Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison argues that President Biden has abandoned his promise to govern as a moderate and has fallen under the influence of the far-left wing of the Democratic Party. Burlison, a Republican representing Missouri’s 7th congressional district, made these remarks during an interview with Fox News Digital at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. He discussed the upcoming 2024 election, immigration, Second Amendment rights, and the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burlison believes that the Democratic Party has moved significantly to the left, abandoning the values that once attracted moderate voters in states like Missouri. He points to the party’s stance on issues like abortion and gun control, arguing that these positions are no longer in line with the views of many traditional Democrats. “When I was first elected in the Missouri House, I sat across the aisle from people that were friends of mine that were part of the Democratic Party who were pro-life…There were members who were part of the pro-Second Amendment caucus…and that’s not an option today and I think that people that that once held, that still hold those values that once found a place in the Democratic Party, there’s no place for them anymore…It’s not that Missouri has moved ideologically, I think it’s the Democratic Party has left them.”
Burlison has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, arguing that they have led to an unprecedented surge in illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border. He believes this issue will be a key factor in the 2024 election, saying, “This is unprecedented levels of illegal immigration and I think that his [Biden’s] executive orders directly undermined the authority of Customs and Border Patrol, and now we have this crisis situation … over 10 million people that we know of have come across the southern border illegally, and then we have over 2 million people that are known got-aways.”
He also expresses concern about the impact of immigration on the US job market, claiming that more than half of recent job growth is attributable to people who were not living in the United States before Biden took office. “When the Biden administration talks about job numbers, and he’s taking credit for this surge in jobs…the fact is that more than half of those jobs are occupied by someone who was not living in the United States before Joe Biden became president. And so, that is a disturbing factor.”
Energy production and independence are also major concerns for Burlison. He believes that the United States needs to return to a position of energy independence, a goal he claims was achieved during the Trump administration. He points to the success of the Trump administration in making the US a net exporter of energy as an example of what can be achieved with the right policies. “Look, in my lifetime I’ve heard so many people running for president claim that they were going to make America energy independent: we would be a net exporter of electricity, net exporter of fuels, and natural resources. That didn’t happen until President Donald Trump,” Burlison said. “The one nexus [for the economy] is energy independence and having abundant energy in the future. If America can go back to being a net exporter, and we reduce our costs for oil…natural gas, and other things, then I think we’re going to solve a lot of our problems.”
Despite Biden’s initial promise to govern as a moderate, Burlison believes that he has not followed through on this commitment. He argues that the Biden administration has been driven by a progressive agenda that is out of step with the American people. “I would love to have a moderate Joe Biden as president, but that’s not who we have. I think that his office…the inmates are running the prison I think that the staff are running the show, and those staff are a lot more progressive than Joe Biden has ever been as an elected official, so it’s a disturbing trend, and I hope that we change course,” Burlison said.
Burlison is also a strong advocate for Second Amendment rights. He believes that the GOP needs to do a better job of communicating the value of gun ownership to the American people, arguing that firearms are often used to save lives. “I think that we need to do a better job of communicating the value of people having the right to carry a firearm. The FBI numbers, even under the Obama administration, they did a report that showed that two and a half million times a year someone uses a firearm to save a life or stop a rape, stop a violent act, and those are amazing numbers and there’s anecdotes for every one of the two and a half million stories like that,” he said. “But what ends up being covered in the media are the horrific shootings that occur and while they are absolutely horrible, and we should do everything we can to try to stop those, we can’t ignore the fact that firearms overwhelmingly save lives.”
Burlison is a vocal critic of excessive spending by both parties, arguing that the US is on an unsustainable path that could lead to a financial and security crisis. He expresses disappointment with his Republican colleagues who are unwilling to make the necessary spending cuts to address the issue. “It’s not only a financial crisis, but it is a security crisis. We are at a debt to GDP level that we have not seen since World War Two, and we didn’t just complete a war. In fact, we’re looking at wars that the United States may have to get into in the future, and we can’t afford it, so we have to fix this, and we don’t… we have a spending problem in D.C. and, the thing that I’m most disappointed in is my Republican colleagues who are not willing to make the necessary cuts,” he said. “They’re not willing to do what’s important and necessary for the future of America, and look, cutting is difficult, but it’s something that we’re going to have to do if we want to save this country.”
Burlison also expresses concerns about the potential for government overreach in the future, citing the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. He believes that the measures taken during the pandemic, such as lockdowns and restrictions on personal liberty, were an overstep by the government. He pledges to fight against any future attempts to implement similar policies. “This [the government reaction to COVID] was a horrific situation. We saw what a totalitarian regime might look like in America,” he said. “We got a taste of that and, I hope, I think that there’s a lot of patriots who are not going to let that happen again, and I think that there’s a lot of legislators that are trying to pass bills to make sure that…we don’t see those losses of liberty again.”
