Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he isn't surprised that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka were quick to criticize his announcement Monday that
he is running for president.
Trumka called Walker a "national disgrace" and Clinton accused him of stomping on workers' rights.
"The reason they're upset, the reason Hillary Clinton said what she said, was we took power out of the big hands (of) union bosses and put it into the hands of the hardworking people," Walker said Monday on Fox News Channel's
"Hannity."
"It's pro-worker because we give them the freedom to choose."
Walker has touted his union-fighting record in Wisconsin, including a famous battle with the state's teachers union that spurred a recall election that Walker won.
"They recognize that we not only fight, we fight and win," Walker said. "We've won three times in four years in a purple blue state. We won on the issues."
Walker said he believes he can turn the country around, just as he did in heavily liberal Wisconsin, if he can be elected and Republicans maintain both houses of Congress.
"The idea of going big and bold, we brought along the kind of reforms," he said. "We worked together as a team. I think we can do that in Washington."
He also believes he has the advantage of being a Midwesterner.
"I think the path to a Republican win in the presidency comes through the Midwest," he said. "There's a lot of important steps. Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, I think those are industrial Midwestern-type states that we can do well with a nominee."
Walker said he speaks the language of industrial states.
"The left claims they're for American workers, and they've got lame ideas, things like minimum wage," he said. "We need to talk about how we get people skills and qualifications they need to get jobs that go beyond minimum wage."
Walker also said he would repeal Obamacare entirely.
"Put patient and families in charge directly. Portability, carry the plan from one state deal over state lines. Provide full transparency," he said. "If you get people skin in the game they will make wise decisions."
Walker once supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but said he changed his position after talking to border governors.
"It's one where I actually listened to the American people," he said. "I went to the border and met with governors. I met with state and local and federal officials. … We need to secure the border, enforce the law. Can't have amnesty. Citizenship should have a high bar."
Should Walker win the GOP nomination, he likely would face Clinton in the general election. Hannity noted that a recent poll showed that nearly 60 percent of Americans don't find the former secretary of state trustworthy. Walker said he agrees with them.
"Think about it. Not just the ones people think about right now," he said. "There's a fair number of reports out there that suggest that even while she was leaning in to tell the father of one of the victims in Benghazi if they were going to get the guy with the video, she already knew it wasn't the video."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.