticism is a cheap shot.

“You know, the Bible says our sins are passed on to our children, but it didn’t say anything about brothers,” Deppert says.

The event was part of a six-day statewide campaign kickoff tour for Donnelly’s 2018 re-election. Most of the roundtable discussion centered on Donnelly’s End Outsourcing Act and the renegotiation of NAFTA.