Post by Blunashun on Oct 10, 2024 5:11:34 GMT
Three takeaways from the U.S. Senate debate between Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey
Kathryn Palmer
USA TODAY
During an hour-long debate forum Tuesday, candidates Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey traded pointed barbs over each other's careers, Donald Trump, and leading national policy issues such as abortion, immigration, and gun control.
Republican and former MLB star Steve Garvey is trailing Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff in polls and has run a remarkably quiet campaign, skipping the Republican National Convention in July and making few public appearances. Yet the lopsided nature of the race, which also has Schiff outspending the Republican nearly seven times over, did not temper exchanges Tuesday night, which ventured into testy and sometimes personal territory.
The two are vying for California's first open Senate seat in decades, left vacant last year following Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Democrat and former EMILY's List President Laphonza Butler to the seat shortly afterward, but she declined to enter the race and will cede to the winning candidate following the General Election.
Here are three takeaways and memorable exchanges from Tuesday's debate.
Garvey accuses Schiff of insulting his mother
As in the three debates earlier this year before the primary, Garvey struggled to provide detailed answers to questions, often changing the subject or sidestepping specific policy discussions.
In one of the most bizarre moments after a moderator pushed Garvey to clarify his position on Medicare, he avoided answering and instead said Schiff had "insulted "disparaged" his mother at the start of the campaign by suggesting Garvey grew up rich. Schiff denied this and said he only had compliments for his mother, attempting to return to the original question of whether Garvey wants to cut social security entitlements.
However, most of the testier back-and-forth centered around former President Donald Trump.
Trump looms large
Schiff, who led the first impeachment trial of Trump, has often referred to his role in challenging the former president and, throughout the campaign, has endeavored to paint his opponent as a Trump supporter — an unpopular position in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one. Schiff called Garvey a "MAGA Mini-Me in a baseball uniform" at the start of Tuesday's debate, and references to Trump continued throughout the forum.
Garvey responded by saying Schiff's anti-Trump record has harmed Californians, arguing he doesn't focus on his state's constituents.
“I can’t imagine, Mr. Schiff, how you can get up every morning and have one mission, and that’s to go after Donald Trump,” Garvey said. “How can you think about one man every day and focus on that when you’ve got millions of people in California to take care of?”
Schiff responded forcefully.
"I stood up to a corrupt President. Yes, I investigated him. I impeached him. I led the trial in the Senate, and he incited a violent attack on the Capitol," Schiff said. "And I was there that day, Mr. Garvey. I was there on January 6 as those insurrectionists were breaking down the doors and windows. The fact that you think that's perfectly OK, that you still want to support the guy who incited that, tells me that you would never take your oath of office as seriously as I do."
When asked to respond, Garvey remained silent for 10 seconds until Schiff remarked he "left him speechless."
Abortion
Garvey said he would support the will of Californians on reproductive rights, referring to the state's Constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights passed in 2022. When asked if he would support a federal ban on abortion, he also spoke of his religious beliefs on the matter.
"Now I am a Catholic. I believe in life. I believe in life at conception. I believe God breathes into these fetuses," Garvey said. "So I am steadfast in terms of my policies on abortion and also in my pledge to support all the people of California."
Garvey has said he believes reproductive freedom is a state-by-state issue, Cal Matters reports, and in January, Garvey said he opposed a nationwide abortion ban. The Republican candidate has also said he supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Schiff has criticized.
"If my colleague was listening to the voices of Californians as he claims, he would hear their voices loud and clear. Californians want a national right to reproductive freedom, and they don’t want the government in the business of making that decision for women,” Schiff said. “I’m for reproductive freedom, Mr. Garvey. You are not.”
Kathryn Palmer
USA TODAY
During an hour-long debate forum Tuesday, candidates Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey traded pointed barbs over each other's careers, Donald Trump, and leading national policy issues such as abortion, immigration, and gun control.
Republican and former MLB star Steve Garvey is trailing Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff in polls and has run a remarkably quiet campaign, skipping the Republican National Convention in July and making few public appearances. Yet the lopsided nature of the race, which also has Schiff outspending the Republican nearly seven times over, did not temper exchanges Tuesday night, which ventured into testy and sometimes personal territory.
The two are vying for California's first open Senate seat in decades, left vacant last year following Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Democrat and former EMILY's List President Laphonza Butler to the seat shortly afterward, but she declined to enter the race and will cede to the winning candidate following the General Election.
Here are three takeaways and memorable exchanges from Tuesday's debate.
Garvey accuses Schiff of insulting his mother
As in the three debates earlier this year before the primary, Garvey struggled to provide detailed answers to questions, often changing the subject or sidestepping specific policy discussions.
In one of the most bizarre moments after a moderator pushed Garvey to clarify his position on Medicare, he avoided answering and instead said Schiff had "insulted "disparaged" his mother at the start of the campaign by suggesting Garvey grew up rich. Schiff denied this and said he only had compliments for his mother, attempting to return to the original question of whether Garvey wants to cut social security entitlements.
However, most of the testier back-and-forth centered around former President Donald Trump.
Trump looms large
Schiff, who led the first impeachment trial of Trump, has often referred to his role in challenging the former president and, throughout the campaign, has endeavored to paint his opponent as a Trump supporter — an unpopular position in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one. Schiff called Garvey a "MAGA Mini-Me in a baseball uniform" at the start of Tuesday's debate, and references to Trump continued throughout the forum.
Garvey responded by saying Schiff's anti-Trump record has harmed Californians, arguing he doesn't focus on his state's constituents.
“I can’t imagine, Mr. Schiff, how you can get up every morning and have one mission, and that’s to go after Donald Trump,” Garvey said. “How can you think about one man every day and focus on that when you’ve got millions of people in California to take care of?”
Schiff responded forcefully.
"I stood up to a corrupt President. Yes, I investigated him. I impeached him. I led the trial in the Senate, and he incited a violent attack on the Capitol," Schiff said. "And I was there that day, Mr. Garvey. I was there on January 6 as those insurrectionists were breaking down the doors and windows. The fact that you think that's perfectly OK, that you still want to support the guy who incited that, tells me that you would never take your oath of office as seriously as I do."
When asked to respond, Garvey remained silent for 10 seconds until Schiff remarked he "left him speechless."
Abortion
Garvey said he would support the will of Californians on reproductive rights, referring to the state's Constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights passed in 2022. When asked if he would support a federal ban on abortion, he also spoke of his religious beliefs on the matter.
"Now I am a Catholic. I believe in life. I believe in life at conception. I believe God breathes into these fetuses," Garvey said. "So I am steadfast in terms of my policies on abortion and also in my pledge to support all the people of California."
Garvey has said he believes reproductive freedom is a state-by-state issue, Cal Matters reports, and in January, Garvey said he opposed a nationwide abortion ban. The Republican candidate has also said he supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Schiff has criticized.
"If my colleague was listening to the voices of Californians as he claims, he would hear their voices loud and clear. Californians want a national right to reproductive freedom, and they don’t want the government in the business of making that decision for women,” Schiff said. “I’m for reproductive freedom, Mr. Garvey. You are not.”
