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August 8, 2024
On Monday, Democratic contender for governor Ryan Busse fired off his campaign’s latest attack against Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte — one undermined by a glaring factual omission.
In a video posted to social media, Busse accused Gianforte of being a “hypocrite” for hiring “migrant workers” to repair the roof on his recently purchased Helena mansion around the same time that he sent Montana National Guard troops to the country’s southern border with Mexico as part of Texas’ border security operations.
The video included clips of the roofers, shot from the neighborhood sidewalk, overlayed with fragments of audio from an unidentified male voice saying “from Columbia” and “from Mexico.” Nowhere in the accompanying press release or video does Busse offer any evidence that the roofers are either immigrants or undocumented, as is strongly implied.
Asked about the ad’s implication, Busse campaign manager Aaron Murphy later told MTFP the “onus is on Gianforte” to prove that the roofers — who were hired by a local contracting company, not by the governor, according to Gianforte’s campaign — were authorized to work in the U.S.
“If the governor himself cannot prove that, which should be easy to do in consultation with the company he hired, then we all should presume they were undocumented,” Murphy said. He later said he did not regard his comment as encouraging racial profiling.
Asked if Gianforte knew whether the contractor asked the workers for proof of their status to work in the U.S., Gianforte campaign spokesperson Anna Marian Block said Wednesday that the governor “trusts the contractor did his due diligence to comply with the law” and struck back at Busse for the allegation.
“Gov. Gianforte did not hire illegal immigrants. Ryan Busse is an unhinged hypocrite who will say and do anything to get elected,” Block said.
Immigration law puts the responsibility for verifying worker authorization on their employer, not the homeowner or business where work is being conducted, said Montana-based immigration attorney Shahid Haque.
In this instance, Haque said, there was “literally nothing suspect” about the work crew depicted in the campaign video. Busse’s attack, he continued, “may even be defamatory” by presenting the roofers as undocumented when they may not be.
“In this attack, Busse is taking a page from the Republicans’ anti-immigrant playbook and stoking overblown fears,” Haque said. “Democrats used to be the party of immigration reform and welcoming new immigrants. They are now engaged in the same cynical tactic of getting votes by making people afraid of their Spanish-speaking neighbors.”
—Mara Silvers
Check, Please
Montana communities that hosted Donald Trump rallies in 2016 and 2018 incurred expenses for police and public safety that Trump as candidate and president didn’t cover. Trump returns to Montana to stump for Senate candidate Tim Sheehy in Bozeman Friday night.
Days after the former president’s 2018 stop in Billings to stump for Matt Rosedale’s U.S. Senate run, Police Chief Rich St. John, responding to multiple press requests, put the city’s security expense for the visit at $49,500. Similarly, Trump’s visit to Great Falls that year was estimated to cost Great Falls and Cascade County $80,000. In Missoula, the bill was $13,000 for county law enforcement.
Not everyone tried to collect. Yellowstone County confirmed Tuesday it made no attempt to recover costs by billing Trump. Cascade County in 2018 indicated it wouldn’t bill for law enforcement costs. Missoula County did try to collect, to no avail.
Gallatin County didn’t put a bill together for Trump’s rally at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in 2018. On Tuesday, as Sheriff Dan Springer prepared for Trump’s Friday-night rally in Bozeman, the sheriff explained that the call for service in 2018 didn’t come directly from Trump.
“It’s the Secret Service that calls, not the campaign,” Springer said. “When another agency calls for assistance, we respond, and we don’t charge them. It’s my feeling that no matter what the event, whether it’s a campaign rally, or a PRIDE parade, a fair, you name it, that’s what we do.”
No bill was sent to then-President Barack Obama when he held a rally at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport for the Affordable Care Act in 2009. The Obamas spent a couple of days with their daughters touring Yellowstone National Park and fly-fishing. Springer said the sheriff’s office assisted with all of it.
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders — same service, no charge, Springer said.
Political campaigns have paid for their use of venues in Montana, including the Trump campaign’s rent for Yellowstone County’s MetraPark in 2016 and 2018, at roughly $30,000 a pop.
—Tom Lutey
How Big is Tester’s Tent?
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester launched an ad campaign this week featuring endorsements from 100 Republicans who formerly held public office or positions in community leadership in Montana.
At the top of the list is former Montana governor and National Republican Party Chairman Marc Racicot. Readers might recall Capitolized reporting in February 2023 that the executive committee of the state Republican Party essentially excommunicated Racicot for opposing GOP candidates (like Trump) and “undermining” the party.
Earlier this year Racicot joined other GOP governors in an attempt to keep Trump off the ballot in Colorado.
Racicot endorsed Democrat Monica Tranel over Republican Ryan Zinke in Montana’s 2022 western district U.S. House race, and independent Gary Buchanan over Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale in the east that same year. Now, in endorsing Tester over Republican challenger Tim Sheehy, Racicot is joined by former Montana Republican secretary of state and 2004 GOP candidate for governor Bob Brown, of Whitefish.
Brown has twice been a plaintiff in lawsuits against the Republican-controlled state Legislature for not assuring Public Service Commission Districts are constitutional.
Fourteen other Republicans were fully identified by name.
Other Republican Tester-endorsers are given a fig leaf of anonymity in the new campaign, being identified only by first name, surname initial and town of residence.
—Tom Lutey
