02-05-2025
Moreno on immigration, Trump, stocks
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) spent about ten minutes answering questions from NBC4 Ohio Statehouse reporter Natalie Fahmy Thursday afternoon.
Do international students belong at American universities?
'Absolutely,' Moreno said. 'My older brother, in essence, was an international student, because when we arrived in America, he was just about to go to college.'
For weeks, international students in Ohio and across the country were being notified that their student visas were revoked. The Trump administration later reversed course, restoring status to most of those students after the Department of Justice said ICE was acting improperly.
'International students play a great role in research and technology, they graduate from these universities and become a great part of our society,' Moreno said.
Moreno said while he believes international students should be on U.S. college campuses, it has to be done the right way.
'The difference is, under the Biden administration, there was very little vetting; we had no idea who these people were,' he said. 'A lot of them were coming into our colleges and being agitators, creating problems, crimes committed, spreading of terrorist propaganda. So we, of course, want to restore the proper amount of vetting of foreign students who are additive to our economy.'
Have President Donald Trump's Immigration polices been effective?
'Numbers don't lie,' Moreno said. 'Right now, we're seeing a 95% drop in [illegal] border crossings.'
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, these are the numbers:
February 2024, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) apprehended 140,641 people.
January 2025, USBP apprehended 29,101 people.
February 2025, USBP apprehended 8,347 people.
'If you remember, during the campaign, my opponent, and many Democrats, said that the reason the border was out of control is because there needed to be this massive border legislation that had to be done,' Moreno said. 'In reality, we just needed a president that followed the law.'
Moreno called the drop in illegal crossings 'an amazing accomplishment' for Trump's first 100 days in office.
In November 2024, Moreno said his plans for immigration policies include mass deportation, but 'sequenced' the right way.
Anything new on legislation to hold private equity firms accountable?
Senator Moreno worked to ensure a Chillicothe paper mill would stay open a bit longer than expected, and hopefully well into the future.
When he traveled to Chillicothe, he said he planned to introduce legislation to hold private equity firms accountable, like the one that bought the paper mill — Pixelle Specialty Solutions, a subsidiary of HIG Capital.
'We're working through putting guardrails to make certain that we protect communities, that we don't allow companies to come in and destroy communities and leave there with millions of dollars of profits,' Moreno said. 'So, we're working carefully on that.'
As far as the mill in Chillicothe goes, Moreno said HIG Capital has 'been great partners in finding a solution.' Moreno said he has talked with them multiple times this week alone.
'They've been very cooperative,' he said. 'It is going to be very difficult. The scale of difficulty is probably the highest I've ever seen. I remain optimistic. This is a total team effort.'
Do you stand by calling Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) a 'Fuhrer?'
In April, Moreno called Schumer a 'Fuhrer.' By definition, that word means a 'ruthless, tyrannical leader,' but it is strongly associated with Adolf Hitler.
'Democrats have used all kind of awful names about President Trump,' Moreno said when asked if he stands by that comment.
Moreno said the 'main point' of his April statement was missed.
'That Chuck Schumer rules the Democratic conference like a dictator, they all have to march in line, there's no free thinking that happens on the Democrat side because they're punished if, by any chance, they were to veer off Schumer's orders,' Moreno said.
Moreno said that on the Republican side, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) encourages everyone to 'bring their points of view.'
'Republicans, of course, sometimes, frustrating for me, vote with Democrats on some issues and you just don't see that on the Democrat side,' Moreno said. 'My main message was to get bipartisan legislation accomplished, we need free thinking, independent Democrats, not monolithic sheep that follow the orders of a dictator.'
A follow-up question was asked, 'So you do stand by the comment?'
'My point is exactly what I just said,' Moreno responded. 'He acts like a dictator, he treats his conference like a dictator, and I think honestly, at some point they're going to get rid of him.'
Moreno then talked about 'racist ads' that were aired about his family during his campaign for U.S. Senate, such as this one, that he believes Schumer was behind. The ad was paid for by a PAC called WinSenate that spent $287,058,948 against Republicans across the country during the 2023-2024 election cycle.
'Your station made millions of dollars airing racist ads,' Moreno said. 'It wasn't even close; it was blatant racist ads against me and my family, so I'm not going to apologize for something that was clearly a quip. The reality is Republicans are very united about restoring this country to greatness. I think the best years of this country are in front of us, and that's what I'm hyper-focused on.'
According to the FCC, broadcast stations are prohibited from censoring or rejecting political ads that are paid for and sponsored by legally qualified candidates. This no-censorship provision does not apply to political ads that are sponsored by non-candidate third parties.
Should Americans, and Ohioans, still be confident in Trump?
Across Ohio and the country, there have been several days of protests, with hundreds, sometimes thousands of people showing up, dissatisfied with the federal government.
'If you were to do interviews with the people that are there, you'd find a lot of out-of-state agitators, a lot of people who have total and complete misinformation,' Moreno said.
Moreno defended the Republican party and Trump and said the 'golden age of America is in front of us.'
According to an NBC News Poll, 55% of Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the presidency.
'In terms of the polling, you look at the fake polls that were put out there that showed President Trump way down in the polling,' Moreno said. 'That's totally inaccurate.'
How should Ohioans feel about a fluctuating stock market?
'I will expect that the stock market will be at a record high by the end of the year when these investments kick in,' Moreno said. 'Look, we're bringing almost $6 trillion in new investments to the country.'
Moreno said the word 'plummeted' does not accurately describe how the stock market is looking right now. That is despite it facing a significant downturn, largely because of the uncertainty that Trump's tariffs are bringing.
Moreno said that the Trump administration and Republicans in Washington are 'securing peace and stability around the world' and said several policies are going to reinvigorate the American economy.
'We are about to make the tax and jobs cut act permanent, we're going to eliminate income taxes on social security, tips and overtime,' he said.
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