Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 Arizona U.S. Senate Debate 20240712

Good evening and welcome to the special election 2020 debate between u. S. Senate candidates. This is the only live debate between these two candidates. It is a joint effort brought to you by the Election Commission and media organizations. Im the host and managing editor of arizona horizon. Joining me tonight is a political reporter with the arizona republic. We are broadcasting live from the studios at arizona pbs and the Walter Cronkite school of journalism in downtown phoenix. Tonights debate is being. Ivestreamed on a website topics were chosen by journalists from the four participating media outlets. Questions from the public as solicited by the commission are also included. The ground rules are as follows. Once we ask a question, both candidates will have 90 seconds to answer without interruption. The candidates will get 45 seconds or a rebuttal without interruption. Then we will have up to two minutes for an open discussion on the topic. At the end, each candidate will have one minute for closing statements. You may have noticed the set up looks different. We have taken a number of precautions to keep everyone safe. Anduding increased distance plexiglas barriers. Covid tests for everyone involved and a request for no physical contact like handshaking. Lets meet the candidates. Martha mcsally is a republican appointed after john mccains death. She is a native of rhode island and was the first woman to fly in combat in iraq. Mark kelly is a democrat who served as a naval aviator. He piloted Space Shuttle and is married to former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. Earlier, we tossed a coin to see who goes first. Senator, the president s covid19 diagnosis calls into question the way the administration has handled the pandemic. He has been recorded as downplaying covid19. He said it was a hoax and given himself in a great. A great. How do you think the administration has handled covid19 . Our prayers are with the president and first lady. All of those affected, this reminds us that the pandemic doesnt care if you are democrat or republican and we all need to be vigilant and do our part until we defeat the virus. I have been fighting for arizonans to get relief for Small Businesses, to workers at hospitals to fasttrack the vaccine and treatments and cures. I voted for additional relief a few weeks ago to help Small Businesses a few weeks ago. I opponent said he would not vote for that. What we dont need is another lockdown. Thats what would happen if joe biden and mark kelly are in charge. You have seen a lot of slick ads over the last few months. My opponent claims he is not a politician but that is counterfeit. He is bought and paid for by Chuck Schumer. Over the last decade, he led one of the most radical Political Organizations raising over 57 million in order to help elect some of the most extreme leftwing politicians in power. Decideection is going to the Senate Majority and the direction of the country. You have a choice. Are going to we have you respond. 90 seconds for your answer on how the administration has handled the pandemic. Thet didnt take long for senator to attack my patriotism. I thought after two years, we would see a different senator. The same one has shown up. I am a combat veteran. I served in the u. S. Navy for 25 years. I spent 15 years at nasa. I dealt with the chinese directly. Senator mcsally likes to make false accusations. We have a Public Health crisis which spurred an economic crisis. Both of these things have been made worse by a crisis of leadership. Over and over again, we have been a step behind. We shut down the economy and the administration and the senator did not come up with a plan on what to do next. To, innt to get back more detail, how you think the administration could have handled the pandemic debtor. The president and the white house that they have done a great job. 200,000 dead americans is evidence we do not that washington, this administration and the senator did not do a great job. We have 4 of the worlds population. We have 21 of the deaths from covid19. The administration knew in february that the virus was deadly and airborne. Senator mcsally said she was briefed on this at some point whether it was in january or february. She told people to go on spring break. Shortly after, when it was recommended that large gatherings like fundraisers be canceled, she did a large fundraiser. When infection rates were on the rise, she goes to a big political rally. That is not leadership. We need independent leadership focused on solving this problem. It is challenging, but if we listen to the Public Health officials and dont ignore the science, we can beat this. Senator, your response . At the end of january, the president made a Decisive Action in order to stop travel from china. That was highly criticized. Mistakes were made at all levels, but we are in this together and we should be moving forward. We have learned a lot. This virus came from china. They destroyed samples and blamed it on the u. S. Army. We need to hold them accountable. While i am standing up to china, my opponent starting in 2003 while in the u. S. Navy over to china on an all expense paid junket by the calmest party to help influence elites in america and he went back into thousand four 2005 and said it was the most meaningful thing in his life besides going to space. This is what china does. They tracked influence the elite. Senator, at what point were you briefed on the virus . What did you do with that information . The task force was created and we have had multiple briefings. Dr. Fauci and others, they were sharing information. We didnt know because china covered it up. Their advice at the time was the risk was low. At the same time nancy pelosi was telling people to celebrate the Chinese New Year and joe biden was having rallies. For the scientists, it was around mid march that they were realizing the impact when the stayathome orders started. The president took action in january and that was highly criticized. Do you agree with the president s december decision to ban travel from china . You guys did step one of the emergency procedure and nothing else and that is a colossal failure. When the president thanked china on behalf of the american people, senator mcsally did nothing. We have 4 of the worlds population and 21 of the deaths in covid19. It is because this administration did not handle this as a Public Health issue. They dismissed the science. I cant think of one occasion where senator mcsally has stood up when the president has made a mistake or the governor did something that wasnt exactly right. Thats not leadership. We need independent leadership focused on solving hard problems, not somebody who is going to stand there when the leader of her Political Party is making some mistakes. When the president called did you publicly say anything in response to that . What i was doing was fighting to get relief to arizonans. We passed the cares act. We saved 85,000 Small Businesses in arizona and one million jobs. My opponent criticized the ppp loan. While his company was secretly getting the loan and taking advantage of it. We passed the relief to stimulus checks. Families were struggling and investing in the treatments and testing and cures to get the relief out the door to have people hang on. We voted on additional target relief a few weeks ago. Support the schools, get kids back to school safely. More support to Small Businesses. My opponent says he would have blocked the relief. What was wrong with that built that you wouldnt support the targeted relief to help arizonans . Even the president commented commented it was too stingy. Now, we are in a situation where Mitch Mcconnell sent everybody home. Four vacations. We have 420,000 arizonans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Ony are now trying to get by 240 of unemployment per week. Senator mcsally went on vacation. Thats not leadership. We need independent leadership putting Arizona First not more of the same from washington. Lets move on to the Supreme Court. Mr. Kelly, you will have 90 seconds. President trump nominated judge Amy Coney Barrett. Do you support moving forward on her nomination or any others before the election . I do not. Passed itce ginsburg was a tough day for our country and for me personally. Especially for my wife. We are less than 30 days away from the election. This should be given some awful consideration. The next president regardless of , whoever is elected to the senate, this decision should wait until january. This was a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court and to rush it through, it is important to recognize why is it being rushed through right now . The reason is, there is a Supreme Court case in november that is about the Affordable Care act. Senator mcsally has worked incredibly hard over the last five years to eliminate or undermine protections for preexisting conditions through legislation that did not work. She paved the way for this lawsuit that is going to be heard on november 10. That lawsuit would take away those protections for 2. 8 million arizonans. One million would probably lose their insurance. The other 1. 8, it could start costing a lot more. That is not the leadership we need. Later, talk about this but senator mcsally takes a normas amount of corporate money into her campaign. I announced i will not take one dollar of corporate pack money. To take did you vote away funding for preexisting conditions . Of course i did not. I will always protect people with preexisting conditions. Democrats and republicans agree on that. About the Supreme Court, the constitution is the guide. This is not about Amy Coney Barrett who is an amazing role model, the top of her field, the first woman with schoolaged children on the Supreme Court. The constitution says the president gets to nominate and the senate gets to confirm. When the party has been the same, they have moved forward with that. What mr. Kelly wants is to get liberal activist judges on the bench. When they dont get their way, they want to take away your freedom from activist judges who legislate from the bench. We are one vote away from losing our individual right to bear arms. We are one vote away if you look thethis actually took away ability for those in nevada to go to church while they could still go to casinos during the lockdowns. Joe biden wont release his list of who he would nominate to the Supreme Court. I want to know if mark would call on joe biden to release the list . You dont get to pick the timing. Would you vote for judge Amy Coney Barrett . We are inside of 30 days from the election and trust arizonans to make a choice. Through this nomination under the circumstances doesnt make a lot of sense. We have 420,000 arizonans who are unemployed through no fault of their own and are trying to get by on 240 per week. Why isnt the senate dealing with that . Thats my question to senator mcsally. This is a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. It should take thoughtful consideration and i think voters deserve to have a say as to who is going to nominate the next Supreme Court justice to replace justice ginsburg. Another example of trying to say nothing to get elected. You know very well, the winner of this race could be seated as early as november. You dont get to decide the timing. Would you vote yes or no on judge burke . I would vote no. This should wait until january when we have a new president and a new senate. We are within 30 days of the election and senator mcsally wants to rush through lifetime appointment. Caseeason is, it is the about preexisting conditions and the Affordable Care act which through legislation even after voting four times to eliminate those conditions, that didnt work. Now, this is her them could lose their Health Insurance because of the. Elected, you could be sworn in as soon as the votes are certified. If you are in the senate, would you support a filibuster to delay the nomination . Sen. Kelly this whole thing indicates how broken washington is. The discussion of the filibuster. Old senate rule. It is important for everyone to understand that when it came to passing a 1. 9 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest americans and Big Corporations that senator mcsally voted for, the senate was ok to go to 50 votes. They abolished the filibuster to try to eliminate the Affordable Care act and the projections protections for preexisting conditions. Senator mcsally is ok with that, too. If this comes up as a discussion, i will give it thoughtful consideration and i will do what is in the best interest of arizona and the country. Mr. Kelly, you have been a candidate for more than a year. Be would you would you able to hit the ground running on day one . Sen. Kelly absolutely. We do not know if this will come up even for a discussion. If it does, i will give it thoughtful consideration and i will do what is in the best interest of arizona and our country and out the Republican Party or the democrat party. Very important to note that parties are not in power for very long traditionally. It goes from one party to the other. Whatever decision is made, youll have to live with it from being on the other. I understand that and i will give this thoughtful consideration. Not what is in the best interest for democrats but what is in the best interest of arizona. When they blocked the nomination in the last year of president obama . All 29 times, the president not rated. When the parties were nominated. This is about they want stall tactics in order to get their liberal, activist judges on the bench they want to pack the court. The fact that counterfeit kelly cannot even answer the question, will you vote for Chuck Schumer . Of course, he will vote for Chuck Schumer. He said, we will not waste this majority if we get it. He will not answer honestly to you, arizona. Chuck schumer is trying to buy this election and you will stop that from happening. Who do you need to hear from to form an opinion on the filibuster question . Sen. Kelly i will need to hear the opinion of arizonans. When i make that decision, i will let arizonans know. This is something that might not even come up for discussion. If it does, i will spend some time thinking about it. I will make a decision based on what is right for arizona. I do not know how many people could even follow what she was talking about. Washington is broken. This highlights how broken it is, that we are having these fights over old senate rules. What we need to be focused on, Peoples Health care. We have a lot of individuals and families that have lost their health care due to this pandemic. The economy these are the issues that arizonans care about. Lets move to the subject of china. Many National Security officials consider china to be our most important adversary. How would you go about the relationship with china . Has the president made light of it by mentioning the chinese flew . The chinese flu . Sen. Mcsally i have been involved in National Security my entire adult life. They have been helped by political leads by joe biden, who has outsourced jobs to china. They are stealing our technology. Becauses are awaken they unleashed this virus on the world. We wereelying relying on china for our ppe and pharmaceuticals. I am standing up to china to held hold them accountable. Mr. Kelly2003 went over on this Chinese Communist funded trip. To bring elites into their orbit. It was so meaningful to him, and 2006, he had a chance to go to space, the astronauts who were supporting me, one of them was an apollo 16 after not. You get to bring a few things into space with the. He brought an american flag, this other astronaut. What mark kelly decided to bring to space was the Chinese Communist banner from this junket that was paid for i china. Of all the things he could have brought to space. He later retired and then recruited tencent, to invest in a company he cofounded. China whileg up to my opponent this is the biggest threat we have. We need somebody was going to be strong on china. Respond to those accusations. Sen. Kelly she started making china and issue this election cycle when Mitch Mcconnell physically handed her a memo and said this is the issue in your election. Im a veteran. I served the United States navy for 25 years. I lived in japan. I spent time flying off an aircraft carrier. I have known china as an adversary my entire adult life, not because i got a memo from Mitch Mcconnell. Senator mcsally is focused on this now because shes desperate to win an election. I have an opportunity to start a business here in arizona. I will never apologize for creating good jobs. Senator make sally will use false attacks make sally will use false attacks in question my patriotism over and over again. From this very podium in 2018, senator mcsally yelled trees and. Treason. Let me talk about china. China has been an adversary of ours. I recognize this in the 1980s, anywhere on the planet where we leave a vacuum, china will step into it. We need to use economic tools that are disposal to do that. Senator mcsally said nothing when the president thanked china on behalf of the american people. I dont think she had her memo yet. This is a political issue. Senator mcsally is using false negative attacks, trying to attack my patriotism again. I think arizonans are tired of it. Sen. Mcsally i am not questioning your patriotism. I am questioning your judgment. The facts are there. Part of the propaganda arm. You said it was the most meaningful thing you have done in your life. And of all the things you could have selected, you chose the Chinese Communist banner to take to space with the. And then you have multiple business relationships and ventures with companies that are affiliated with the chinese government. If people want to what a fighter that will stand up to china, i am your girl. They are actually threatening me personally. Questioning your patriotism. It is your judgment. I am not weak on china. I dont know what she is talking about. I do not know where she gets her information. She probably found something on the internet. I recognize china as an adversary for my entire adult life. Senator mcsally talks about this when she is campaigning because she thinks this is the way for her to win an election. That is not what arizona needs. We need independent leadership focused on solving hard problems. I deal i could deal had to deal with china in space. I had a geopolitical major issue directly related to aggression by china testing a missile. Make sallyally likes to lob false political attacks and question her opponents patriotism. Care. s shift to health you support the creation of a government run Health Insurance option for the public. How much exactly with the system cost and what is your preferred way of paying for it . Mr. Kelly health care is incredibly personal for me. 2011,y wife was shot in she suffered a serious traumatic brain injury. I will never forget being in the icu room for the first time and seeing her and looking down and wondering what this means for us. What does this mean for her, what does this mean for our family . Fort lee, she had good Health Insurance, and that is not fortunately, she had good Health Insurance, and that is not the same for every american. These are the issues that arizonans care about. A public option to compete with private insurance on the healthcare exchanges when there are only one option makes a lot of sense. Individuals would pay for that insurance. People should allow should allow folks to buy into medicare at a certain age. You could remove them from the restful. Risk pool or do we have to address this issue of preexisting conditions. Mcsally takes a lot of corporate pack money from the Health Insurance money and from big pharmaceutical companies. Desire toot a lot of make changes in our Health Care System that will help arizonans when you are doing something not helping those corporations. How would we pay for the public option . Do we add to the National Debt . Mr. Kelly at some point, in this case, when you provide a public option to compete with private insurers, the person buying the insurance to the public option would be paying for that insurance. If we are starting to talk about the National Debt, senator mcsally voted for a 1. 9 trillion tax giveaway to Big Corporations to the wealthiest americans when there was no point in doing that. 80 of that went to the wealthiest americans and Big Corporations and put us in a position where we really have to make some hard choices when a lot of folks need covid relief. Sen. Mcsally i have been standing up to the powerful and protecting the vulnerable my entire life. Republicans and democrats can agree on a couple of things. We will nobody disagrees with that. Obamacare is failing. It is not working. I am fighting for more options for people. We took away the penalties. If you could not afford their unaffordable Health Insurance, the government was finding you. You. Ning this public option, which is Bernie Sanderslight, is the next path to a full government takeover of health care. You cannot have a public option compete with private Health Insurance. Everybody who gets Health Insurance from their employer will eventually lose it. Medicare will be collapsed. , that is the first step to government takeover health care. I do have a question for you on health care. You have been supportive of republican plans that nonpartisan analysts say would 23 americans without coverage. The senate plan would guarantee coverage of preexisting conditions but those nonpartisan analysts say it would allow women to be charged more than men. Why should arizonans want either of those plans should if the aca already covers them . Sen. Mcsally i agree that women should not be charged more than men. We should never be allowing Insurance Companies to deny People Insurance for preexisting issues or raise costs. What happened with obamacare, the costs keep going up. I met a family when i was knocking on doors in the west valley. Obamacare, he paid 300 a month for insurance. It has gone up four times since then. It is more than his mortgage. Arizonansr 150,000 under obamacare who paid a fine because they could not afford the Health Insurance. 80 of them were making less than 50,000 a year. I am passionate to provide more choices. The public option means the government is competing with private Health Insurance. They are never going to be able to compete. Private Health Insurance goes away and then you have a full government takeover. Peoplecheme that allows for more people to be put on medicare will have a collapse. Taxes will go up in the public option. Private practices will close in 178 million americans on Health Insurance will lose it. I am fighting for more options. Buying insurance across state lines. Lets provide the taxpayer resources to backstop those with the highest expenses and find more options that protect people. Not the Government Health care like counterfeit kelly is offering. Mr. Kelly this is not rocket science. Follow the money. Senator mcsally took a ton of money from Health Insurance companies. Voted to eliminate protections for preexisting conditions. She took a ton of money from pharmaceutical companies and voted to increase the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. She gave companies billions of dollars of tax giveaways. Senator mcsally is not working for us. She is working for somebody else. Working for the company that funds the corporate pack that funds are campaign. That is not putting Arizona First. Sen. Mcsally i have to be able to respond to that. This is another example of saying one thing between the beginning of 2018 and 2019, 1. 8 million in speaking fees into his bank account. Dont be fooled. He is saying one thing that may sound good. In reality, he is getting rent and has gotten rich off corporations. Is getting rich and has gotten rich off corporations. The attacks towards me, i will always protect people with preexisting conditions. You are attacking my integrity. I have been protecting the vulnerable my whole life, and i will keep doing. Preexistingsue of conditions, people in arizona are very concerned about this. Health care consistently is a top issue in this race. Why should arizonans trust you on this issue . Sen. Mcsally i am committed to protecting people with preexisting conditions and i have repeatedly and voted to protect people with preexisting conditions. There people in arizona who are being failed by obamacare. What about them . I am rolling up my sleeves to fight for them, the entrepreneur who i met in tucson, the Franchise Owner had to give up his businesses and work for big business because he was diagnosed with diabetes. We have to fix this and protect people with preexisting conditions. These are scare tactics. I will continue to fight to stop the government takeover of health care. What they want to be dangerous what they want will be dangerous. Do you agree that she always protects people with preexisting conditions . Mr. Kelly of course not. She has voted on four separate occasions to undermine or eliminate the protections. I was with this mom stacy recently, and she had a terrible heart condition she was born with and had to have multiple surgeries. She reached a lifetime cap when she was not even into her teens. They were always concerned that because of her preexisting condition, she would not be able to get health care coverage. And then the Affordable Care act came around and it change their lives. Toator mcsally is trying take away those protections. She paved the way for a lawsuit at the Supreme Court, the case will be heard on november 10. That is not independent leadership. We need independent leadership that will put Arizona First. That will not put a Health Care Company or Pharmaceutical Company first. Sen. Mcsally these votes he is talking about, it is because it was against obamacare. I hear too many stories about how obamacare is failing people. A lot of politicians are scared bashar afraid of these scare tactics from counterfeit kelly. The public option would end medicare as we know it, take away private Health Insurance and raise your taxes. It is dangerous and i will fight against it. These votes and the scare tactics are alike. I am passionate about fixing the Health Care System. Mr. Kelly those protections, by were saved by john mccain. He saved the Affordable Care act and he saved those protections that senator mcsally spent years trying to undo. We need to move on. You have consistently supported President Trump. You support the administrations policy. And you have voted not to convict on impeachment. Are you proud of your support for President Trump . I am proud i am fighting for arizonans on things like cutting your taxes, and on average, arizona middleclass families have had their taxes cut by 2000. We had such a Strong Economy before the pandemic hit. We fought to rebuild the military after the Obamabiden Administration decimated our military. Force. A follow hollow i voted to secure our border. Border security is National Security. That means something here in arizona. I got the most bills passed, most bills signed into law. That is my record. Fighting for arizona, putting legislation on the president s desk. D. C. , withhington, az on my jersey. Said he would support Bernie Sanders at the top of the ticket. This will decide the Senate Majority. Pelosi are in and charge, they will ram through the most radical agenda we have seen. The stakes could not be higher. If you want your tax cuts, im your girl. If you want the largest tax increase in history, you have somebody else over here. The question was, are you proud of your support for President Trump . Sen. Mcsally i am proud to be fighting for arizona every day. You are proud of support for President Trump . It sounds like she is proud of her support. Sen. Mcsally i am proud to be fighting for arizona. Trump,rding president your overall impression of his behavior and his actions in office . Your opponent has said she is proud of her support. Mr. Kelly not acceptable. What really concerns me are the things that matter to everyday arizonans like their health care. A 1. 9 trillion tax cut that he passed that went to the biggest corporations. The wealthiest americans. After the tax cut was passed, twice as Many Companies paid zero dollars of federal income tax. That is not leadership. I think that did not help middleclass taxpayers and workingclass families in arizona. I have major concerns. We have an election in 30 days and america has a choice to make as to who the next president is going to be, who will serve in the senate. These are serious issues. We have a Public Health crisis and a serious economic crisis. We have United States senate that has gone on vacation four times since the pandemic has started. I do not think senator mcsally has to once to her party and said why are we going home . Arizona has 420,000 individuals trying to get by on 240 a week. They are having to make horrible choices about paying their rent and buying groceries and filling their prescriptions. That is not choices arizonans should have to make. The federal government failed. We have 4 of the worlds deathsion, 21 of the from covid19, 210,000 individuals have lost their lives. Would you have voted to convict President Trump . Mr. Kelly i wanted to see testimony from the white house, witnesses. That would have been a good starting point. Aced on the information i had, yes. Would you have wanted to serve under someone like a donald trump when you were in the military . Sen. Mcsally i am proud to be working with the president to rebuild the military. Under obama and biden, they cut our military to the bone. We had a crisis we had not seen since jimmy carter. If you look at what biden, schumer, and pelosi will do, they will cut the military to pay for their schemes. I released my taxes today. I am transparent so people can see what kind of money i made, how i made it, and what i paid in taxes. On myalling my up opponent to also release his taxes so arizonans can see where he has made his money over the last five years. This is basic transparency. With the tax cuts, that i am very proud of, a family of four in arizona, they make 60,000 before they pay their first dollar in taxes. This was meaningful. The question remains, would you have wanted to serve under someone like a donald trump when you were in the military . Sen. Mcsally someone who is giving we have had 75 of army units so the answer is yes. Sen. Mcsally giving us what we need, so we can ensure we could fight against our enemies, we gave them the largest pay raise in 10 years, reinvesting in capabilities to take on china. This is so important that we continue to support the military and ive been working with President Trump to rebuild the. We will take a short rake and we will get right back break and we will get right back to the debate and we will do so in a few minutes. Were back for the debate. The question for both of you, we will talk about border communities. Continuestrictions do at ports of entry. Travel is down by about 40 . It has led to a drop in sales tax revenue. Have tot of plan do you give those communities extra support as we come out of the pandemic . We passed the cares act to get relief out to families. Passe border, i helped usmca. I have delivered on the ports of entry. I delivered, 150 million to upgrade that. Part of my bipartisanship, ive been working on issues on the borders so people can travel more than 75 miles and spend more money around arizona in border communities. There is a lot of a lot at stake here. Border security is National Security. I do support the president s border while. In Border Patrol agents are seeing a difference my opponent, when the Vice President of the Border Patrol council and reached his hand to shake his hand, he would not take a stand and said, you are one of them. He says he is for Border Security, but he turns his back and wont shake the hand of a Border Patrol agent. When he ran this Political Organization, 57 million raised endorsing candidates all over the country, he also endorsed david garcia for governor who said we should have no Border Security. That is what is at stake here. Garcia andd david not shaking a Border Patrol agents, that is an example of counterfeit kelly saying one thing on camera that is anotherf counterfeit kelly saying one thing behind 30second ads and doing another thing. Mr. Kelly, did you not shake the hand of a Law Enforcement officer . Mr. Kelly die did not happen. I will shake their hand, anytime. I am a sun of Police Officers. I do not know where senator mcsally gets this stuff from. Sen. Mcsally from the agent. Do you believe in more Border Security . Mr. Kelly first of all, the question was about sales tax, and i believe the ports of entries had been closed, and these communities are suffering economically. I think it is important to note that senator mcsally clearly said houses, cities, communities should not get extra help from the federal government to get us through this crisis, and i think that is wrong. That is why these communities are suffering. But the main reason why they are suffering is we have a failure of leadership to address the serious pandemic. We have 4 of the worlds the covid, 29 of debts. This administration did not take the steps necessary to get this under control. There was no plan. We shut down the economy and they did not have a planted what do we do now . They basically ignored it. No testing of contact tracing. We need strong Border Security. That is clear. I worked at nasa for, you know, nasa would not give you a 17thcentury solution to a 24 century problem. Important. Rity is there border wall, i very is a concern on how it is funded. You expressed support for the military clearly and how President Trump has handled it. How do you feel about the money used for the border wall . Sen. Mcsally sen. Mcsally Border Security is national scaredy, and we should not have to choose between. I am for both. I am for increasing funding for both of them. But we need to go back to did you hear when he just said, he is against 17th century that means he is against the border wall. People want the border wall to stop the illegal activity across their ranch. Mr. Kelly said he was just an independent, but he has led one of the most sophisticated radical Political Organizations, and why he is saying something in phoenix, he is literally flying all over the country to bankroll and endorse extreme liberal candor and thats who are so candidates who are so leftwing, like ill had omar come over shed ilhan hmar, rashida talib. Decriminalizing border crossings, this is what is at stake during the election. At the Senate Majority flips, they will ram through this agenda, which is so extreme, but mr. Kelly is for funding and then bankrolling and endorsing these extreme candidates who are having these ideas over the last decade. Make no mistake he is a political operative. It was a very sophisticated operation that impacted Border Security. Senator, time is up. Would you like to respond, please . Mr. Kelly Border Security is critical to our state, and what we need is technology, and in some places a barrier makes sense. More Border Patrol agents on the border. That is, you know, a smart way to do this. I think we need more judges to handle asylumseekers. We have got to address this issue of daca recipients, give them some uncertainty in their lives. Supportmcsally used to dreamers, then she said it was unconstitutional. There was a bipartisan agreement on the pathway to a normal dreamers, senator mcsally used to support, and then when it was not literally coming anymore politically convenient anymore, you know, shes switch sides. There are many people on both sides to say, yes, Border Security is important. The old joke was to build a 10 foot wall, others will find an 11foot ladder. Sen. Mcsally when you talk to the ranchers, it really makes a difference whether there is chicken fall or they have 30foot, a paved road, sonar sensors. It allowed Border Patrol to keep using intelligence operations to detect and intercept the activities. Manned and unmanned, you know, towers and airborne assets and other things, so it is all of the above. The border wall system is making a difference, and mr. Kelly still has not answered the question, you say you are for Border Security, but you support tlaib. Ians like omar and you support Bernie Sanders you garcia. Rt david what is up with that . Please. Mr. Kelly Border Security is them credibly important for our alreadynd ive addressed it. I would not provide a 17th century solution to this. If you asked sally to do this, it would be some of the things that senator mcsally has mentioned. To build a wall, 22 billion dollars a mile, those resources could be used for the technology, could be used for more patrol agents on the border. These are smart ways to address this. You asked about funding for military bases. Senator mcsally voted to take away money from fort watching the to pay for the border wall. In arizona senator should not be taking money away from arizona bases. , President Trump wants to have more of a meritbased system rather than the current system. Is that a good idea . Mr. Kelly i am a supporter of, bs,know, h2 b visas, h1a agricultural workers, folks who are educated we need an immigration system that will be consistent with our values and will support our economy. President trump has a proposal for something that does those things, recognizing we are a country of immigrants i come from a family of immigrants. I believe most of us do. Thisere are proposals from president , if i am elected to United States senate, President Trump is reelected, i will work with him on anything that is in the best interest of arizona. Senator mcsally, do you favor Immigration Reform that includes a way for young dreamers brought to this country as children to become legal, permanent citizens . Sen. Mcsally my heart goes out to these young people who were brought here as children, no fault of their own. They know no other country but america, and i have been leading on solution to provide a legal path for daca recipients, but we cannot just address that issue. We have got to address the root issues as well, why we are in the situation in the first place. That is why it is important for us to complete our border, provide Border Patrol agents. I have their back. You wont shake their hand, but i have the back, provide them everything they need to keep us safe, and as we move forward, we have got to close these loopholes, because we can see these cartels that can traffic families, traffic children on his dangerous journey. Theseave got to close loopholes to ensure families can stay together, and people come through that front door. I have been leaning on this issue in the house, i have been leaning on in the senate, but it includes, you have got to have that Border Security, closes loopholes, so we do not find ourselves in the same situation with another doglike group of young people and another 5, 10, 15 years. A ber. Kelly, should dac contingent on other aspect of Border Security . Mr. Kelly so Border Security is incredibly important here we know we need it. 28,000 mostly young people in the state of arizona as i look at as americans, my own two kids, and i think they should have a pathway to citizenship right now. That is something senator mcsally used to support, and now she says it is unconstitutional. You . Standalone for mr. Kelly standalone. Standalone for you . I have been leading on this issue, but we have got to address these root causes as to why we are in the situation in the first place, because all we will do, like weve seen in the past, is incentivize more illegal activity, and again, my part, mr. Counterfeit kelly, he has not explained why he supported david garcia to be the governor of arizona, whitey said he would support Bernie Sanders, whitey bankrolled rashida to why he bankrolled others tlaib and many who are on the radical left for democrats. Keep in mind, the money raised in some of the most extreme left wing people in the country, in order to endorse and bankrolled these individuals who are now in office, these ideas that are dangerous for arizona. Just to be clear, for people who are at home and do not know what you are talking about, can you please be specific about the group and the endorsement . Sen. Mcsally he knows, again, it is a very radical, Political Organization that has raised 57 million. Again, he has been able little operative for a decade. Thestate legislature, governors, those running for house, for senate, the most extreme leftwing candidates in our country running for office, bankrolling them, endorsing them. Look at the photo. He has his arm around omar in minneapolis. What is he doing in minneapolis hugging omar . Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly the organization senator mcsally is referring to is named after my wife, gabby giffords, who was injured by gun violence. The issue of gun violence is personal for gabby and me to i will never forget what she went through in the hospital and that six months, your significant rehab. Today, she still does physical therapy, speech therapy, and incredible challenge. We formed organization to help communities become safer, safer from gun violence. I am a supporter of the Second Amendment. I am a gun owner could our rights and traditions are so important the Second Amendment is so important. But we can never let a bunch of kids in the classroom, you know, get killed, and think there is nothing to do about it. Things like background checks for all gun sales, red flag laws. These are things that most arizonans support. Apparently senator mcsally says not. Senator mcsally, the president has reportedly the atlanta journal, cnn, fox news offering to betty refer to members of that he referred to members of the military as losers and suckers. Your thoughts on this . Sen. Mcsally i am not going to comment on anonymous sources, but we are working to rebuild our military after obama and biden decimated our military, they were not ready to go. They were decimated. In a readiness crisis, we had more people dying and training accident and they were in combat in the years of obama and biden, so i am working with President Trump to rebuild our military, something i did when president obama tried to cut and when President Trump tried to cut it. This is critical. I am always going to have the militarys back. But what is at stake here should remove the white house, the seneca manor house, which comes and chuckizona, schumer is so proud to have recruited mark kelly. He bankrolled his campaign. He is trying to ensure he has power, and if he has power, the is going to agenda cut our military to pay for the green bad deal, the government takeover of health care, and everything leaning toward socialism. I will stand with our men and women in the military and fight to get them everything they need. That is what is at stake here. Senator, the question remains have you looked into the reports . It concerned a lot of people and a lot of military families. Does it concern you . Sen. Wicker i get up everything a morning fighting for arizona. That is what i spend my time doing to listen to arizonans, hear what they need, and then i go to washington, d. C. And fight for them. You pundits can look into those anonymous allegations. I am fighting for our military, for our veterans, but they will cut again if they gain power. Mr. Kelly, does it concern you . Mr. Kelly absolutely. He is the commanderinchief of our armed services, and to say that about the deceased on the battlefield, calling them but alsoand suckers, what concerns me is when he said about senator john mccain repeatedly on more than one occasion, especially when he passed away. Those comments are uncalled for. Senator mccain was a hero of mine for my earliest days in the United States navy as a navy pilot. He is a guy we looked up to. He is a guy that in the unfortunate situation that you down,ot shut down shot he was the model. I later got to call him a friend and got to know him, which is one of the greatest honors of my lifetime, i would say, and to hear senator mcsally not stand up for senator john mccain when the president of the United States is attacking him repeatedly, even after he passed away, as a veteran, i find notily hard to stand, that on one occasion would senator mcsally come to senator mccains defense. Did you not stand up for senator mccain . Sen. Mcsally i absolutely have, publicly and privately asked mr. Trumper to stop talking about john mccain. Quite frankly, it pisses me off. In thewas a cadet military, what he endured as a to servenow to be able in his seat, and i repeatedly said stop doing that. Let him rest in peace. But the one thing about senator mccain we know here in arizona, whether you agree with him or disagree with him, you always knew where he stood. That is another example, mark, where you are trying to invoke him, but you can even take simple positions on whether youre going to support your recruiter and investor Chuck Schumer, whether you will do a filibuster, whether you support packing the Supreme Court. Whether you say one thing, a bunch of platitudes, but you cannot even tell arizonans where you stand. Thank you, senator. Lets move onto Climate Change, and a reminder, you will each have 90 seconds to respond. This year, arizona experience its driest summer on record. A recent poll shows 70 of representatives one Climate Change to be a national priority. How do we transition to Renewable Solutions . Senator mcsally, we will start with you. Sen. Mcsally the climate is changing, and there is a Human Element to it. The question is what do we do . What we should not do as the green bad deal, and this has been proposed, the author of the green deal is someone my opponent indoors, and he said lets ban fossil fuels and have a carbon tax what the green bad deal would do is cost 93 trillion. That is 63,000 for every household in america every deal. This heavyhanded approach would be devastating to our economy. They have blackouts right now because it is not based on the science. I have been leading on efforts to ensure we have in all of the above energy strategy. Thank god, i deployed to the middle east five times and once to afghanistan, so we are now an exporter of energy. We need additional clean energy for sure, but that includes nuclear, the Palo Verde Nuclear plant. I have been eating efforts to have new research and energy storage, because right now, the sun goes down at night, and we do not have storage. We are relying on china for those minerals and processing to many to bring those jobs homecare you said you would ban fossil fuels, you are for carbon tax. How is that any different than the green bad deal, and you are supporting the author of the Green New Deal, which would be devastating to arizona households. Those are rural communities, that cannot afford as it is. Mr. Kelly i do not know where senator mcsally gets her information from, but since the Green New Deal was authored, i have been against it. Theres a lot of stuff in there that has nothing to do with climate. I make that very clear. I dont know why she says i am against fossil fuels. I am a pilot of an airplane. So i senator mcsally. I am not going to do it without fossil fuels. The whole thing is kind of silly. I will never forget when i got to see our planet for the first time from lower earth orbit, seeing the planet and realizing we are all in this together, and it becomes very clear very quickly that there is no planet b. We are now moving somewhere else some daycare we have to do a better job taking care of this planet. About 420 today. Talk about flattening a curve, that is a curve we need to flatten. The way we are going to do that is moved to more renewable energy. Senator mcsally takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from Corporate Tax and gives them a 20 billion tax cut, essentially. That is why we have a difficult time solving this problem. This would be good for arizona. We extend the tax credit by five years, 35 , solar energy, we weld create that jobs here, cannot wait around and do nothing. We need leaders of an washington, d. C. That is going to put Arizona First, not a Big Corporation on other sides of the country first. Do you support mandates, zero emissions on vehicles by certain dates . Mr. Kelly mr. Kelly i think when this administration rolls back emissions standards and also clean air regulations and clean water regulations, that now we will have more polluted air and water senator mcsally supported all of that that would be a mistake. Senator . Sen. Mcsally i am an outdoors woman, and i want clean air and water, but i do not want to hurt ruralans who live in arizona. We saw this under obama, but now theyre going too far. In a tv interview last year, he said those very words, i think we should ban fossil fuels and have a carbon tax. This is an aggressive tax that would hurt the working poor and her Rural Community is the most. Investing inon Energy Research so we can have energy storage, we can find cleaner ways for our energy to move forward, but do it based on the science and innovation. We are going to innovate our way out of this, and america would lead the way. In the meantime, our emissions are going down here to our co2 emissions are going down. Anda is a big polluter, their emissions are going up. Lets innovate our weight up and not ban, like counterfeit kelly want to do. Mr. Kelly i do not know where senator mcsally gets her information from, but there is no circumstance where i will argue to ban fossil fuels, so at this point, she is making stuff up. In the wake of the killing of george floyd in may, we sell rallies, protests. President trump in some cases referred to them as violent. The discussion of who was on the right, who is on the left, causing these problems. The fact is, if you are in the senate, that could be a federal response ability in terms of funding for our cities, funding for police forces. Where do you stand on this, helping our cities deal with this, whether racial injustice, social injustice, or helping police in our communities . Mr. Kelly the problems in our country should not be that your race determines what kind of education you will get, health care you will get, success in life you will have, or how interaction with police is going to turn out, and we need some reform an policing. My parents were cops. I understand it is a difficult job. Police need the resources to do a very hard job. I am 100 behind that. It is a difficult job. We have seen across the country, there is no place for that. Ive thought to defend our constitution, our first amendment, the right for people to peacefully protest, but what we have seen over the last months is beyond that, and it needs to end. And cities and communities need the resources to deal with this in effective ways, and then we have got to theres some commonsense sense things we can do to keep mostly africanamerican men safer in these encounters when they are encountering police. More accountability, independent investigations and oversight, body cameras. Consent decrees, which is the department of justice, overseeing Police Departments when they need to make some changes. This issue of qualified immunity. These are common sense things that can be done to reform policing. I think it is necessary, but the violence we see in our communities, the federal government should be helping with some resources, where it makes sense, and were governors need that. Senator, what reforms would you like to see in that . Sen. Mcsally whether it is in any institution or anyones heart, there is only one candidate up here who was actually apologize for a racist slur, and it is not me. If you watch the murder of george floyd command was despicable, not just the officer who killed him, but those who sat by and allowed it happened. Forward for Common Sense Police reform. Tim scotts bill is about 70 of what the democrats were asking for. It was good reform to give more funding to police. I back the blue. I have gotten the endorsement of the Arizona Police association. What is happening right now in our cities of violence is despicable, and you see many on the left to our just standing by and doing nothing. I asked my opponent whether he wants to take back the endorsement that he gave to ilhan omar, who, in minneapolis, leading the effort to defund the police. He is standing there she is standing there with his arm around him. This is dangerous. 12,000 officers in the Arizona Police association, they know that i have got their back and that is why they are backing me. I think i just heard that he wants to support criminals being able to sue Police Officers for doing their jobs. I know what it is like to make lifeanddeath decisions in combat. They need to know that we have their back to not allow criminals to support them. Did you say you supported that, the nancy pelosi bill, who you also endorsed and supported . Mr. Kelly the tim scott bill that you referenced, the Leadership Conference on human and civil rights, that is inadequate, and other organizations. It did not include qualified immunity. It did not include consent decree. It did not include body cameras or use of force laws. I think that one Police Officers are found that there was serious wrongdoing, there should be an accountability aspect to that. As a sign of two Police Officers, you know, my mom and my dad, you know, i realize this is a tough job, but there should be accountability, there should be independent investigation, and there should be oversight. Senator mcsally, our cities safe . Someone say President Trump has fomented some of the racial problems by making it seem like it is a divide between white and black. Sen. Mcsally the violence and anarchy that is happening up and cities across the countrys devastating to local communities. The violence is going up. Listen to a senator kelly just said. He said he would support allowing criminals to sue Police Officers simply for doing their jobs. That is why they are backing me, those Police Officers. They know the attacks going up on the right now, vilifying them, they are led by people like ilhan omar, his wing man. That is what is happening right now. We need more funding for police. We need to back the blue. The local mayors, they need to provide public safety. What these guys want is, you know, they are given power, which we need to stop from happening, is to vilify the police, defund the police, and then come after your Second Amendment right, so you cannot defend yourself and your families. I back the blue, and we need to make sure they have everything they need to keep a safe. Do you support criminals filing suit against Police Officers just for doing their jobs . Mr. Kelly not criminals filing suits against Police Officers, but where there is wrongdoing, and clearly there was an investigation, and part of being accountable and part of being respectful in the community, i think, you know, there should be some level accountability for cops when there is clear wrongdoing. Sen. Mcsally that is a big deal. These men and women in blue, they could lose their retirement, they could lose their homes, their college funds, simply for doing their jobs. Getting sued by criminals, getting rid of this qualified immunity, that is what it means, you guys. I back the blue. All right, lets move on. Senator mcsally, after Mass Shootings last year, you said you would be open to red flag laws to keep weapons away from dangerous people. Is that the case, and what specifically would that look like . Sen. Mcsally what i said was we need to do everything we can in order to stop these tragedies from happening, and i have been leading on this in the house and the senate. We have got a background check system that often is not working as it is. We have had shootings happen where somebody should have been an assistant, but instead, they passed a background check. So i passed and asked to make sure we strengthen that background check system. We need more Mental Health support. I have let on the effort to get more Mental Health funding out there and more support to schools, for them to have the security they need, so parents can drop their kids off at school and ensure that they are safe. But right now, more than ever, i am your Second Amendment senator. I think i have the biggest gun of anybody in congress, a 30 millimeter and an a10. Counterfeit kelly can say ive got some guns, but make no agenda of peopletity he have supported, who include beto orourke and others can are coming after our Second Amendment right now. Lawabiding citizens deserve to keep their ability to defend their family and defend their own lives command that is what is at stake right now. We are one judge away from losing our second memo rights commander legislate of agenda will be coming after them as well. So we can do things like i have light on in order to protect communities, but we must protect the Second Amendment. So, again, you said you were open to considering red flag gun laws. Sen. Mcsally you are mistaking a conversation we were having with the white house. We need to make sure that if somebody has been adjudicated to be mentally ill, by a judge, that they are in the system. That is what the law is right now. Many states do not put that information in the system, so people end up passing a background check anyway. We have got to have due process for people. We have got to ensure that their Constitutional Rights are never taken away, unless they have gone through that due process, and the laws are on the books, if you are a felon, a domestic abuser, mentally ill, i support the second minute. We need to do every thing we can , obviously, to keep communities then they want to take away your Second Amendment rights. Im against that. I did not misspeak. We have had several conversations. I want to be clear on that, we have written quite a bit about that. Mr. Kelly, America First heard of you as the voice of gun control in this nation. Here you are running for the u. S. Senate, and you havent raised the issue of gun safety or gun control much. Why not . Isnt incredibly important to me and arizonans. It is incredibly important. Gun that she got to shoot, it is a great weapon system. I am a supporter of the Second Amendment, i have been my whole life. I remember when my dad gave me my first firearm. I was going through Flight School and he bought me a 9mm glock. I flew in combat with that in the first gulf war and it is one of my most prized possessions. I have many firearms. I dont think that we should ever get to the point where we think a bunch of kids getting killed in a classroom is normal. We canun laws expect our rights and traditions under the Second Amendment and we can have stronger communities that includes things like you mentioned. Red flag laws. The senator has said in the past, back ground checks are unconstitutional. Most guns are sold with a background check, but there are giant loopholes you could drive a truck through. Here in arizona, a majority supports background checks for gun sales and red flag laws. These are commonsense things that will keep communities safe and we can respect our Second Amendment rights. Why havent you talked more about your viewpoints on this on the campaign trail . I generally talk about what folks ask about and that health care, prescription drugs, the price of prescription medication. I met a mother who was having to make horrible decisions about whether she fills her sons prescription, her prescription, or purchases groceries for the week. These are horrible choices. These are the issues that folks care about. Not getting covid19 relief. We have so many members of our community who are struggling. Food banks are maxed out. Folks are having to make horrible choices and then the United States senate went home. That is not leadership for arizona. Are you against back ground checks for all gun sales . I am for the Second Amendment. Here is an example where my opponent says i have a gun. The recent he isnt talking about it is because arizonans care about their Second Amendment Constitutional Rights. Should he get elected, this will switch the Senate Majority and they will be able to ram through the antiSecond Amendment agenda. He has been leading the charge over the last 10 years supporting the most extreme left wing parts of his party. We are now leading the effort to take away second member rights. Parks you only have 30 seconds. Are you against background checks . I have been strengthening the background check system that we have. Often time, people are not in the system. I have been strengthening the system will that we have while ensuring Second Amendment rights are protected. Thats it. Thank you so much. It is now time for closing statements. Thank you for spending the time to listen to us tonight. This is a critical moment in our state. Made thisolitics has crisis worse. Partisan politics and partisan politicians are not going to get is out of it. We need independent leadership focused on the problems we safe the viruske beating and lowering the cost of health care and prescription drugs. To thering my experience United States senate to help solve some of the serious problems. I cant do that without your vote. Whether you are an independent, republican, or democrat, i ask for your vote. These are serious challenges that we face by working together as a team, we can solve the serious problems. Thank you. Mcsally. Senator this is such a consequential decision. It will decide the Senate Majority. It will decide the direction of our country. You have a choice. Someone who has been a fighter for you and arizona or a counterfeit who will enable the radical left and their agenda to be forced on it. There is a lot at stake. I am humbly asking for your vote. This has been a great discussion. Tozonans prefer this advertising. Why dont we do it three more times . We could go to green valley or yuma or prescott. Im sure they media would support holding these debates. We agree right now, but lets do three more these because arizonans deserve have this conversation. I look forward to next week. That will be an interesting conversation. My point. Proves the 2020 debate for u. S. Senate. If you would like to hear more about the debate including analysis, please join us immediately after on one of our live streams. We hope you join us for future debates including Congressional District one on his tonight and the Sheriffs Office on friday