Mon Oct 14 00:40:00 UTC 2024: ## Hovde’s Claim About Baldwin and Stimulus Checks Debunked
**Madison, WI** – The U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin is heating up, and with it, the level of political rhetoric. A recent campaign ad from Republican challenger Eric Hovde has been called out for making a false claim about incumbent Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin.
The ad features a man and woman stating that Baldwin gave stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants. Hovde’s campaign pointed to a Senate vote in 2021 where Baldwin opposed an amendment that would have barred undocumented immigrants from receiving stimulus checks.
However, experts and fact-checkers have deemed this claim misleading. The stimulus checks were only distributed to individuals with valid Social Security numbers, making undocumented immigrants ineligible. Even though Baldwin opposed the amendment, it doesn’t equate to her actively giving stimulus checks to undocumented individuals.
“Voting against the amendment is not tantamount to supporting ‘giving stimulus checks’ to nonresident immigrants,” said Michael Wagner, director of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This isn’t the first time similar claims about stimulus checks and undocumented immigrants have been debunked. PolitiFact has previously rated similar claims made against other Democratic politicians as False.
Baldwin’s office has also reiterated that undocumented immigrants were not eligible for the stimulus checks, emphasizing that the checks were only given to individuals with valid Social Security numbers.
While the Hovde campaign argues that Baldwin’s vote against the amendment reflects a stance on the issue, experts maintain that the ad’s claim is a misrepresentation of reality. This incident highlights the importance of scrutinizing political claims and seeking accurate information from reliable sources.
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