Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On a recent Talk Back show, Republican Congressional candidate Ryan Zinke took his Democratic opponent Monica Tranel to task for her enthusiastic support for the recently passed ‘Inflation Reduction Act’.

“You know her vision of our country?” asked Zinke. “If you've watched the debate, it was interesting. Monica Tranel was asked the question, ‘is there any Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden policy that you don't agree with?’ And the answer was no. So when you when you look at it, the spending package of $133 trillion, with more spending and more taxes for every Montanan who makes $200,000 or less, and the hiring of 87,000 IRS troopers. That's all brought to you by the same bill, the Inflation Reduction Act that Monica says is awesome.”

On the subject of the southern border, Zinke said the powerful Mexican drug cartels should be declared terrorist organizations.

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“They're far more powerful than the Mexican military,” he said. “Look at how much a general is being paid. You know what they do in Mexico, and if he tries to go out of his little box, they'll go after his family. They’ll put all the heads of his family on  a stake someplace. So this is the cartel that they're dealing with. I think to go after the cartel you put them into a terrorist organization and that it's a threat, a clear and present danger to the United States of America and all the people who live here. So we’ve got we got to take it seriously.”

Zinke, a former Navy Seal Team Six Commander, was asked about the danger of weakness in American leadership and how confidence in the U.S. has been eroded.

“I think it all started with Afghanistan,” he said. “Our failure in Afghanistan led to the failure in Ukraine when we took military option off the table. I've dealt with the Russian military a lot. You have to deal with the Russians from a position of strength. If you show weakness, then the Russians will jump all over it as they did.”

Zinke wrapped up his hour on Talk Back asking for votes in November.

“If you love your country, you love Montana, you love the great outdoors you want to maintain our values and our way of life, then this is an incredibly important election,” he said. “It really represents two visions. One with more government more power, more taxes and more authority, and one with less government, less taxes, less spending, and taking back the America we love.”

Zinke is opposed in the Western District Congressional race by Democrat Monica Tranel and Libertarian John Lamb.

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