Sen. Barrasso on GOP gaining momentum after battleground victories in 'rejection election'

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Sen. Barrasso explains why he voted 'no' on infrastructure bill

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., argues Democrats seem to be 'addicted to spending and to taxing.'

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., argued the results of Tuesday's "rejection election" revealed that voters across the country "overwhelmingly" rejected the Democrats' "radical policies," which caused inflation, open borders and the strong potential for higher taxes.

Barrasso made the comment on "Sunday Morning Futures" five days after a good election night for Republicans in states including Virginia where the GOP pulled off an election win in the governor's race many would have believed impossible just several months ago.

"It was a rejection election," Barrasso said on Sunday. "Voters overwhelmingly across the country rejected these radical policies of the Democrats, which have caused inflation-rising prices, open borders and now they want to raise taxes even higher." 

Barrasso argued that one would think that Tuesday’s election results "would be a wake-up call for the Democrats, but they’re still sleepwalking like zombies on this road to socialism."

Barrasso also argued that Democrats "bloated up their other bill, the $4 trillion reckless tax and spending bill, almost thumbing their noses at the voters who said, ‘stop.’" 

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"The Democrats know this will make taxes go up, it’s going to make the debt go up, it’s going to make prices go up and people across the country are fed up," he told host Maria Bartiromo. 

Barrasso made the statements one day after the passage of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which ended weeks of deadlock amid infighting between the party's moderates and progressives. 

GOP LAWMAKERS BLAST ‘RINOS’ AFTER HOUSE PASSES $1.2T INFRASTRUCTURE BILL: ‘TIME TO NAME NAMES’

President Biden, who has been urging Democrats to pass the signature item on his agenda, called the legislation a "once-in-a-generation investment in our people." 

But while the vote was a badly needed win for the Biden administration following a disappointing Election Night for the party earlier in the week, it was not unanimous: Six progressive Democrats voted against the bill.

Thirteen Republicans, however, crossed the aisle to help get the measure passed – drawing criticism from some of their GOP colleagues.

Barrasso, who voted "no" for the infrastructure bill, told Bartiromo on Sunday that he didn’t vote for it because he believes "it’s going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt and deficit." 

He also noted that "there were energy parts of that bill that I think are going to make energy more expensive and at the same time make our grid less reliable."  

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He also stressed that it is concerning that Democrats have "for months" linked the infrastructure bill and President Biden’s spending plan. 

 "That’s been very clear," he said. "So I couldn’t support it." 

"What we need to do now is drive a stake through the heart of this $4 trillion tax and spending bill… because the Democrats just seem to be addicted to spending and to taxing," Barrasso continued. That figure comes from an analysis from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, despite an advertised price tag of $1.75 trillion.

Barrasso said that in order to pass that bill, help wpuld be needed from Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who have rejected the Democrats’ spending spree. 

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Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.