Braun called out for out-of-state fundraisers

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hoosier Democrats are raising issues with Mike Braun for raising money out-of-town.

The Republican U.S. Senate nominee’s most recent weekend trip to California for an RNC finance meeting has the IDP calling Braun a hypocrite for spending more time on the campaign trail out of the state.

Braun assured voters in May he was the only outsider in his race to win the state’s U.S. Senate seat.

But democrats in Indianapolis aren’t buying it.

“What they’re trying to do is say that Mike Braun, although he ran as an outsider, the Democrats want to claim that he’s really the same swamp that he’s fighting against,” said political analyst Abdul Hakim-Shabazz.

Since the primary, the IDP has been calling out Braun for meeting with big contributors quite a bit outside of the Hoosier state.

“It seems [Braun] can’t miss a swanky out-of-state fundraiser with the donors he once derided,” said Michael Feldman, a spokesman for the IDP in a statement to ABC 57 News.

But how effective will this strategy be in November?

“That is going to be a challenge for Mike and his campaign going forward, because he did a really effective job of branding himself as that Donald Trump-esque ‘anti-swamp’ character so the challenge is going to be for him to walk that tightrope, explain to voters, ‘hey if you’re against the swamp, then why are you taking swamp money?’” said Shabazz.

Braun’s campaign could not be reached for a comment.