Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) urged Kansans who voted for President Donald Trump to turn out in the Senate election, arguing that border security, lower taxes, and military funding were at stake in his race against Democrat Adam Hamilton.
The post Roger Marshall Reminds Kansas Voters Border Security, Tax Cuts Are at Stake in Senate Race appeared first on Breitbart.
The main investigative unit of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been vigorously promoting on social media an effort it considers crucial in the final weeks before the midterms: pursuing alleged large-scale election fraud by noncitizens — a claim that has obsessed President Donald Trump despite a lack of evidence.
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Charisma or cash: to win an election, candidates need at least one of those two factors. With two weeks to go until the U.S. midterm elections, Republicans are throwing everything they have into the closest states to try to climb back in polls that are unfavorable to them. They have the invaluable help of the vast sums Donald Trump raises through his Super PAC, the political action committee that pools donations coming from the ultraconservative MAGA movement.
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Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton sparred over President Donald Trump, immigration, Iran, transgender athletes, artificial intelligence and personal controversies during a contentious Kansas Senate debate Wednesday night.
The hourlong showdown came less than two weeks before Election Day as Marshall seeks a second term and Hamilton, a longtime pastor, tries to become the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Kansas since 1932.
The race has drawn increased national attention as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of the Senate, with Trump traveling to Kansas earlier this week to campaign for Marshall â a topic touched on during the debate.
Here are five moments that stood out from Wednesday night's debate.
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The debate wasted little time getting contentious, opening with questions about controversies that have fueled attacks against both candidates.
Marshall was confronted with a New York Times review that found his former medical practice sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills.
"Every year we gave away $3 to $4 million of charity, but we also had a business," Marshall responded. "We had 300 employees, we had a mortgage payment, we had electric."
Hamilton, meanwhile, was questioned about his handling of allegations involving a volunteer at his church's summer camp who was accused of sexual abuse.
Hamilton acknowledged that he should have ensured the individual did not return to the camp following an initial investigation.
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"I should have checked to make sure that he wasn't going back," Hamilton said. "That was a mistake on my part."
Trump became part of the debate after moderators played footage from the president's campaign appearance for Marshall in Kansas earlier in the week.
"And at this election, I'm asking you to pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot. Just pretend," Trump told the crowd.
Marshall was then asked whether Trump's support meant Kansans should expect him to back every part of the president's agenda.
"No," Marshall responded, saying there had been "multiple times" when he objected to Trump.
Pressed to identify a specific disagreement, Marshall pointed to recent immigration enforcement in southwest Kansas and Trump's approach to beef imports.
"Just like with my wife, I can disagree with her. My wife is always right," Marshall joked. "And President Trump is not always right."
Marshall nevertheless urged Trump voters to turn out for him, arguing that electing Hamilton could help Democrats capture the Senate.
The two rivals found themselves in agreement when the moderator asked each candidate how many genders there are.
"There's two. There's a boy and there's a girl," Marshall said. "I delivered 5,000 of them and almost half were boys and half were girls."
"There are two genders, male and female," Hamilton responded.
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The candidates then turned to the debate over transgender participation in women's sports.
Hamilton said decisions over athletic eligibility should generally be made locally but was unequivocal about whether biological males should compete against females.
"I have a 12-year-old granddaughter. I don't want biological men or boys competing against her that could harm her," Hamilton said. "It's not a fair, fair fight."
Marshall argued that by high school, "boys need to be in boys sports, girls in girls sports," while accusing national Democrats of pushing "transgender ideology."
Hamilton later accused Marshall of using the issue to "pick on" and "bully" people.
Hamilton called for greater federal oversight of artificial intelligence and compared the emerging technology to the development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
"We developed a Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We need to do the same thing with AI," Hamilton said.
But when the moderator pressed him to identify specific federal regulations he would support, Hamilton acknowledged he did not yet have an answer.
"You know what? I'm not sure, to be honest," Hamilton said, arguing that even experts are struggling to understand the technology's potential dangers.
Marshall advocated a "light touch" approach focused on national security, transparency, protecting children and privacy, while slamming a one-size-fits-all global order for artificial intelligence advancement.
Hamilton pushed back sharply.
"This is an existential â potential existential threat to the human race," Hamilton said. "We can't just go with a light touch and hope everybody does their best."
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Hamilton sought to put distance between himself and former President Joe Biden when moderators challenged the Democrat over his claim that he would "lead from the middle."
The moderator pointed to Hamilton's past donations to Democrats, including Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., before asking him to identify a progressive policy he opposed.
"The Biden policies when it came to the border were a disaster," Hamilton responded. "I believe in strong and secure borders."
"I'm not somebody who favors the Socialist Party," Hamilton added. "I'm somebody who stands in the middle."
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Hamilton also reiterated during the debate that he would not support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for majority leader if Democrats capture control of the chamber.
WICHITA, Kan. - Voters at President Donald Trump's Kansas rally said the cost of living remains a major concern, but many feared Democratic control of Congress even more.
This midterm election cycle features six Republican-controlled Senate seats that are considered toss-ups, including Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall's contest against Democrat Adam Hamilton. That race has become an unexpected challenge for Republicans in their quest to keep control of the Senate.
And voters who lined up to get a chance to see Trump in Wichita told Fox News Digital that they recognized the stakes, particularly the effect Democrats flipping both chambers of Congress could have on the president's agenda.
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"Trump doesn't get the support that he needs to protect America, and that our country will turn into Paris, France," Kathy Bond told Fox News Digital of the riots roiling through the French capital. "That's my biggest concern."
The race between Marshall and Hamilton, who led the Church of the Resurrection which now boasts a congregation of nearly 23,000, according to the church's website, before jumping into politics. The Cook Political Report recently shifted the race to a toss-up, sending Republicans scrambling to dump more money into the state.
Trump's rally in Kansas, the first time a sitting president has visited the Wichita area since former President George W. Bush in 2007, is part of his and Republicans' broader strategy to motivate Republican voters during a midterm election cycle in which he is not on the ballot.
National Republicans argue that without the loyal MAGA voting bloc, they wonât stand a chance as they face turbulent political headwinds.
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Though voters are unhappy with the economy, the ones waiting in the long, snaking lines to get their seat inside the Heartland Credit Union Arena argued that Democratic control would be worse.
"We've got to vote Republican down the ballot this year. It's a significant point in the Trump administration," Emily told Fox News Digital. "And it's just we've got to keep the Republican majority. There's too much at stake."
Marshall, who is running for a second term in the upper chamber, recognized that the race was neck and neck and told Fox News Digital in an interview before the rally that "it's the price of gas" that has tightened the race.
"I do feel people's pain," Marshall said. "Every year I go to all 105 counties, finish up the 105 counties in June, and as that price of gas went up, I felt more and more frustration. So maybe we're up 12 points before the Iran War, and as the price went up our poll numbers went down, so I think it's the price of gas."
"But I think people are beginning to realize the rest of the story, that if we were to lose this seat and let Democrats control the Senate, they would go back to their policies that drove gas prices up higher," he continued. "Even today, the price of gas is less on average under President Trump than it was under Joe Biden."
Some at the rally felt that Marshall should have to answer for his votes in the Senate but believed that his experience as a lawmaker overrode the uncertainty that the political newcomer Hamilton could bring should he win on Nov. 3.
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"I mean, you know, Marshall's been in it for a while now, so he's gonna have a lot of people that he has to answer a lot of questions to because he's the one been doing the job this whole time," Jenny told Fox News Digital.
"But for me, somebody like Hamilton that hasn't been in, you know, this game and doesn't really know exactly what all this entails," she continued. "I'm sure his intentions are good, but I just don't think that he has the background to do what's necessary for our state."
FOX4 debate moderator John Holt pressed Kansas Democrat Adam Hamilton on Wednesday over why his church did not report allegations of inappropriate touching to police in 2005 and allowed the same volunteer to return as a camp leader the following year.
The post Moderator Confronts Kansas Democrat Hamilton over Failure to Report Church Camp Pedophile to Police appeared first on Breitbart.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton repeatedly sought to distance themselves from the most unpopular elements of their respective parties Wednesday night during a contentious Kansas Senate debate.
Both candidates battled over President Donald Trump, immigration, the war in Iran and more in a race that could help determine control of the Senate.
The debate opened on a personal note, with both candidates pressed over controversies that have fueled attack ads in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Marshall was questioned about a New York Times review that found his former medical practice sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills. The Republican defended the practice while emphasizing the millions of dollars in free care his practice provided.
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"Every year we gave away $3 to $4 million of charity, but we also had a business," Marshall said. "We had 300 employees, we had a mortgage payment, we had electric."
Hamilton, meanwhile, was questioned about his handling of allegations involving a volunteer at his church's summer camp alleged to have been a sexual predator. Hamilton acknowledged that he should have ensured the individual did not return to the camp after an initial investigation.
"I should have checked to make sure that he wasn't going back," Hamilton said. "That was a mistake on my part."
The candidates spent much of the rest of the debate trying to define each other by their respective national parties.
Marshall repeatedly warned that electing Hamilton would help hand control of the Senate to Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while Hamilton sought to portray himself as an independent-minded Democrat willing to break with his party.
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That divide came into focus when the moderator played footage of Trump campaigning for Marshall in Kansas earlier this week and telling voters to "pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot."
Asked whether that meant he would support every part of Trump's agenda, Marshall said no and pointed to recent disagreements involving immigration enforcement in southwest Kansas and beef imports.
"Just like with my wife, I can disagree with her. My wife is always right," Marshall joked. "And President Trump is not always right."
Nevertheless, Marshall emphasized his support for much of Trump's agenda and urged the president's supporters to turn out for him.
"We need the Trump voters to come out," Marshall said. "If you want the Trump agenda to continue, if you want secure borders, if you want a strong military, if you want lower taxes, then you â and you voted for President Trump â you need to come out."
Hamilton faced a similar challenge when moderators pressed him over his past support for Democrats and his campaign message of "leading from the middle."
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The Democratic nominee explicitly broke with former President Joe Biden over immigration.
"The Biden policies when it came to the border were a disaster," Hamilton said. "I believe in strong and secure borders."
Hamilton also said he would not support Schumer for majority leader if Democrats win control of the Senate.
The debate did produce an unusual moment of agreement when both candidates were asked how many genders there are.
"There's two. There's a boy and there's a girl," Marshall said.
"There are two genders, male and female," Hamilton responded.
Hamilton later said he did not want biological males competing against his 12-year-old granddaughter in sports, calling it "not a fair fight," while arguing that decisions over athletic participation should generally be handled locally rather than by the federal government.
The Kansas contest has emerged as an unexpectedly competitive Senate race in the closing weeks of the midterms. Marshall is seeking a second term in a state that has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1932, while Hamilton, a longtime pastor, has campaigned as a moderate Democrat.
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Trump traveled to Kansas Monday to campaign for Marshall as Republicans work to defend the seat with control of the Senate at stake.
© Pool photo by Charlie Riedel
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