Tonight’s televised U.S. Senate debate between Republican Mike Lee and independent Evan McMullin is at Utah Valley University at 6 p.m.
While it’s hard to gauge where the race stands with three weeks left until Election Day, it appears to have tightened significantly.
Follow along here for live updates. You can also watch live by clicking here.
Purpose of government
The first question was about the purpose of government and what is one good thing federal government can do.
Both candidates open by thanking their families, including their wives, who in the crowd tonight.
Lee says he’ll stop runaway spending in Congress.
McMullin also says we need to cut spending but that Republicans and Democrats both need to be held to account and we won’t be able to stop spending until that happens.
“It’s time to start putting Utah first…” McMullin says. “I’m not going to Washington, if we prevail, to be a bootlicker for Donald Trump or Joe Biden.”
Lee appears to take offense to the bootlicker comment:
“To suggest that I’m beholden to any party and that I’ve been a bootlicker to any party is ... contrary to the facts.”
Election integrity
Moderator Doug Wright asks if both candidates believe President Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly.
Lee says yes, and adds: “As to whether there were errors, as to whether some states may have conducted their elections better than others, there is always room for debate.”
McMullin takes the opportunity to attack Lee for his efforts to help Donald Trump stay in office following the election:
“For you to talk about the importance of the electoral college is rich...Even tonight, you’re still casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election. You have betrayed your oath to the constitution.”
Lee tells McMullin that he owes him an apology.
Wright moves onto the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“When the barbarians were at the gate, you were happy to let them in,” McMullin says.
Lee responds: “How dare you, sir.”
Student loan debt
A UVU student asks what solutions there are for student loan debt if both candidates are critical of Biden’s forgiveness plan.
Lee: “The first and best thing the federal gov’t could do is get out of the student loan business. It has no business there.”
McMullin: “I don’t agree with Senator Lee that the federal govt should be out of that but it should be more careful...it should be a more narrowly focused program...”
Social Security
Wright asks if it should it be continued.
McMullin: Yes.
Lee: Yes.
Both offer suggestions for how it could be reformed.
Inflation
Lee says federal spending is leading to inflation and we need a Republican-controlled Senate to bring it down:
“Congress has spent way too much for a very long time, but they’ve ratcheted it up to a whole new level. We thought it was too much cowbell before, now it’s 10 times more cowbell.”
McMullin says both parties are spending recklessly but adds that the job of a senator is not only to vote no but to work across party lines to solve problems. He mentions several Utah senators who did so, solving problems and negotiating a better deal for Utah.
Prescription drug prices
Candidates are asked what they’d do to make them more affordable?
McMullin says we have to allow the taxpayer to negotiate and says Big Pharma is putting money in Lee’s pockets.
Lee: “Competition lowers prices and brings up quality. What we need is competition. That’s why I’ve long supported the importation of drugs from neighborly countries.”
Abortion
McMullin: “I’m pro-life and I’ve always believed in the sanctity of life. And I oppose the extremes on both sides of this issue…This issue is dividing our country unnecessarily.”
He says solutoins includ making contraception more available, imparting the right values to our youth and more support for families.
Lee: “As a pro-life American who loves the Constitution, I am thrilled...Roe v Wade was a legal fiction…this authority has returned to the states where it belongs...
“It’s within the states where we can ...protect the most babies.”
Should dreamers be deported?
McMullin says Dreamers should be given citizenship, and then turns the question back to Lee, who says we need to secure the border, asking, “Do you want to send them home? This is their home, Senator Lee.”
Lee does not answer.
Closing statements
McMullin goes first:
“Our politics are broken to the point that our country’s future is at risk…it feels as if we’re coming apart now because of the broken politics you hear from my opponent.”
Lee:
“You know who I am. You know what I fight for. I fight for religious freedom. I fight for personal liberty, and I did during COVID… I love our country and our state and I humbly ask for your vote.”
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/dZfH81B
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