Sen. Warren clashes with Diehl in second debate
Heated debate over gun control, Trump policies and personal ambition
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren repeatedly lambasted her Republican challenger, state Rep. Geoff Diehl, for his support of President Trump, while he attacked her presidential ambitions during the second scheduled debate on Sunday night.
With little more than two weeks before the midterm elections, the two candidates met at the WGBY-TV studios in Springfield to answer questions on a range of topics, including the legalization of marijuana, gun safety and climate change. But the hour-long debate, sponsored by the Western Massachusetts Media Consortium, was dominated by the candidates’ primary lines of attack. Warren focused on criticizing Diehl for his role as co-chair of President Trump’s Massachusetts election campaign, while Diehl questioned Warren’s commitment to the Senate seat, given speculation circling that she intends to launch her own run for the White House in 2020.
“My opponent here sees the world very differently,” said Warren in her opening statement. “He did not just vote for Donald Trump, he became Donald Trump’s campaign chair and that means that he has defended Donald Trump’s ugly rants and that he has embraced his dangerous policies.”
Diehl, who currently represents the 7th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, did not directly acknowledge his opponent’s criticism in his opening remarks. Instead he highlighted his proposal to repeal the gas tax, a move that he said would save Massachusetts drivers $2 billion.
Echoing the president’s oft-repeated desire to “drain the swamp,” Diehl went on to accuse Warren of being part of the “poisonous politics that has infected Washington, D.C.” Amid rumors that Warren may run for the White House herself in 2020, Diehl made a subtle dig at her political aspirations, emphasizing that he plans to be a “full-time senator for the next six years.”
Fifteen minutes into the debate, moderated by WGBY’s Carrie Saldo, attempts at subtlety were abandoned and Diehl openly accused Warren of dereliction of duty. “It is obvious that Senator Warren does not want this position as senator. She wants to be president, we all know that,” said Diehl. “We will not have someone working for Massachusetts every day because you will be continuing this two-year campaign to become the nominee for the White House.”
Diehl continued to criticize Warren for being absent, noticeably, he said, when the gas explosions happened in Lawrence and Andover last month. The senator deflected his comments by questioning his commitment to Massachusetts residents.
“Who does Mr. Diehl want to go to Washington to work for? He says he wants to work for the people of Massachusetts, but he repeatedly defends Donald Trump,” said Warren. “He cheerleads for Donald Trump.”
Diehl tried to undermine this accusation in answering questions regarding Trump’s practice of name-calling and using ethnic slurs on public platforms. “I certainly don’t follow the same path the president does on how I legislate, how I deal with people.”
But ultimately, he continued to endorse the president’s tactics. “If you look at the president and his track record, I will say we are finally seeing international benefits,” said Diehl, pointing to progress made in U.S. relations with North Korea.
What’s at stake
Polls and pundits consider Massachusetts a relatively safe seat for Democrats. A WBUR poll from the end of September showed that Warren holds a comfortable lead in the U.S. Senate race, with 56 percent of likely voters planning to turn out for the incumbent come Nov. 6.
One area that the candidates agreed on was the need to limit federal government interference in the process of legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts. They both spoke about granting banks greater freedoms so that they may support marijuana business owners without fear of federal prosecution, in order for this growing industry to thrive and provide jobs in the state.
On gun control, Warren called the issue “a fundamental question on who government works for” and expressed disappointment in the lack of progress made in the wake of recent mass shootings and protests over the summer.
Diehl is campaigning for a change to gun licensing laws that would allow legal gun owners to carry their weapons from one state to another. This, he said he hopes, could lead to Massachusetts’ relatively strict gun laws being implemented across the country. Calling himself the “Massachusetts voice of reason for how we deal with guns,” Diehl said that in a Republican-controlled Senate his voice would ensure him “a seat at the table” in any future discussions about reshaping the nation’s gun safety laws.
Throughout the discussion, Warren repeatedly attacked Trump’s policies, including the 2017 tax bill which she referred to as a “scam.” The frequency with which she did so, and her multiple references to Diehl’s role in the president’s 2016 campaign, prompted Diehl to label Warren as “completely fixated on a president she can’t work with.”
Diehl returned to this trope in his closing statement. “She’s fixated on the White House and not your house,” he said.
Closing out on her favorite theme, Warren said, “The way I see it, the house is on fire and Mr. Diehl wants to go to Washington to be a cheerleader for Donald Trump.”
During the event, supporters of Shiva Ayyadurai, an independent candidate also running in the Massachusetts Senate race but who was not invited to attend the debate because of his low polling numbers, disrupted the discussion. Protestors shouted from the audience gallery and were subsequently removed from the event. Ayyadurai will appear alongside Warren and Diehl on the ballot Nov. 6.
This debate, the second in a series of three, swiftly followed the first between Warren and Diehl that took place Oct. 19, where tensions first arose as the pair sparred over tax reforms, health care and immigration. The final debate is scheduled for Oct. 30.
