Greensboro, N.C. — Tonight, Kathy Manning handedly beat her opponent, Congressman Ted Budd, in the first and only televised debate for North Carolina’s 13th District. The debate covered topics including taxes, healthcare, attack ads, President Trump, climate change, trade, immigration, and the future of Social Security. Spectrum News aired the debate on Tuesday at 7:30pm in both the Greensboro and Charlotte media markets. Below are highlights and video clips from the debate.

BUDD’S DISHONEST CAMPAIGN

Congressman Budd: “I have heard they have some confused facts that they did and it is not true. I think they should be pulled. I’m all for being truthful in this campaign.”

BACKGROUND: Despite Budd’s comments on truthfulness, he has refused to pull his false campaign ads down. Yesterday, Politfact North Carolina released a fact check on his misleading television ad calling it “false” and saying Budd’s campaign could not “support the ad’s claims.” Read that Politifact here. Last week, two Triad television stations pulled the false advertisements down, yet the Budd campaign continues to tout such falsehoods.

Yesterday, Kathy Manning for Congress released a new television ad called “Pulled” which highlights the dishonest and misleading negative attacks Congressman Budd and his allies are spreading about Kathy Manning and her family. These attacks were so egregious that two major Triad television stations refused to continue running them.

HEALTH CARE

In response to Budd’s claims that he has voted to protect pre-existing conditions, Kathy Manning stated: “If you have it on the menu but you can’t afford it, it doesn’t matter that it’s on the menu. If you make insurance for people with preexisting conditions so expensive it’s out of reach, you are not protecting people with preexisting conditions.”

BACKGROUND:

Kathy Manning: “If my opponent is so devoted to protecting people with pre-existing conditions, why is it that he has taken all mention of healthcare off of his website?”

BACKGROUND: Congressman Budd erased mention of healthcare from his website after his position became unpopular. In 2016, Ted Budd stated he would do everything he could to repeal every word of the Affordable Care Act. Now, you can’t find this claim anywhere on his website.

FAIR TAXES

Kathy Manning: “They passed massive tax cuts for big corporations and the ultra wealthy, instead of closing loopholes they created new ones… they did not focus on middle class families and working people. They’ve blown up the deficit and put Social Security at risk. My opponent’s leadership has made it quite clear: they’re going after Social Security. I don’t think that’s how we should approach tax reform…Imagine what they could have done if their priority had been middle class, working families instead of big corporations.”

ENVIRONMENT

Kathy Manning: “There are steps we can and should be taking to address [climate change]. In our district in North Carolina we have seen the impact of rising sea temperatures and of intensifying storms. Last spring east Greensboro was decimated by a tornado. We had two hurricanes in the last couple of weeks that have devastated North Carolina. We had flooding in Salisbury. We lost power in Greensboro and High Point. We have seen devastating loss of life and massive property damage. This is affecting us today and it is affecting our future. It is long past time for us to take the steps we can take to start curbing the impact of climate change.”

BACKGROUND: Budd’s Inconsistency on Climate Change & Disaster Relief

In 2016, in the Greensboro News and Record, with regard to man-made climate change, Congressman Budd does not see “clear evidence” but then in last night’s debate Budd said “It is obvious that humans have some impact on the environment.”

In September 2017, Budd voted against Hurricane Harvey disaster relief. Then again in October 2017, Ted Budd voted against a U.S. House emergency disaster appropriations package. Then again in December 2017, Ted Budd voted against $81 billion in disaster relief spending.

After voting for the the 21st Century Flood Reform Act in 2017, Budd voted against the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2018. This bill amended the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program through November 30, 2018. President Trump signed this bill into law on July 31, 2018.

CIVILITY IN CONGRESS

Kathy Manning: “One thing we need to do is get out and meet with the people we are representing on a regular basis. My opponent has not made a habit of getting out to meet with people on a regular basis. In fact, I don’t believe he has had any town hall meetings before I got into this race. I plan to spend an enormous amount of time in my district, meeting with people across the district, so I understand what is important to them.

“Then when I go off to Washington, the first thing I want to do is make friends so I can figure out who I can work with across the aisle. I have a lot of experience working with people, as I said, serving my community, bringing people together at United Way to expand access to early childhood education. At a community organization to help people who lost their jobs during the Great Recession and help them get job retraining and mortgage relief and I’ve worked on lots of big projects in my community. All of them involve bringing people together, setting goals, figuring out how to get things done, and that has always been working civilly with people.”

CLOSING STATEMENT

Watch Manning’s closing statement here.

Kathy Manning: “Congressman Budd will do or say anything to keep his job, including lying about me and my family. And this is why that is important. He has run false ads to cover up the fact he sold us out. He took big money from special interests corporations and he has voted with them. Voted to take health insurance away from millions of people. Voted to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Voted on massive tax cuts for big corporations while blowing up our deficit and putting Social Security at risk. He promised to turn Washington inside out, but he became a Washington insider and he sold us out.

“I haven’t taken a dime of corporate PAC money because I want to represent the people, not big corporations, and let me tell you why. I live every day grateful for what this country has done for my family. My great-grandparents came here with nothing but a determination to work hard and build a better future for their family. I learned from them the values of hard work, determination, work, family, faith, and education. Those are my values and those the values of the people across this district. I have been blessed to live the American dream. But for so many people, that dream is out of reach. We can do better. I promise to put country ahead of party. I promise to work hard for the people of North Carolina. I will not be bought by special interests. I am going to Washington to work for you. I am Kathy Manning and I am asking for your vote.”

You can view clips of the debate on Spectrum’s website here.