INDIANAPOLIS — Jim Banks quoted a hateful, unverified post on X of lawful, documented residents in line at a Social Security Administration office which claimed that those in line were undocumented immigrants to the United States. It’s a lie that only adds to hateful stereotypes of our neighbors from someone who’s supposed to be a leader.

The original post he quoted has been deleted by its author, but Banks’ quote of it remains. South Bend Mayor James Mueller was quick to set the record straight in a statement to the South Bend Tribune.

The original, now deleted, post referred to South Bend as “Peteville”, a derogatory attack on former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Banks called Vice President Kamala Harris the “border czar” despite media reports debunking that claim.

“This was a group of lawful, documented residents at the social security office,” Mueller said. “Rep. Jim Banks is a shameful opportunist, spreading racist political lies instead of advancing real solutions for South Bend or our nation’s broken immigration system.”

Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl released the following statement on the post.

“Jim Banks is running for US Senate — a job that requires critical thinking and the ability to represent everyone in our great state,” Schmuhl said. “His actions today once again show he is too busy attacking Hoosiers to represent them. Here he is telling lies about a group of people he has no information on just to try to score cheap political points with his MAGA followers on social media. It’s dangerous, it’s divisive, and it’s wrong.”