“I wouldn’t say anything about unions… just say he’s for working families.”
“Right to Work is a headline to pay people less than what they – but we can’t say that.”
Jill Donnelly: “He does” Support Unions, Just “don’t say that to people!”
Campaign Volunteer and Union Member: “… his career began through organized labor” “He’s got like a 98% AFL-CIO voting record”
Donnelly Has to Play Down Being Liberal “especially in Indiana, just because like, it’s so conservative.”
“I know for a fact that he’s losing voters [be]cause of Kavanaugh… [be]cause he voted no.”
This is a breaking news story. Refresh the page for updates.
(Indianapolis) Project Veritas Action Fund has released undercover video from current US Senator Joe Donnelly’s campaign. The video reveals that he masks his support of unions because of how polarizing they are in Indiana. This is the ninth undercover video report Project Veritas has released in a series revealing secrets and lies from political campaigns in 2018.
Said James O’Keefe, founder and president of Project Veritas Action:
“We have seen this consistently in our investigations this year…where politicians say one thing publicly, and another thing privately.”
“Don’t say that to people!”
Featured in this report is Senator Joe Donnelly’s wife, Jill Donnelly, and a campaign volunteer, Tony Flora, a supporter of Senator Donnelly since 2004, and a member of the National Letter Carriers Union. They both say that the Senator cannot publicly support unions:
JOURNALIST: ” Oh Jill. Yeah, sorry just a quick question. I was talking to Mary um, what’s Senator Donnelly’s take on uh like, “Right to Work”? Do you know? We looked it up-”
JILL DONNELLY: “You wanna answer this or do you want me to?”
FLORA: “No.”
JILL DONNELLY: “Work – It takes away worker’s rights and destroys unions… He’s for working families… I wouldn’t say anything about unions.”
FLORA: “Yeah, we don’t use that either it’s for working families.”
JILL DONNELLY: “Don’t use unions, just say he’s for working families…”
Donnelly continued, saying “we can’t say that”:
JOURNALIST: “Okay, [be]cause we were looking up – trying to look it up. And it was like, right to try instead.”
JILL DONNELLY: “No… Right to Work is a headline to pay people less than what they – but we can’t say that.”
When asked whether or not to bring up unions to voters, Donnelly and Flora both say, “no.”
“But he supports the unions, right?”
JOURNALIST: “But he supports the unions, right?”
JILL DONNELLY: “Don’t say that to people!”
JOURNALIST: “… I’m just wondering for myself to-”
FLORA: “Yes, yes.”
JILL DONNELLY: “He does.”
FLORA: “He’s a big AFL-CIO, he’s got like a 98 percent AFL-CIO voting record.”
Flora and Donnelly both agree that while they think that “Right to Work” helps workers, they can’t say so to voters:
JILL DONNELLY: “[Right to Work] helps workers, but you can’t say it.”
FLORA: “Can’t say it.”
JILL DONNELLY: “When [voters] say how does he feel about Right to Work, you’ll say he’s for working families.”
Especially in Indiana…
Another individual who works on Senator Donnelly’s campaign, David Madden, says that Donnelly has to suppress his liberal views because Indiana is “so conservative”:
JOURNALIST: “… it’s almost like Donnelly has to play down being liberal. Does that make sense?
MADDEN: “Yeah, he does. Especially in Indiana, just because like, it’s so conservative.
Will Talcott, another individual working on the Donnelly campaign, says that Donnelly is losing voters because of his decision to vote against the confirmation of then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and that Senator Donnelly tries to play safe politics to get elected:
TALCOTT: “I know for a fact that he’s losing voters [be]cause of Kavanaugh.”
JOURNALIST: “[Be]cause he voted no.”
TALCOTT: “[Be]cause he voted no… [Donnelly] tries to sort of make it about things that are tough to say no to. Like, I’m gonna keep your healthcare. No one’s gonna get pissed about that.”
Fake Moderates
This is the ninth release in a series Project Veritas Action Fund began publishing in October 2018 exposing dishonesty and unethical conduct in elections across the country.
View the other investigative reports in this series: