ORLANDO, Fla.–Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) says the Indiana Democratic Party is wrong on two counts. Banks was accused in a Democratic Party news release Saturday, of not voting on the $1.9 trillion relief bill, and of ‘putting QAnon before Hoosiers”.
“Congressman Jim Banks: Putting QAnon before Hoosier families. Banks doesn’t care about his constituents at all, and it’s why we cannot trust him,” read the statement.
A Tweet cited by the Democratic Party said Banks and several Republicans chose not to be in DC for the vote, citing the “ongoing public health emergency”.
Banks explained to WIBC’s Tony Katz at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, that he was scheduled to speak at CPAC, and headed out of DC to make it to the conference in Orlando.
His vote was by proxy, a move made possible by rules put in place by Democratic members of the House.
“I’m not gonna apologize for being here at CPAC,” he said. “I wouldn’t have voted any different if I was there in person, as I did voting by proxy against the monstrosity that was this $1.9 trillion, so-called COVID relief deal.”
Banks said Democrats are also wrong about CPAC or the Republican Party being connected with QAnon conspiracy theories. He said the accusations don’t deserve a response.
“Almost all of us on the Republican side voted to condemn QAnon last year. QAnon is not a part of the Republican Party,” he said. “They don’t want us to talk about the $1.9 trillion spending deal. They want to talk about these hairbrained conspiracy theories and try to link them to the Republican Party because they don’t have anything better to say.”
