- Undercover journalists filmed Susan Daggett, the wife of Sen. Michael Bennet, speak about the Defund the Police movement and the Inflation Reduction Act
- She suggested in the video that Democrats should defund the police ‘quietly’
- Daggett also told the undercover reporters they should not talk openly about how the Inflation Reduction Act is really a health and climate bill
- Bennet’s challenger, Republican Joe O’Dea, says the video proves Democrats are ‘trying to pull a fast one on the American people’
- Bennet’s campaign, meanwhile, slammed the Accuracy in Media journalists for their undercover tactics
By MELISSA KOENIG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 01:38 EST, 8 November 2022 | UPDATED: 09:28 EST, 8 November 2022
A Colorado Senator came under fire just one day before Election Day after a video emerged showing his wife suggesting Democrats defund the police ‘quietly’ and laughing about the name of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Undercover journalists with Accuracy in Media filmed Susan Daggett, the law professor wife of Sen. Michael Bennet, as she spoke about the Defund the Police movement and the Inflation Reduction Act.
She said in the video that ‘the most successful efforts in Washington DC are the ones that you never see on the front page of the paper’ and told the undercover reporters they should not talk openly about how the Inflation Reduction Act is really a health and climate bill.
The video was then posted on YouTube Monday, just one day before Coloradoans go to the polls to either re-elect Bennet or vote for his opponent, Joe O’Dea, a moderate Republican who is endorsed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Now, with just hours to go before Election Day, the O’Dea campaign is blasting Bennet as a ‘radical’ who, along with other Democrats in Congress, is ‘trying to pull a fast one on the American people.’
But the Bennet campaign has pushed back against the tactics used by the undercover journalists, telling FOX News it was ‘despicable ambush theater.’ 
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, left, found himself under fire with just one day to go before Election Day after a video emerged showing his wife, Susan Daggett, right, suggesting Democrats defund the police ‘quietly and laughing about the name of the Inflation Reduction Act
Bennet will face Republican challenger Joe O’Dea in the election on Tuesday
Video taken by undercover journalists with Accuracy in Media shows Daggett suggesting Democrats should only speak about Defunding the Police for half a second ‘and then let the temperature come down, and then quietly allocate some funding to mental health, right, and to interventions that could help’
She tells the undercover journalists: ‘The most successful efforts in Washington DC are the ones you never see on the front page of the paper’Wife of Colorado Senator says Dems are quietly defunding police
Trump says Melania ‘likes the idea’ of wearing a face mask
In the Accuracy in Media video posted online Monday, Daggett, a law professor at the University of Denver, could be seen standing outside her home one night speaking to a man and a woman.
The man starts off by asking her about the Defund the Police movement, and what she thinks about Democrat messaging on the issue.
‘I think, you know, Michael would say calling it Defund the Police was not the smartest move on the outset because that’ not really what we’re talking about,’ she replies. ‘But everything is partisan, like everything that can become a wedge issue is these days.
‘And so probably the smartest thing to do is just take the temperature down, and you know, just quietly … The most successful efforts in Washington DC are the ones you never see on the front page of the paper.’
Daggett then suggested talking about the issue ‘for half a second and then let the temperature come down, and then quietly allocate some funding to mental health, right, and to interventions that could help, and maybe not call it police reform.
‘There’s just strategically ways to do it that would be just as effective, but you know, not raise the flag.’
At that point, the male interviewer asks her whether that’s the same thing Democrats did with the Inflation Reduction Act, which he said had ‘so many great things,’ while his female companion said there was a lot about the climate in the bill.
‘Right, don’t talk about it,’ she responds, laughing. ‘Just, just yeah.’
The video ends with Daggett saying she hopes President joe Biden does not run again in 2024.
Sen Michel Bennet is pictured here with his wife and their two daughters in 2009
After viewing the video, the campaign for Republican challenger Joe O’Dea said it proves the Bennets are ‘radicals.’
‘It’s that quiet part out loud now,’ campaign manager Zack Roday told FOX News.
‘Even on the Inflation Reduction Act, flat out admitting that that wasn’t the intent of the legislation and laughing about the title of it. The media and the Democrats called it that until the moment it was passed, and then it became a climate bill, and that’s exactly what Michael Bennet did in terms of how he talked about it.
‘And it’s just so disappointing because this is exactly what so many fear about radical leadership under the Biden-Bennet agenda,’ he continued.
‘It’s that they’re truly trying to pull a fast one on the American people,’ Roday said. ‘She admits what, in fact, the agenda has been for the last two years.’
He also commented on Daggett’s rhetoric about the Defund the Police movement, saying: ‘One of the biggest solutions to reducing crime is more cops.
‘We need to champion them,’ Roday said. ‘We need to give them the funding they need, and that’s part of the reason that the Democrats are going to fall on November 8, tomorrow, is because they’re just out of touch.’ 
The Bennet campaign slammed the Accuracy in Media journalists for their tactics, while the O’Dea campaign said it proves Democrats are ‘trying to pull a fast one on the American people.’ Both candidates are pictured here at a debate on October 28
The Bennet campaign, meanwhile, blasted the Accuracy in Media journalists saying: ‘This isn’t journalism; it’s despicable ambush theater.
‘It’s disgusting that Joe O’Dea and his campaign are endorsing this tactic,’ campaign manager Justin LaMorte said. ‘Takin aim at a candidate’s wife is straight out of the Donald Trump playbook.’
The campaign also accused the journalists of secretly taping Daggett under false pretenses and selectively editing the video.
It says that two unnamed people, one claiming to be a graduate student at the university Daggett works, claimed to be canvassing the neighborhood when they filmed the video.
But Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette pushed back against criticism.
‘I love that police officers wear body cams,’ he said. ‘And I’d love a world where politicians wore body cams.
‘The next best thing is an investigative journalist with a hidden camera.’
The video comes as former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie (pictured) says he expects O’Dea to oust Bennet on Tuesday — despite polls suggesting otherwise
The video comes as former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie says he expects O’Dea to oust Bennet on Tuesday — despite polls suggesting otherwise.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Christie said: ‘The other upset and surprise you’re going to see I think on Tuesday night is Joe O’Dea, the Republican candidate for United States Senate in Colorado, is going to beat Michael Bennet. And that’s going to be a huge surprise.’
But polls show Bennet has the edge in the race, which is rated ‘lean Democrat’ by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
And an Emerson College-The Hill poll of likely voters late last month found Bennet had a seven-point lead.