Trump-backed Hung Cao, Democrat Sen Tim Kaine clash at Virginia debate

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican challenger Hung Cao clashed on the talk stage Wednesday evening on a spread of points together with immigration, training and variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) within the army. 

Kaine, who beforehand served as governor of Virginia and was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential operating mate in 2016, made his case in the course of the hourlong showdown at Norfolk State College on why he ought to preserve his seat within the higher chamber of Congress. The one debate of the marketing campaign centered on nationwide points and issues that resonate in Virginia and the coastal metropolis of Norfolk, which is dwelling to the nation’s largest Navy base.

Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran endorsed by former President Donald Trump, criticized COVID vaccine mandates for service members and the Biden-Harris administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal when requested in regards to the army’s collective failure to just lately meet recruiting targets. He additionally criticized DEI efforts.

“Whenever you’re utilizing a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the individuals we wish,” Cao stated. “What we’d like is alpha males and alpha females who’re going to tear out their very own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. These are the younger women and men which can be going to win wars.”

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U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, left, debates Republican challenger Hung Cao at Norfolk State College in Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday Oct. 2, 2024. (Nextstar/WAVY-TV through AP)

Kaine, who’s on the Senate Armed Companies Committee, responded by saying that railing at DEI “is a pink herring” and the true problem is informing extra Individuals about the advantages of the army when solely about 1% of the inhabitants serves within the armed forces. “We have to do a greater job of speaking in regards to the G.I. Invoice and different advantages in addition to the super management coaching that you just get within the army,” Kaine stated.

Cao, in the meantime, introduced up the G.I. Invoice when difficult Kaine on scholar mortgage forgiveness. The incumbent Democrat had praised the Biden administration for having forgiven “the loans of greater than one million public servants in thanks for the general public service they supply, whether or not it is within the army, whether or not it is educating, whether or not it is working as a frontline well being skilled or working for an area or state authorities.” 

The moderator then posed a query to Cao on how the Republican candidate would ease the burden, noting that the U.S. Division of Training studies greater than one million Virginians owe a collective $43 billion in federal scholar debt as of final October, impacting their capacity to contribute to the state’s economic system.

“In the event you’re struggling to pay in your college, then get a G.I. Invoice,” Cao stated. “Which means exit and serve within the army. You will get a stipend in addition to tuition. We have to repair training, and we have to do it now. However this is the factor with individuals like Senator Kaine, you have been an officer for 30 years in varied places of work, within the U.S. Senate for 12. Why have you ever not fastened it but?” 

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Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, is dealing with a problem from Republican Hung Cao. (AP Picture/Susan Walsh | J. Scott Applewhite)

Kaine responded by saying Virginia “was named the perfect state for a kid to be raised in the US” and “the perfect managed state and the perfect state to do enterprise” when he was governor from 2006 to 2010. 

“Oh, once more, he says what he’ll do,” Cao shot again. “Truthfully, of the 227 payments that Senator Kaine has proposed, solely three of them made it by means of… That is a 99% failure charge.” 

“Examine the tape on that. That is fully unsuitable,” Kaine insisted. 

Nonetheless, Cao retorted, “There’s two truths on this planet, okay? By no means stroll right into a goal retailer sporting a pink shirt and by no means go in opposition to an Asian on the subject of math. Belief me.” 

“He is acquired a 99% failure charge,” Cao added. “If I simply had 99% failure charge, and I defused bombs, I would not be right here proper now.” 

Hung Cao, left, speaks on stage after an invite from former President Donald Trump throughout a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune Information Service)

The moderator additionally pressed Cao, whose household fled Vietnam in the course of the Seventies, on whether or not he helps the mass deportation of “all undocumented immigrants.” 

“When Vietnam fell, we had nowhere to go, and America had introduced us in and my mother and father waited in line for seven years. All of us did for seven years to get our citizenship. The very last thing that my dad had [hung] over his mattress when he handed away two years in the past was his naturalization certificates. I like this nation a lot that I wrote a clean verify – as much as together with my life – to defend it for 25 years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and different elements of the world,” Cao stated. “This is my factor to anyone who needs to return right here, do not ask for an American dream. In the event you’re not prepared to be American legal guidelines and embrace the American tradition, as a result of I did.” 

“In the event you come right here illegally, then it is advisable depart, particularly for those who’re a violent crime particular person,” Cao stated, citing new Immigration and Customs Enforcement information offered to lawmakers final week. 

“There are 13,000 convicted murderers and 16,000 convicted rapists that got here throughout underneath their watch. That is unacceptable. We have to defend Individuals each single day,” Cao stated. 

“In the event you got here right here illegally, you’ve mainly screwed up the entire system,” Cao stated. “You’ll be able to’t soar the road – I imply, you go to Costco and soar the road, what do you assume goes to occur? You’ll be able to’t come right here and count on the American dream for those who’re not prepared to obey the American legal guidelines and embrace the American tradition.”

“Deport anyone that is committing crimes proper now,” he added. “That is the very first thing we’d like. Safe the border.” 

Kaine stated he by no means supported mass amnesty however believes it might “devastate the economic system” to deport the ten million unlawful immigrants who crossed the border in the course of the Biden-Harris administration – a determine the moderator cited and the Democratic candidate echoed. He additionally slammed former President Donald Trump for asking Republicans to oppose the final congressional border deal. 

“We just lately negotiated a really powerful border deal that will have put a variety of assets on the border to cease unlawful immigration,” Kaine stated. “President Trump requested for Republicans to oppose it, although it was supported by the border management union.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a marketing campaign occasion on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Michigan. (AP Picture/Carlos Osorio)

One other topic was Trump’s proposal to put extra tariffs on imported items. 

“What we have to do shouldn’t be tax our business right here,” Cao stated. “What we have to do is tax different nations bringing in items.”

Kaine criticized Trump’s proposal. “The Trump tariffs can be a large tax that will trigger costs on all of this stuff which can be imported to go up,” Kaine stated. “On that, I differ strongly from my opponent.”

With Kaine’s seat thought-about solidly Democratic, the race has not seen the form of dead-heat polling because the nationwide presidential contest or the high-stakes drama of different Senate races corresponding to these in Montana and Ohio, the place Democratic incumbents face powerful re-election bids, in accordance with The Related Press. 

Trump has endorsed Cao, and political scientists say his path to victory is slim given Virginia’s average voters, aversion to Trump in 2020 and Kaine’s salience with voters, in accordance with the AP. 

Kaine gained his final race in 2018 by 16 proportion factors, though he stated he was getting ready for a troublesome race this yr. The newest Republican from Virginia to carry a U.S. Senate seat was the late John Warner, a centrist with an impartial streak who final gained in 2002.

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Republicans have gained statewide places of work in Virginia. Glenn Youngkin was elected governor by two factors in 2021, together with a Republican lieutenant governor and lawyer basic.

The Related Press contributed to this report.