FULL DEBATE: Kansas Senate Debate - Roger Marshall and Adam Hamilton face off before midterms

[2:28] A Republican stronghold. [2:29] An unexpected battleground. [2:32] A Senate race few expected to be this close. [2:35] Republican Senator Roger Marshall. [2:38] The first thing I'm gonna do is make a pledge [2:40] is I will not touch anyone's Medicare [2:43] or Social Security who's on it now. [2:45] Democrat Adam Hamilton. [2:47] I will work across the aisle. [2:49] I'm a moderate, independent-minded Democrat. [2:51] Two different paths, two different visions. [2:55] One seat in the United States Senate. [2:58] Tonight, they face each other [3:01] and the questions that matter most to you. [3:03] How can you bring people together? [3:06] Why is rent so high? [3:08] Why is food so high? [3:10] Your family, your finances, your future. [3:14] What will they do? [3:16] How will they deliver? [3:18] At the end of the day, we need a strong economy. [3:20] The biggest issue for Kansas is the war and tariffs. [3:23] And the stakes reach beyond Kansas. [3:26] Your vote could help decide who controls the Senate [3:29] and who sets the agenda in Washington. [3:32] Tonight, they make their case. [3:35] You decide who earns your trust. [3:38] Hello and welcome to Debate Night in Kansas. [3:41] We are asking the questions [3:42] of the U.S. Senate candidates tonight. [3:45] I'm John Holt, I'll be your moderator. [3:47] And we welcome you in from Kansas City [3:49] with a reminder that this debate is being broadcast live [3:53] on Nexstar stations across the state, [3:55] from the Kansas City Metro to Topeka to Southeast Kansas, [3:58] Wichita, and Western Kansas. [4:00] Here are tonight's rules before we get started. [4:02] Each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer a question. [4:07] Follow-ups get 30 seconds. [4:08] It will allow for up to 30 seconds for rebuttals. [4:12] Candidates, when your time is up, you'll hear this bell. [4:16] You will also each get 30 seconds for a closing statement. [4:19] Now, live from the Fox 4 studios in Kansas City [4:23] and your local election headquarters, [4:26] this is Debate Night in Kansas. [4:34] Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Marshall, thanks for being with us tonight. [4:37] We really appreciate it. [4:38] A very important conversation ahead tonight. [4:40] We're gonna get to some specific issues, [4:42] but let's begin with those attack ads [4:44] we've all been subjected to. [4:46] And we're gonna see if we, through your participation, [4:49] can help us get to what's true. [4:51] Mr. Marshall, you're accused of suing patients. [4:53] Mr. Hamilton, your church, once again, [4:55] coming under some scrutiny for accusations of pedophile [4:59] at one of your summer camps. [5:01] Mr. Marshall, by virtue of a card draw, [5:03] you'll get the first question. [5:05] And it begins with that New York Times review [5:07] of court records. [5:09] And it found that you and your medical practice [5:10] sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills [5:14] with annual interest charges of 18%. [5:16] Missed court dates because of the debt, [5:19] led to some arrests. [5:20] Now, you've talked a lot about the free care [5:23] that you, your practice and hospital provided in Great Bend. [5:27] But at the Kansas State Fair, [5:28] you also defended those collections. [5:31] Yeah, well, John. [5:32] Every year, we gave away $3 to $4 million of charity. [5:38] But we also had a business. [5:39] We had 300 employees. [5:41] We had a mortgage payment. [5:43] We had electrical. [5:43] So we had, just like every other business, [5:45] we had to, the common business practice, [5:48] at the end of the day, turn some people [5:50] to collections as well. [5:52] That would be true for every hospital and every doctor. [5:55] But again, emphasis, only one out of five people, [5:59] we gave free care to as well. [6:01] Now, whatever that common business practice was, [6:04] these were your patients. [6:06] What responsibility do you personally take for how those debts were collected? [6:11] You have 60 seconds. [6:12] Yeah, John, I think that this couldn't be further from the truth. [6:15] I think we need to remind everybody that control of the Senate goes through Kansas. [6:20] And that's why this is so important. [6:22] So my opponent's going to say anything he can to lie, [6:26] to get into that office and give control to Chuck Schumer. [6:29] So these were blatant lies. [6:31] Look, I went to Great Bend, Kansas, because I wanted to take care of patients. [6:34] It was a mission field. [6:36] One out of five patients we took care of received free care. [6:39] Millions of dollars of free care. [6:41] Nothing can be further from the truth. [6:43] Look, the Kansas Bill of Rights clearly says you cannot be arrested [6:48] or thrown in jail because of indebtedness. [6:51] So this particular patient actually had legal issues in three different counties. [6:55] She had missed 16 court dates, and I'm sorry about that. [6:59] We did everything possible to keep them from going to collections. [7:03] It was a very, very rare situation, but once it was turned over, [7:07] it was the same process that KU Med Center would do via Christie in Wichita. [7:11] Once we turned them to collections, it was out of our hands, [7:13] but we did everything possible to take good care of people. [7:16] Even surrounding cities sent people to us by the busload [7:19] because they knew I would take care of them for free. [7:22] Let me ask a quick follow-up there, [7:24] and it really goes back to my original question. [7:26] Did you put limits on your lawyers on what they could do in terms of collecting, [7:33] and did you ever intervene to stop a collection, 30 seconds? [7:37] Yeah. [7:37] You know, I think there were times when the collection people would come to me and say, [7:41] hey, we think you should do something, this one. [7:43] But we already wrote off many, many bills as well. [7:46] Generally speaking, once it was turned over collections, it was done. [7:48] And again, that's the same practice of KU Med Center, of St. Luke's, of Via Christie as well. [7:54] We did the same, follow the same procedures as every other doctor. [7:58] This was such a small fraction of people that ever went. [8:01] This is such a gross mischaracterization of the compassion and love and care [8:06] that the other doctors and the nurses I gave. [8:09] Patient after patient, we gave free care to, we wrote off bills. [8:13] All they had to do is in some way stay in communication with our office, [8:16] and they would have never been sent to collections. [8:18] Thank you, sir. [8:19] For your turn, Mr. Hamilton, to address one of the attack ads that's leveled at you. [8:23] Parents entrusted your church to take care of their children. [8:28] In 2005, two boys reported inappropriate touching at your church camp. [8:33] Now, you said the church investigated internally that the findings were inconclusive [8:38] and authorities were not contacted. [8:41] You recently told CNN this. [8:43] You've done anything differently, and that's a joke. [8:45] Absolutely. [8:45] Like, we should have called the police immediately, but that was not our policies 21 years ago. [8:50] Yet that same volunteer was allowed to return as a camp leader the following year. [8:55] More allegations surfaced against him. [8:57] This time, of course, the church did contact the authorities. [9:01] So my question for you is, obviously, it's your responsibility to take care of these kids. [9:06] Why not override that policy back in 2005 when you had to know that police or law enforcement [9:13] are better at investigating these kinds of things than staff? [9:16] You have 60 seconds. [9:17] That's a great question, and the reality is that we did change our policy after that. [9:20] So this was very important. [9:22] We made sure that the police found out later. [9:25] When they did, they investigated. [9:26] They found the same thing. [9:27] It was inconclusive. [9:28] There was uncertainty. [9:30] And as a result of that, they refused to press charges as well. [9:34] I will tell you that, ultimately, we helped get this man put behind bars, and the policies [9:38] that we developed are used by 10,000 churches across America. [9:41] When the Kansas City Star investigated what Roger Marshall said about this, the Kansas City [9:44] Star said his allegations are false and misleading. [9:48] Every journalist who looked into this said the same thing. [9:50] Let me follow up with this question. [9:53] Obviously, back in 2005, you had that policy. [9:57] My question is, what was your role in handling that part of the investigation? [10:03] And did you sign off on this man going back to the camp in 2006? [10:07] 30 seconds. [10:08] That's a great question. [10:09] So first of all, others investigated. [10:11] I was actually preaching that weekend at Church of the Resurrection, and I did not sign off [10:14] on him going back. [10:15] I should have checked to make sure that he wasn't going back. [10:18] That was a mistake on my part. [10:19] But I will tell you, when he was investigated the next year, we forbade him from working with [10:24] youth or children anymore. [10:26] He left our church angry and upset. [10:28] And again, we played a critical role several years later in getting him arrested and convicted. [10:32] Let's pick up on an issue now. [10:34] That's affordability, and particularly the high cost of fuel. [10:38] Mr. Hamilton, you'll start us off with this round. [10:41] You want to suspend, in fact, we've seen a commercial of you suggesting we suspend the [10:44] gas and diesel federal fuels tax. [10:48] Critics will say, until the war ends, as I recall, until the Iran war ends, critics will [10:52] say, that's fine, but that feeds the highway trust fund with revenue that could impact Kansas [10:58] road projects, public transportation. [11:01] So my question, how would you replace that revenue, and you have 60 seconds to respond. [11:06] That's a great question. [11:07] So presuming that I win, and I think we will win, the aim is to end the war as quickly as [11:11] possible. [11:12] This is really a short-term solution. [11:13] It saves $0.30 a gallon for farmers who are paying $6.40 a gallon for diesel fuel. [11:18] We're trying to find some immediate relief, but it's not a long-term solution. [11:21] It's a very short-term stopgap. [11:23] And my hope is that in January, we're going to bring a bill to really force the president [11:28] to bring this war to a conclusion very quickly. [11:31] Kansans need that. [11:32] Americans need that. [11:33] They're crying out for it. [11:34] And again, Roger Marshall has failed to support ending the war. [11:37] Let's, Mr. Marshall, on that note, I'll give you up to 30 seconds to respond on failing [11:42] to end the war, that comment there. [11:44] Look, look, I hate war. [11:45] I hate war as only a soldier who lived it. [11:48] I can. [11:49] Look, that's what President Eisenhower said. [11:50] I want this war to be over as badly as anybody does in America. [11:54] Look, I served. [11:55] My brother served. [11:56] My dad served. [11:57] My son is serving. [11:58] I want this war to be over just as soon as possible. [12:02] But we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. [12:05] And I don't think any of the listeners out there want to have a nuclear weapon either. [12:08] This is why we can't have a weak Adam Hamilton with the weak Democrat policy who only gives [12:14] us war through weakness as opposed to peace through strength. [12:16] Let's get back to the main question for you. [12:19] And this is what you said to the Kansas City Star. [12:21] You said you were sorry fuel prices were rising, but added your national security, yes, is even [12:28] more important than your pocketbook. [12:30] You also said you hoped the war would last weeks, not months. [12:33] Well, here we are six months later, the war is still very much underway. [12:37] Have you changed your position on this? [12:39] Would you now support a moratorium on the federal fuels, gas and diesel tax? [12:44] And if so, for how long? [12:46] You have 60 seconds. [12:47] Well, look, I think that some type of a moratorium on the diesel tax is a short term solution. [12:52] I'm not opposed to it, but let's think about what the real problem here is. [12:56] The real problem with the cost of diesel in particular is number one is the Ukraine war. [13:01] And because of that, diesel production has gone down. [13:04] But beyond that, why are we dependent upon diesel imports? [13:07] It's because of the Green New Deal policy that my opponent supports. [13:11] His policies would fit in just right with Chuck Schumer. [13:15] So if I would lose this seat, Adam Hamilton would give control of the Senate to Chuck Schumer, [13:20] who would go back to his Green New Deal. [13:21] Look, we've not had a new refinery built since 1978. [13:26] We've lost 90 refineries since 1990. [13:28] When I was born in Eldorado, we had three refineries. [13:31] That's the problem right now is the refining capacity. [13:35] Because of over-regulation created by the Green New Deal and his attacks on American energy, [13:40] on American agriculture, we don't have... [13:43] Diesel prices will never come down, but you know when this war is over with that these [13:47] diesel prices are going to come down along with the gasoline prices as long as Republicans [13:52] have control. [13:53] Mr. Hamilton, do you... [13:54] Yes. [13:55] Do you support the Green New Deal? [13:56] I'll give you 30 seconds to respond. [13:58] No, there's... [13:59] No, I don't support the Green New Deal. [14:00] Parts of it, yes. [14:01] But I just want to say... [14:02] See, he just said that the war in Iran is not the problem. [14:04] The war in Ukraine is a problem. [14:06] The Ukrainians trying to defend themselves are the reason why we have record diesel prices. [14:10] Nobody believes that. [14:11] This happened in response to the war in Iran that didn't need to happen, was not a necessary [14:16] war. [14:17] And this is why the prices went to record highs. [14:19] And Roger Marshall supported that. [14:21] And I support the Ukrainians being able to defend themselves. [14:24] And this is something that Roger Marshall has waffled on. [14:26] It's not okay. [14:27] We stand by the Ukrainians, but that's not the reason why we have record diesel prices. [14:31] Let me ask you this, a follow-up to both of you. [14:34] Mr. Hamilton, do you support the President's agreement with Russia to buy diesel fuel... [14:39] No, it's a disaster. [14:40] ...at up to 30 seconds? [14:41] Yeah, it's a disaster. [14:42] Why in the world would we agree to do this with Russia? [14:44] And many Republicans are saying the same thing. [14:47] So this is selling out our allies, the Ukrainians, and this is not okay. [14:51] We should not be doing this. [14:52] Mr. Marshall, same question to you. [14:54] Do you support the deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel to bring prices down in this country? [14:58] Yeah, this is why we can't have a senator like this who's going to jump to conclusions. [15:01] Look, it doesn't sound like a great idea to me, but already today, now we're seeing folks [15:05] back at the bargaining table. [15:08] If this brings Russia to the bargaining table and it ends the war, then I'm all for it right [15:12] now. [15:13] Why is Europe continuing to buy natural gas from Europe? [15:17] Why do we have to have 100,000 troops in Europe to protect them? [15:21] Look, I'm an American first person. [15:23] I believe in peace through strength. [15:25] I believe in secure borders, a strong military, and lower taxes. [15:28] Every Senate Democrat has voted against every one of those. [15:31] They voted against secure borders, against military funding, and against lowering your [15:35] taxes. [15:36] And you would stand right there beside Chuck Schumer, give him control of the Senate, and [15:40] go back to those same policies that got us here. [15:42] Mr. Hamilton, 15 seconds. [15:43] Yeah, absolutely. [15:44] So what you said just now is you're going to sell out our friends in Ukraine. [15:47] That's not okay. [15:48] And by the way, our red wheat in Kansas came from Ukraine, from people who immigrated here. [15:51] You're going to sell out Ukraine. [15:53] That's just not okay. [15:55] It's indecent. [15:56] But let's continue to discuss. [15:57] Can I respond to that? [15:58] No. [15:59] Let's move on to the next question. [16:00] All right. [16:01] And it's sort of connected. [16:02] Many do blame high fuel prices on the war with Iran. [16:05] Mr. Marshall, you voted no three times to the War Powers Resolution. [16:09] But as the war with Iran has drug on, obviously, higher fuel prices, other costs have gone up. [16:15] And now Iranian proxies are taking aim at Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. [16:21] Now, you've agreed with the President that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. [16:27] So, my question to you is, does that mean this war goes on indefinitely? [16:33] You have 60 seconds. [16:34] Of course. [16:35] I want this war to be over as soon as anybody. [16:37] I want to talk about national security policy for a second. [16:39] I'm a Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, peace through strength guy. [16:44] Where the Democrats are, they give us war through weakness. [16:47] What the hell did Obama respond to Iran? [16:50] And this is the guy here, his big idol. [16:52] His idol, Barack Hussein Obama, sent $1.7 billion in pallets to Iran. [16:57] Iran would have had a nuclear weapon by now if we would have used his policies today as well. [17:04] And then what does Joe Biden do when it comes to national security? [17:08] He's so weak when we leave Afghanistan, it opens the door for Putin to invade Ukraine. [17:12] They give us war through weakness. [17:14] That's what this is all about. [17:15] Look, as your United States Senator, I'm always going to look for the safety of your family first. [17:19] Look, it was just two years ago that we had wide open borders, millions of people coming across. [17:25] Look what's happening in France right now. [17:26] Remember what President Reagan said, that freedom is only a generation away from extinction. [17:31] His open border policies that he developed with Barack Obama will lead us to that same thing. [17:36] He worked on immigration policy, amnesty policy with Barack Obama. [17:40] If he gets control of this seat, he'll give control to the U.S. Senate, to Schumer, [17:44] which will create open borders and is a threat to our republic. [17:47] Thank you, sir. [17:48] Mr. Hamilton, before we get to that question, I'll give you 30 seconds to respond. [17:52] So you were pointing at me as though I developed these policies. [17:55] I just want to remind you I've been a pastor for the last 38 years. [17:58] I have not been a senator. [17:59] I didn't develop policies with President Obama or anyone else. [18:02] And again, failing to answer the question, what we've done in Washington, D.C. right now [18:07] has made the world more dangerous, not more safe. [18:10] And no one wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. [18:13] But the president assured us last year we had taken care of those capabilities. [18:16] Then we decided we needed to launch a war, an offensive war, and that violates every principle of international law. [18:21] And you stand by it. [18:23] Let me ask you this question, Mr. Hamilton, which is the main question we're focusing on here. [18:28] You do believe it's time to end the war with Iran? [18:31] The war needs to end, absolutely. [18:32] So the concern, according to the Wall Street Journal, it notes that if you do so, it's quite possible the Iranians will be able to charge tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, [18:41] raising millions of dollars to build back up their military and perhaps their nuclear weapons. [18:47] Are you willing to take that risk for the Middle East, Israel in particular, and for U.S. troops who are there? [18:53] You have 60 seconds. [18:54] Well, here's what I want to say is, as Roger Marshall's policies and his support have made all of this happen, [18:59] we are less safe and we might be in danger of negotiating to get out of there with tolls happening in the Strait of Hormuz. [19:05] I'm going to blame that on these guys. [19:07] And I'm going to say we have to do better. [19:09] And what they did made the world less safe, more difficult to navigate because of their decisions. [19:14] It was not a good decision to go to war in Iran and we need to get out. [19:18] Quick follow-up. [19:19] Are you convinced that Iran did not have access to nuclear weapons in spite of the bombing that the President said? [19:26] Council on Foreign Relations says they very much could in short order. [19:29] The President said that we had taken out their capabilities last year and they were buried underneath rubble. [19:34] They've had the desire for nuclear capabilities for a very long time. [19:37] No other Republican President supported this course of action other than President Trump. [19:41] And I just want to say I'm not running against President Trump. [19:43] I'm running against him. [19:44] And he supported it again and again and again. [19:46] All right. [19:47] Mr. Marshall, I'll give you the final word. [19:49] 15 seconds. [19:50] Right. [19:51] Just want to make sure when he says that we're not safer, this is the safest this country has been in decades. [19:56] Look at him. [19:57] American first senator. [19:58] Because it's secure borders, the murder rates at 100-year low, fentanyl poisoning is coming down, violent crimes are coming down as well. [20:05] This nation is much safer than when Joe Biden was letting everyone roam the world. [20:10] Look, again, Afghanistan, leaving Afghanistan led to the Ukraine war and that gave Putin the opening. [20:17] We can't have a country that's weak, that's so weak that it leads us to war. [20:20] Thank you. [20:21] Your time is up. [20:22] Great discussion of foreign policy there, but let's focus on something else, artificial intelligence. [20:27] Before we do, I want to ask each of you, Mr. Hamilton, we'll start with you. [20:31] When did you last use artificial intelligence and what did you use it for? [20:36] 15 seconds. [20:37] Well, you know, basically every Google search you use, you're going to get some AI responses to it. [20:41] It has wonderful and amazing potential and also a huge and terrible, devastating potential as well. [20:46] All right. [20:47] Mr. Marshall, when did you last use artificial intelligence? [20:50] What did you use it for? [20:51] 15 seconds. [20:52] Oh, gosh. [20:53] I'm sure it was in the green room looking up a question to see how long did Barack Obama give [20:59] before Iran would have nuclear weapons, that within 10 years Iran was going to have nuclear weapons [21:04] with this weak Obama presidency. [21:08] So I use it every day. [21:09] So both of you obviously use it. [21:10] Now here's the meat of the question. [21:12] And we're not talking data centers here. [21:14] That's a separate issue. [21:15] We're just talking about the technology that is AI. [21:18] Mr. Hamilton, should the federal government, should Congress pass regulations that oversee [21:24] AI capabilities, what would you be able to support if you agree with that concept? [21:29] And how would you enforce it? [21:31] 60 seconds. [21:32] Yeah, I think this is really important. [21:33] And this is a place, I don't believe in overregulation, but I believe there are times we have to regulate. [21:37] AI is on the cutting edge. [21:39] And what happens is if people are left to their own devices, they're going to look at the profit motive [21:43] before they look at what's safe and secure for Americans, for the world. [21:47] We need to do as we did when it came to nuclear, when we developed nuclear power and nuclear weapons. [21:51] We developed a nuclear regulatory commission. [21:53] We need to do the same thing with AI. [21:55] And Congress needs to be involved, but they also need to bring the experts in AI. [21:58] Congress is not, are not experts in this field. [22:01] We've got to look at how do we take care of this so that we are not jeopardizing the future of our children and our grandchildren. [22:06] Right now, leaving this to the AI industry on their own is a bad idea. [22:10] To clarify, what federal regulations could you support? [22:13] You clearly do. [22:14] So which ones? [22:15] Yeah, you know what? [22:16] I'm not sure, to be honest. [22:17] And the reason why I'm not sure is because I don't think anybody in Congress really fully understands the dangers of AI. [22:21] I think about bioweapons in particular. [22:23] There's a whole host of other things. [22:25] We need the people, and even the people on the frontier of this, are struggling to understand what its dangerous potentials are. [22:30] All right, Mr. Marshall, same question for you. [22:33] Should the federal government regulate AI and its capabilities, what could you support if you agree with that concept? [22:40] And how would you enforce it? [22:42] 60 seconds. [22:43] Yeah, I think it's a light touch, which is what Republicans do. [22:46] Some type of light touch. [22:47] I look at this through a lens always first of national security. [22:50] We cannot let China get ahead of our military. [22:53] I think that's number one. [22:54] Next, we need to demand full transparency. [22:56] So that's what my legislation would look like. [22:58] Demand full transparency. [23:00] Protect our children. [23:01] Protect your privacy. [23:03] Those would be the guardrails. [23:04] But again, I want you to think what Chuck Schumer, what his leadership wants to do. [23:08] They want some type of a world order on this, some type of regulatory around AI that the whole world would follow. [23:15] Do you think that China and Russia will ever follow this? [23:18] So if we would let my opponent become the senator, we give control of the Senate to Chuck Schumer, [23:23] and he would go back to probably the League of Nations attitude of trying to figure out some type of guardrails for this. [23:30] But first and foremost, we need to make sure that we keep our military strong and ahead. [23:35] And again, full transparency. [23:37] We need to know what's coming down the road. [23:39] Protect our children. [23:40] Protect people's privacy. [23:41] All right. [23:42] Thank you. [23:43] 15 seconds. [23:44] Sure. [23:45] He talks about a light touch. [23:46] This is an existential, potential existential threat to the human race. [23:50] And I'm not somebody's crying wolf. [23:51] I'm just saying we can't just go with a light touch and hope everybody does their best. [23:55] We've got to be more involved in that. [23:57] And this is one place where the federal government needs to be more engaged and involved. [24:02] Let's move now to the next topic. [24:03] And you sort of touched on it there. [24:05] The balance of power and who will have control of the Senate and why this race is critical and why it's important we're here tonight. [24:11] Mr. Marshall, President Trump came to Wichita Park City on Monday to support you campaign for you. [24:17] Here's what he told the crowd. [24:21] This election, I'm asking you to pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot. [24:24] Just pretend. [24:25] But our September Emerson Nextar poll found that 53% of likely Kansas voters disapproved of the job the president was doing. [24:37] So he's underwater 13 points. [24:38] And that's after he won the state by 16 two years ago. [24:42] Here's my question to you. [24:43] Even so, he was here to support you. [24:46] Does that mean we should expect that you will support every part of his agenda? [24:51] 60 seconds. [24:52] No, I've always, I've had multiple times when I've objected to the president before. [24:57] But we, I do want to emphasize, we need the Trump voters to come out. [25:00] And that would be my appeal tonight to people. [25:02] If you want the Trump agenda to continue, if you want secure borders, if you want a strong military, if you want lower taxes, [25:10] and you voted for President Trump, you need to come out because we delivered on those things. [25:14] Your borders never been so secure. [25:16] We've taken care of the military, the strongest military in our lives, the working family tax cuts, [25:21] the largest tax cut in American history. [25:24] Kansans get to keep $2,000 to $3,000 more of their own money. [25:27] Compare it again to what Adam Hamilton and Chuck Schumer would look like if they would control the Senate. [25:32] Look, every Senate Democrat voted against funding border security. [25:36] Every Senate Democrat voted against funding the military. [25:40] Every Senate Democrat voted against lower taxes. [25:43] Every Senate Democrat voted against voter ID. [25:46] Every Senate Democrat on the Ag Committee voted against the Farm Bill. [25:49] There's kind of a ring going here. [25:51] This guy's funded by Chuck Schumer. [25:53] He'll be beholding to Chuck Schumer forever. [25:55] And that's why we need to keep myself in that Senate seat. [25:58] All right. [25:59] Very quick follow-up. [26:00] No, very quick follow-up. [26:01] You said you won't support all of Mr. Trump's agenda. [26:05] Name one thing you won't support that's part of his agenda. [26:08] Yeah, I think, you know, even just in the past week, the operation in DHS. [26:13] The first thing I did when I saw what was going on in southwest Kansas, I picked up the phone, called Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen and said, [26:19] Hey, I don't think this is quite right. [26:21] What's going on? [26:22] When he tried to import beef, I went against that as well. [26:25] You know, the interesting thing is just like with my wife, I can disagree with her. [26:30] My wife is always right, and President Trump is not always right. [26:35] But I do think that it's great that I have a relationship, that I can pick up the phone and discuss with him the pros and cons of what he's contemplating. [26:43] Thank you. [26:44] Mr. Hamilton, your message is leading from the middle. [26:46] That's kind of your campaign theme. [26:48] But in the past, we've done the record search, you've donated to far more Democrats than Republicans of late, [26:55] including Congresswoman Sharice Davids, President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris when she was stepping in. [27:02] Democrats that many would find liberal. [27:05] And in a podcast recently addressing white privilege, you said this. [27:09] But I will tell you, I started out with advantages that I didn't even understand. [27:14] It gives me advantages that other folks have not had. [27:17] And here you are preaching about climate change and cattle. [27:20] Cattle end up producing more carbon dioxide than other crops that we could grow or other forms of food that we could have. [27:28] All right, I'm not asking you to relitigate those passages. [27:32] I think we've talked about that. [27:33] What I want to hear from you is if you're leading from the middle and campaigning that way, [27:38] why should voters trust that you'll vote that way when many of these themes are all very progressive? [27:43] You have 60 seconds. [27:44] Yeah. [27:45] Well, first of all, I am somebody who has led from the middle for 38 years. [27:49] So I and my aim is if I'm elected as a moderate or independent minded Democrat, [27:53] I'm going to work across the aisle to try to bring people together to solve problems. [27:56] And and I, you know, I do care about these issues, but I will tell you, I also love the beef industry. [28:00] I'm going to fight for them in Washington, D.C. [28:02] They're hurting under the policies that Roger Marshall is supporting. [28:05] So again and again and again, whether it's diesel fuel prices, whether it's the tariffs and the impact tariffs are having on farmers, [28:11] folks are recognizing it's you know, it's it's what's happening in the southwest part of the state right now. [28:16] People are crying out and saying, come on, Roger Marshall, speak up for us. [28:19] I'm going to speak up for us. [28:20] He says he speaks up for us. [28:21] But the president doesn't seem to listen to what he has to say. [28:23] Real quick follow up and sort of in the same theme as Mr. Marshall. [28:28] What progressive policy could you not support? [28:33] Well, first of all, yeah, absolutely. [28:34] The Biden the Biden policies when it came to the border were a disaster. [28:37] I believe in strong and secure borders. [28:40] I think that's very important. [28:41] And Biden was it was a terrible disaster. [28:43] I'm not somebody who favors the Socialist Party. [28:46] I'm somebody who stands in the middle. [28:47] I'm going to try to work for all Kansans Republicans, independents and Democrats. [28:51] And I got a lot of Trump supporters who are supporting me as well, which has been very exciting. [28:55] So, yeah, that's where I'm going to try to lead from. [28:57] And right now we have two Republican senators working the entire Senate. [29:00] We need one Republican senator in Jerry Moran and one Democrat working the Democratic side of the aisle. [29:04] Let's move on to another topic that you both mentioned. [29:06] Do I get a rebuttal? [29:07] No, we're going to move on. [29:08] We're going to move on to tariffs. [29:09] Some rich, target rich environment here. [29:11] To tariffs. [29:12] Was he leading from the middle when one out of four churches left his denomination? [29:15] Is that what you call leading from the middle when you split the Methodist church? [29:18] Yeah. [29:19] Let's move on. [29:20] I want to get on to tariffs here. [29:21] That's an important subject. [29:22] And we'll ask both of you about appearances in Topeka on Friday. [29:26] Mr. Hamilton, you said Kansas employers are struggling with the unpredictability of the policy. [29:32] So my question, as you campaign, you can say that, but give me a specific company or business you spoke to. [29:39] Yeah. [29:40] That says we're having to cut back. [29:42] We're not hiring. [29:43] We're not growing. [29:44] You've got 60 seconds. [29:45] Sure. [29:46] So I spoke with folks at Hallmark, with Great Plains Manufacturing, with small manufacturers making parts for the F-15. [29:52] I spoke with people who are single proprietor businesses. [29:56] They all said the same thing. [29:57] What we need in Washington, D.C. is predictability and order. [29:59] What we have today is unpredictability, instability, and we have chaos and corruption in Washington, D.C. [30:05] They say it's very hard to run a business this way. [30:08] Every business owner I've talked to has said the same thing. [30:10] You can't run a business when you don't know what the tariffs are going to be tomorrow or the next day. [30:13] What tariffs are going to be announced for? [30:15] How our president, supported by Roger Marshall, is going to alienate our trading partners, including Canada, our number two trading partner. [30:21] We trade $4 billion worth of goods with Canada every year. [30:25] And our president, supported by Roger Marshall, although eventually he got around to protesting, you know, calls bombardiers, airplanes, you know, crummy airplanes. [30:33] He slaps another 50% tariff on our trading partners. [30:36] He alienates our allies, and that hurts our businesses in America. [30:41] This is creating instability, chaos, and corruption. [30:44] Mr. Marshall, in Topeka Friday, you also commented, you said, I think most manufacturing across the state of Kansas is growing because of these tariffs. [30:54] There's clearly a difference of opinion there. [30:57] Now I'll ask you the same question. [30:58] Could you name a business or two that you spoke to who says, yes, these tariffs are helping us. [31:03] We're adding people, we're growing. [31:05] You've got 60 seconds. [31:06] Yeah, so Peerless Windows in Fort Scott is growing because of the tariffs. [31:10] Kubota, which you visited in Salina, is growing because of the tariffs. [31:14] Superior Boiler in Hutchison is another example. [31:17] We're seeing a manufacturing renaissance because we're bringing these jobs back home. [31:22] So the tariffs are working. [31:24] I was tired of seeing jobs leave America. [31:27] Now China will be happy with my opponent because he doesn't care about fighting for these jobs, and even for Canada. [31:32] Are you happy that all these counterfeits coming across the border from Canada? [31:36] Are you happy with all this aluminum and steel that's being dumped from China through Canada coming in here and using their tariffs? [31:42] No, I'm always going to stand up for American jobs. [31:45] We've had a great, our economy is really, really growing right now. [31:50] We're going to have a 5% GDP across the country right now. [31:53] Even last year, Kansas had in the third quarter the leading GDP in the country of over 6%. [31:58] You know what, when I talk to people across the state of Kansas, and we've done over 300 stops the last couple months, [32:04] what they tell me that they want is a good job, a job that gives them meaning and purpose, and there are good jobs all across the state of Kansas. [32:13] Look at Boeing and Wichita is another one. [32:15] They're backed up for about three years, Textron growing. [32:18] Trust me, anyone that's building A-10s or F-35s, they're very busy right now. [32:22] Thank you, sir. [32:23] Can I respond? [32:24] Yeah, 15 seconds. [32:25] 15 seconds. [32:26] Sure. [32:27] So I did talk to one of those manufacturers making parts for the F-15, having to import tariff-laden aluminum. [32:31] They said that they lost $80,000 on their last contract. [32:34] They're going to lose employees because of that. [32:36] Great Plains Manufacturing, Kubota, they are charging now $2,000 in tariffs for one of their leading pieces of equipment. [32:43] You have made that possible. [32:44] Now they're wondering if they're going to keep their jobs. [32:46] I did sit down with them. [32:47] You say you've listed in 300 campaign stops. [32:49] You did not listen in 300 campaign stops. [32:50] All right. [32:51] You had 300 photo ops. [32:52] Let's move on to another issue. [32:54] They're growing. [32:55] Those companies are growing. [32:56] Farming in Kansas. [32:57] Never been stronger. [32:58] Let's talk about farmers. [32:59] Mr. Marshall, you've supported crops, insurance subsidies, and obviously emergency payments to farmers as well. [33:05] Here's my question. [33:07] Should keeping a family farm in business be a long-term commitment for taxpayers, even if that farm needs help year after year after year? [33:18] At what point do you draw the line for taxpayers to support these farms? [33:22] 60 seconds. [33:23] Gosh, I want to do everything possible to keep the family farms alive and well. [33:27] And that's why with Republican-only votes in the working family tax cuts, we added $65 billion to crop insurance. [33:35] And then we did talk about Title I, ARC funding, PLC. [33:38] I'm sure you could explain that. [33:40] That we increased those some 10 or 20% as well. [33:44] We doubled the death tax exemption. [33:47] We made permanent the tax breaks on bonus depreciation, interest deductibility as well. [33:54] So all those are things that will help that family farm stay in business. [33:58] Couldn't be prouder of it. [33:59] I'm grateful that President Trump is giving us $8 billion more for diesel as well. [34:03] So I want to do everything I can. [34:05] I grew up on a hundred, both of my families had 160-acre farms, and I want to make sure that those family farms are still in business for the next generations. [34:14] We all do, but to my question, how long, or is there a line you have to draw on crop subsidies, farm subsidies, and obviously emergency payments are different. [34:23] But how long should taxpayers be on the hook if these farms can't sustain and support themselves? [34:30] 15 seconds. [34:31] You bet. [34:32] There's a reason that Americans pay about a third or half of what other developed nations do for food. [34:38] A third, a half. [34:41] It's because of us making sure that that farmer who can't get into his crop because there's water in the field, he can't go harvest his soybeans or corn right now. [34:50] So all those subsidies that you're calling them allow them to plant next year's crops and creates a stable supply and keeps the price down. [34:57] So this is more than just for the farmer. [34:59] This is a national security issue and keeps the cost of groceries down. [35:03] Thank you. [35:04] Can I ask something to this? [35:05] No, no. [35:06] I want you to stick with the question. [35:07] Sure. [35:08] I asked Mr. Marshall, how long do you subsidize family farms? [35:12] Do federal taxpayers do that? [35:15] Are there other ways around that as Mr. Marshall suggested? [35:19] Where would you draw that line? [35:21] 60 seconds. [35:22] So here's what I'm going to say is when I travel across the state talking to farmers and I've talked to lots of them and actually sat and listened to them. [35:27] And part of what they say is we don't want subsidies. [35:29] We just want to have an even playing field where we have a chance to, you know, to make a living. [35:33] And what's happening today because of the war in Iran, we have diesel prices record highs. [35:37] A year ago, $3.40 a gallon, now $6.40 a gallon. [35:41] That's killing people. [35:42] Phosphate doubling in price. [35:43] You have the tariffs which are impacting trade deals. [35:45] I mean, all of these things are making it harder and harder on Kansas farmers. [35:48] So we do need protection for Kansas farmers. [35:50] I will fight for that. [35:51] But I also want to say that what's happening in Washington that Roger Marshall is supporting is hurting Kansas farmers. [35:57] And they're crying out and saying, look, we don't want subsidies. [36:00] What we want is a chance to earn a decent living on our own. [36:03] And Washington is making it harder and harder and harder. [36:06] That's not okay. [36:07] And again, to my question. [36:08] Yeah. [36:09] Where do you draw the line on providing that support that farms that can't year after year support themselves? [36:14] Yeah. [36:15] You know what? [36:16] I'm not sure. [36:17] I won't. [36:18] I don't really have an answer to that. [36:19] So we do need to be able to help our farmers. [36:21] Our farmers need support. [36:22] There are times where the weather is going to be impacting their crops, where there's other unforeseen forces. [36:27] We've got to be able to support our farmers. [36:29] And that's critical for America. [36:30] Let me ask this question of both of you. [36:32] Mr. Marshall, we'll start with you first as a follow up. [36:35] Obviously, the biggest hold up right now in the Senate on getting a farm bill out is food benefits, SNAP. [36:42] The food stamp, the old food stamp program. [36:44] Is it time to separate SNAP from the farm bill? [36:47] 30 seconds. [36:48] I wish we could, but we don't have the votes to do it because Senate Democrats are focused on food stamps. [36:54] And we've increased the spending on food stamps from $80 billion a year, $80 billion a year to $150 billion a year. [37:01] So the Senate Democrats walk in lockstep on the food stamp. [37:05] And then the Republicans, we're sitting there fighting for the farmer. [37:08] And every Senate Democrats voting against those right now. [37:11] So the only way to get a farm bill passed is to bring both of these groups together. [37:15] Otherwise, you'll never get 60 votes on a Senate. [37:18] And by the way, within this farm bill, there's 150 bills within it. [37:21] 22 of those are mine. [37:22] They're all bipartisan bills that help with fertilizer issues, help with environmental issues as well. [37:28] The only reason that this isn't passed is because of politics, that the Senate Democrats are not willing to give Republicans a win. [37:34] Mr. Hamilton, your thoughts? [37:36] Is it time to separate SNAP from the farm bill? [37:38] No, it's not. [37:39] This is really important that we keep those two things together because it was formed to develop to support both urban poor children or poor children, really urban or rural, and our farmers. [37:48] And that is one way, as the Senator said, that we get this passed and across the finish line. [37:53] But I do want to remind him, as he laments the SNAP benefits, he's managed to cut SNAP benefits for thousands of children across the state of Kansas. [38:01] Our greatest Republican Senator was Bob Dole. [38:04] Bob Dole and George McGovern developed the SNAP program. [38:07] And they did it because they saw a kid who was hungry and didn't have food to eat at lunch. [38:11] And the kid said, I'm ashamed that I don't have lunch. [38:14] And they said, you know, we're ashamed that we're letting kids go hungry in our state. [38:18] But apparently our sitting Senator is not ashamed of letting kids go hungry. [38:21] Mr. Marshall, I'll let you rebut that and we'll give you up to 30 seconds. [38:26] Yeah, you know, once upon a time when people were coming off food stamps, it was meant to be a good thing. [38:30] It meant that they found a job. [38:32] Look, at least 80 or 90 percent of Kansas support some type of work requirement. [38:37] And we don't have very stringent requirements. [38:39] We're just asking people that are healthy of working age that don't have children under the age of 14 to go to try to get a job in just 20 hours a week. [38:47] That's all we're asking. [38:48] And the food stamp fraud error rates gone from like 5 percent to 15 percent in Kansas. [38:54] Kansas don't want fraud. [38:55] On the other hand, there's all these other food programs. [38:57] Kids today, they get free breakfast, reduced lunches, free dinners at school. [39:02] The food banks, we've increased funding. [39:03] And like I started this conversation up before, we went from spending 80 billion dollars a year to 150 billion. [39:09] I don't want any kid to go to bed hungry. [39:11] Thank you. [39:12] Let's talk about Social Security. [39:13] Older kids, so to speak. [39:15] You both talked about this at the State Fair. [39:17] It came up there. [39:18] But in watching that, I didn't get any specifics on how, because it's going to come up. [39:23] 2032, the trust fund is supposed to be out of money and automatic benefit cuts kick in. [39:29] So let's start with you, Mr. Hamilton. [39:32] And we have some specifics here. [39:33] Would you remove the cap on the payroll tax? [39:36] I think it's currently around $184,000. [39:37] So higher earners, I should say, pay Social Security tax on all their wages. [39:42] And would you raise the full retirement age for younger workers? [39:47] And if so, what age would that be? [39:50] 60 seconds. [39:51] Yeah, yeah. [39:52] So first of all, yes, I would raise the cap. [39:53] I don't think that I would take it away entirely, but I would raise the cap right now. [39:57] Somebody who's making $1 million a year is paying the same amount in FICA tax as somebody who's making $184,000 a year. [40:02] I think most people say, that's not right. [40:04] We need to change that. [40:05] And what the number is, I'm not sure right now. [40:08] But what I do believe is we need to bring thoughtful Republicans and Democrats together, [40:12] who are willing to have the courage to say, we've got to take a very serious look at this, [40:17] and we have to work together. [40:18] We have to stack hands, stop placing blame on the other party, and let's work together to solve this, [40:23] because 2032 is just around the corner. [40:25] And so far, Roger Marshall's been in Congress for 10 years, hasn't got the job done on this. [40:29] What about the retirement age, raising it for younger workers? [40:31] I think that's something we need to look at, but I'm not committing to that right now. [40:34] All right. [40:35] Mr. Marshall, same two questions for you. [40:37] Would you vote to remove that cap on the payroll tax, the income tax, or the income, [40:43] so that it was applied to wealthier Kansans, higher earners? [40:47] And would you support raising the retirement age? [40:50] And if so, for younger workers, at what level would you raise it, 60 seconds? [40:55] Yeah, so I would eliminate the cap altogether. [40:58] As far as adjusting the age, I think there's a lot of other things we can try to exhaust first on that side. [41:05] And there's four or five knobs here, and you're right. [41:07] It will take a Republicans and Democrats working together. [41:09] There's no easy answer because we have more people retiring than entering the workforce. [41:15] So that's one of the problems. [41:16] Look, a rising tide floats all boats. [41:18] The first thing we need to do is have a strong economy. [41:21] Look, we're expecting a 5% GDP growth this year. [41:24] That's what we need. [41:25] We need to minimize inflation. [41:26] We need a balance of budget. [41:28] It's all these things coming together. [41:30] But you have to realize what the Democrats want to do. [41:32] And again, if Chuck Schumer is in control, what he'll want to do is just borrow more money from your grandchildren. [41:37] That's always the Democrats' plan. [41:39] Either start a new program or just throw more money at the current government program. [41:43] The Democrats really don't have solutions. [41:45] So our solutions are going to be growing the economy, number one. [41:50] And also, there's a lot of fraud, waste, and abuse. [41:52] Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reporting hundreds of illegal aliens that are getting Social Security benefits. [41:57] This is something that my opponent has always supported, amnesty and giving illegal immigrants benefits, welfare benefits. [42:04] And let me ask you about the retirement age. [42:06] If I missed that, I apologize. [42:07] Did you have a retirement age you would set it at for younger workers? [42:10] I'm not ready to go there. [42:11] I think we have to figure out all these other dials. [42:13] You can't just play with one dial to have all the other dials figured out. [42:17] Can I respond to this? [42:18] Thank you. [42:19] You made 15 seconds. [42:20] So first of all, when I suggested that we needed to raise the cap at the State Fair debate, you called me a tax-and-spend liberal Democrat. [42:25] And yet you're saying the same thing today, which I really appreciate. [42:28] Thank you. [42:29] I can also hear your answer. [42:31] Hang on. [42:32] Let him finish. [42:33] Yeah, yeah. [42:34] You want to respond to the immigrant, the amnesty comment? [42:36] Yeah, yeah, yeah. [42:37] I want to respond to that and say, I have never advocated for amnesty, and I'm not advocating for people who are undocumented immigrants to be receiving Social Security. [42:43] He says this over and over and over again, like so many things, just complete falsehoods. [42:47] Mr. Marshall, final 15 seconds on this topic. [42:50] Listen, if Republicans are in control of the Senate, we're going to solve this problem. [42:55] If Democrats are in control, and again, control of the Senate comes through Kansas. [42:59] If Democrats are in control, they'll just punt it on down the road, punt the can down the road, and they're going to borrow money from your grandchildren. [43:05] You've been in charge for the last six years, and you still haven't made a difference here. [43:08] Let's move on to immigration enforcement, because that's obviously a topic worth talking about here. [43:13] Not necessarily citizenship, but enforcement here. [43:15] When we talk about E-Verify, that is a free, online-based system that allows employers to verify eligibility to work, it's voluntary for the most part around the country. [43:30] Mr. Marshall, should E-Verify be made a formal requirement, mandatory for businesses, to minimize perhaps the kinds of things we saw in southwest Kansas, those raids here just a couple of weeks ago? [43:43] You have 60 seconds. [43:44] Yeah, I think it's a good idea. [43:45] Of course, the devil's in the details. [43:47] Can we make it simple enough for that to work? [43:50] Again, all this discussion starts with the secure borders, and that's what Republicans will always give you, secure borders. [43:56] It was just two years ago that millions of people were coming across this country, and we're still suffering from them. [44:02] But now that we have secure borders, we can work on fixing this broken immigration system. [44:06] Look, you know, half of the kids I delivered my last several years of practice, their parents, one of the parents was not documented. [44:13] So we have to figure this out. [44:15] It's not going to be easy, but we're certainly not going to have amnesty. [44:18] Now that we have the border secure, we can absolutely have this conversation. [44:22] But under Democrat control, under Chuck Schumer's control, that we had open borders. [44:27] And that's what we'll go back to if my opponent is elected. [44:30] We'll go back to those open borders of Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden. [44:33] So I heard you say you would consider a possibility that E-Verify would be mandatory. [44:37] Mr. Hamilton, what say you about E-Verify? [44:39] Should it be mandatory to perhaps avoid the kinds of things we saw a couple of weeks ago? [44:43] No, I'm going to say the same thing. [44:44] 60 seconds. [44:45] Yeah, I'm going to say the same thing. [44:46] I would want to look at the details. [44:47] I think that's important. [44:48] I do find it interesting. [44:49] So I'm just curious, with all of those undocumented children that you delivered, [44:53] did you also call ICE and ask them to be taken away? [44:56] What did you do with these people? [44:57] You had compassion for them in delivering these children, but then you support quotas. [45:00] They're going to have people taken away. [45:02] Hutchinson, Kansas, I was there. [45:03] There was a preschool teacher arrested in front of her children. [45:05] That's just not okay. [45:06] We've militarized and politicized ICE as opposed to them doing the important job they're supposed to do. [45:11] And that is protecting Americans from dangerous people. [45:14] He says he spoke to the president after the ICE raids in the southwest part of the state. [45:18] Nine Republican state legislators also sent a letter to the president saying this is not okay. [45:23] This is really harming people in the livestock industry, the dairy industry, and it doesn't reflect who we are as Americans. [45:30] Let's follow up, if I may. [45:31] Sure, please. [45:32] However, the U.S. Attorney for Kansas said those were targeted raids aimed at violent offenders and those who had skipped out on removal. [45:38] Yeah. [45:39] So are you suggesting that we should not be, that ICE should not be taking care of that? [45:42] No, no. [45:43] 30 seconds. [45:44] I absolutely believe they should be taking care of that. [45:45] Unfortunately, right now where we are is people are terrified when ICE shows up because they've been militarized, politicized, and so people don't show up at work. [45:51] You have 150 cattle cars coming in every day to the meatpacking plants, and people are not showing up at work. [45:57] Dairy as well because they're terrified. [45:58] And our people in Kansas are decent people. [46:00] We don't want people terrified in our communities. [46:02] Thank you, sir. [46:03] Before we move on, I want to remind folks you'll see a QR code on your screen there. [46:07] You can scan that code. [46:09] It will provide you a link to take you to our post-debate show in which we hope both of the candidates will join us briefly when we wrap up here. [46:16] Let's move to the Middle East. [46:18] Mr. Hamilton, you said the U.S. should keep providing Israel with defensive weapons, but you oppose offensive weapons. [46:28] In April, your opponent helped make sure Israel was able to buy 12,000 bombs, even though Democrats in the Senate tried to block that sale. [46:37] Would you have voted to block that sale? [46:39] And what would Israel have to do different, in your view, in order to receive not just defensive weapons, but offensive weapons? [46:46] You have 60 cents. [46:47] Sure. [46:48] So I've been to Israel 12 times. [46:49] I have been both in Palestine and Israel. [46:51] I care about people on both sides of this great divide. [46:54] But I will say, when you see entire cities flatten in Gaza, and we're not just talking about rooting out Hamas, who needs to be rooted out. [46:59] They are a terrible, you know, evil entity. [47:01] They need to be rooted out. [47:02] But when you talk about dropping bombs on massive population centers and seeing as many as 70, 75,000 people who have been killed. [47:09] And you're talking lots of civilians. [47:11] I think most Americans look at that and go, wait, did I do that? [47:14] Did I provide those weapons? [47:16] Now, I believe in providing a strong defense for Israel. [47:19] They are our allies. [47:20] But I also don't believe on our weaponry paid for with our tax money being used. [47:25] And by the way, they're buying, but they're using our aid to buy our weapons and then dropping them on innocent civilians. [47:31] That's just not OK. [47:32] It's not decent. [47:33] It's not who we are as Americans. [47:35] And so I don't support that. [47:36] Thank you, sir. [47:37] Mr. Marshall, is there any action by Israel? [47:40] You do support offensive and defensive weapons. [47:42] Any action by Israel that would cause you to block a sale to that country? [47:47] 60 seconds. [47:48] No, I'm sure there is. [47:50] But they've not. [47:51] I'm not sure what it would be, but I'm sure. [47:53] But I'm absolutely that there would be. [47:55] Look, we need to remember that Israel has been one of America's greatest allies. [48:00] That they are the only democracy in a very troubled, troubled area. [48:03] A place that's been under battle for thousands of years, even before Christ, this place was under siege. [48:09] I don't think that we're going to solve this problem tonight. [48:11] I think we have to manage it. [48:13] And I think the way we manage it is making allies, making partners there like we're doing, and working together. [48:21] And again, the strong peace through strength that we have to have a very strong military. [48:26] It's just a different world over there. [48:28] I think even for someone, a novice, even to start making national security policy without all the details, I think it's really hard to do that. [48:36] I think it's a very challenging place. [48:39] It's never been simple. [48:41] But I want to stay focused on America. [48:43] I want to make sure that our borders are secure. [48:45] Let's take care of things at home first and make this our big priority. [48:48] All right. [48:49] Let's move on to an issue surrounding Title IX. [48:52] It's become a cultural issue, in fact. [48:54] But first, real quick, 15-second answer or less. [48:59] Mr. Marshall, how many genders are there? [49:02] Well, there's two. [49:03] There's a boy and there's a girl. [49:05] I delivered 5,000 of them and almost half were boys and half were girls. [49:09] Mr. Hamilton, I'll ask you that same question. [49:11] How many genders are there? [49:12] There are two genders, male and female. [49:14] Thank you, sir. [49:15] Now, Mr. Marshall, you've supported making eligibility for girls and women's sports depend on biological sex at birth. [49:24] Who should verify that? [49:26] And what should a school be allowed to require as proof of that? [49:31] And how would you enforce that rule? [49:33] You have 60 seconds. [49:34] Well, we certainly don't want the federal government to sort this out. [49:37] I would think that the Kansas Athletic Association can figure this out much better than we can. [49:44] And if they want to go to the trouble of anatomical examination or checking chromosomes just by swabbing their cheek, I think if someone's in question, they could do something as simple as that to check their DNA. [49:55] All right. [49:56] Mr. Hamilton, on October 11th, you told ABC News this. [49:59] I don't believe that men should be competing in women's sports. [50:03] Your opponent, of course, backed legislation that he says would keep boys out of girls' sports by basically threatening federal funding under Title IX. [50:14] Would you vote for that requirement in order to keep men out of or boys out of girls' sports, or should local organizations be determining that issue? [50:24] 60 seconds. [50:25] Yeah, I think local organizations should be determining that issue. [50:27] And I want to say I have a 12-year-old granddaughter. [50:29] I don't want biological men or boys competing against her. [50:33] That could harm her. [50:34] It's not a fair fight. [50:35] And even though my opponent says the opposite of this over really ad nauseum about me, but that is my position. [50:42] But I think it's more local rather than the federal government getting involved in whether it's suing schools or school districts as sometimes they're inclined to do right now. [50:49] Follow-up questions, same subject. [50:52] Mr. Marshall, would you allow the rule that you support to apply at every age, or would you make exceptions for older student athletes? [51:01] How would you approach that? [51:02] 30 seconds. [51:03] Gosh. [51:04] Again, I think we better leave that at the local level. [51:07] Certainly before puberty, you could make a case that girls may have even an advantage before puberty. [51:15] But I think by the time they're in high school that boys need to be in boys sport, girls in girls sports. [51:20] And again, the Democrat Party under Chuck Schumer, they keep pushing these transgender ideology upon us. [51:26] And Kansans don't want that. [51:28] If he's elected, Chuck Schumer controls the Senate, and this is exactly what we're going to get. [51:33] He's going to say he's going to vote against these things, but every Democrat stands up, and when Schumer tells him to jump, they say how high. [51:39] So why is he going to be any different once he gets to Washington? [51:42] He can tell us one thing, but let's see what his actions would be like. [51:45] Mr. Hamilton, I'll allow you to follow up with that. [51:48] And then he would also answer the question, would you make age difference exceptions? [51:52] 30 seconds. [51:53] Yeah. [51:54] I don't know about age difference exceptions. [51:55] I need to see more about that. [51:56] But here's what I can say, is we've heard Chuck Schumer mentioned, I don't know, 50 times, maybe. [52:01] I'm going to exaggerate, maybe 20 times so far. [52:03] I find that interesting. [52:04] I've already said I wouldn't support Chuck Schumer for the Senate Majority Leader if the Democrats to control the Senate. [52:08] But here's what I do want to say, is my opponent has made this into a big issue. [52:13] Now, I was taught, and I've preached for years, love your neighbors, you love yourself. [52:17] I know what that looks like. [52:18] That looks like caring for people who are, you know, picked on and bullied. [52:21] And I feel like my opponent, he's taking an issue, picking on people, bullying people. [52:25] I don't think that's okay. [52:26] That's not who we are as Kansans. [52:28] Let's move on now to health care, because that's obviously important to all Kansans. [52:32] Nationwide, we're hearing, enrollment in the government's Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as many refer to it, dropped by nearly 5 million from 2025 to 2026. [52:43] Just over 36,000 Kansans were among them, dropping their coverage higher premiums cited as one of the main reasons. [52:51] According to the KFF Peterson Tracker, Kansas rates for premiums are rising by more than 17%, and a key factor is the expiration of those federal tax credits in 2025. [53:06] Mr. Hamilton, you support extending those tax credits. [53:10] The Congressional Budget Office, nonpartisan, says that would add $350 billion to the federal deficit over a 10-year period. [53:20] How would you make up for that lost revenue? [53:23] 60 seconds. [53:24] Sure, absolutely. [53:25] This is critical. [53:26] So, I was in Hutchinson, Kansas. [53:27] A woman comes to me, and she says, I'm one of those people who lost my health insurance. [53:30] She said, after the subsidies went away, she's a working person, she's not on welfare, $2,700 a month became her health insurance premium. [53:36] She said, I had to decide between my house or my health insurance. [53:39] This is just not right. [53:40] We have to solve health insurance. [53:41] We've got to solve for this. [53:42] But right now, we've got an interim period of time where we've got to be able to make sure people can afford to buy health insurance. [53:47] It's more than 36,000 people have lost health insurance in the city of Kansas, we think, today. [53:52] Closer to 50,000 people when you take the Medicaid, folks who lost as a result of Medicaid. [53:57] And so, looking at that and saying, that's like one in 60 people in the state of Kansas who had health insurance a year and a half ago, don't have it today. [54:03] When my opponent, Roger Marshall, a doctor, voted to take away those health benefits from people, that's not okay. [54:09] We have got to do better than that. [54:11] So, I'm saying, we've got to roll those subsidies back in, and then we've got to bring together Republicans and Democrats to really solve for health care long term. [54:18] Again, my opponent talks about it, hasn't done it. [54:21] With all due respect, you didn't answer my question, though. [54:23] If over 10 years, $350 billion is lost, how do you replace that? [54:27] So, $35 billion a year. [54:28] I just want to just keep in mind, the President offered to pay people, voters, $5,000 apiece to re-elect Roger Marshall. [54:34] That's not my question. [54:35] No, no, no. [54:36] Hold on. [54:37] And he was going to spend a trillion dollars to do that. [54:39] That was going to cost a trillion dollars. [54:40] So, we're talking $350 billion over 10 years in order to help people have their health insurance. [54:45] Listen, there's other ways we can cut, but we've got to do better by our people. [54:50] So, you would cut to make way of that money? [54:52] I would look to see, yeah. [54:53] How can we do that? [54:54] Let me ask you this quick follow-up. [54:55] Or I would take it from the trillion dollars that the President was going to spend to bribe Americans to vote for Roger Marshall and others. [54:59] The follow-up for you would be, do you support Medicare for All? Universal health insurance? Is that an answer to your concern? [55:04] I want universal access to a basic level of health care. [55:07] I don't believe Medicare for All is going to be the thing that's going to get that done. [55:10] But I think everybody in America should have a basic access. [55:13] And the answer can't be go to the emergency room, which is, I think, Roger Marshall's answer. [55:17] We've got to figure out a better way so that every person in America has access to basic levels of health care so that they can afford to pay for their treatment and they aren't being sued by their doctors when they don't get paid. [55:29] Thank you, sir. [55:30] Marshall, you voted for the one big, beautiful bill, which, of course, did not extend those tax credits. [55:35] They were COVID-19 subsidies. [55:37] You say you do want affordable access to health care as a doctor yourself. [55:42] So, specifics here. [55:44] What would you propose to provide that access? [55:47] How would you pay for it? [55:49] 60 seconds. [55:50] Look, I'm already doing it. [55:51] This is something Bernie Sanders and I worked very well together on, that we've expanded community health centers. [55:56] We've expanded behavioral health centers. [55:59] We brought in $220 million for a rural health transformation fund. [56:05] We've added $1.3 billion for Kansas hospitals from a Medicaid provider tax as well. [56:11] So, we're bringing those monies in. [56:13] I think we need to look at the real problem here. [56:15] The Affordable Care Act wasn't so affordable after all. [56:19] Listen, it was written by big insurance companies and big hospitals which are printing money. [56:24] And that's why they're all campaigning against me. [56:26] Look, the Democrats are bought and paid for by big insurance companies and big hospitals who wrote it. [56:31] And again, my opponent, that would be his solution as well. [56:34] And eventually, Bernie Sanders and the Democrats want this Medicare for All, which really turns into Medicaid for All. [56:41] And your health care will be diluted as well. [56:44] But instead, I've also got my transparency bill that forces health care providers to show you the prices up front. [56:50] For the first time in 60 years, prescription drug prices are coming down. [56:54] Again, much because of legislation I wrote to support it as well. [56:57] So, we're doing it in so many ways, but we cannot continue the Democrat, Obama, who is your idol. [57:03] No, no. [57:04] You can't continue this plan. [57:05] We're running out of time. [57:06] I'd love to respond, though. [57:07] We're running out of time. [57:08] This is so important, John. [57:09] I understand, but time flies when you're having fun, right? [57:12] All right. [57:13] So, we're going to do a couple quick lightning round questions just to kind of lighten the mood a bit as we get to your closing statements, all right? [57:18] We have just enough times here. [57:19] Mr. Hamilton, what streaming show are you watching right now? [57:23] Oh, my gosh. [57:24] You know, I don't have time to watch any streaming show. [57:25] You probably don't have time, right? [57:26] I don't have time to watch any of them during the campaign. [57:28] If you could. [57:29] Yeah, I've enjoyed Starfleet Academy, so I like sci-fi. [57:32] Mr. Marshall, what about you? [57:33] I don't even have streaming. [57:34] I don't know what you're talking about. [57:35] It's the Chiefs for me and K-State football until KU basketball starts. [57:39] Fair enough. [57:40] One other quick question for both of you. [57:43] Mr. Marshall, what's your favorite stretch of Kansas Highway? [57:45] Oh, gosh. [57:46] I think it's 177 between Manhattan and Cassidy. [57:50] Same question for you. [57:51] Yeah, I think it's I-35 through the Flint Hills. [57:54] I'm telling you, I just, I marvel at it every time I'm there. [57:57] One of the most beautiful places on God's green earth. [57:59] I agree with both of you. [58:00] Let's go to closings now. [58:01] We appreciate you participating tonight. [58:03] We did a card draw for closings. [58:06] Mr. Hamilton gets the first closing, 30 seconds. [58:08] Sure. [58:09] If you appreciate having record diesel fuel prices, 50,000 people in Kansas taken off of [58:13] healthcare, thousands of children no longer receiving SNAP benefits. [58:16] If you feel like it's okay to have ice arresting people in Southwest Kansas and hurting our livestock [58:22] industry, if you think the tariffs are good and unpredictability, chaos and corruption is [58:26] okay in Washington, then I'd say vote for Roger Marshall. [58:29] If you want change, then I'd like to ask you to vote for me. [58:31] Whether you're Republican, Democrat or Independent, I will stand up for you. [58:34] I will fight for you. [58:35] And I'm going to make sure that in Washington, D.C., we're acting with decency, compassion, kindness, [58:41] and we're doing the right thing for the people in Kansas. [58:43] Please vote for me. [58:44] My website's HamiltonForKansas.com. [58:46] Check it out. [58:47] Mr. Marshall, your closing statement. [58:49] 30 seconds. [58:50] Secure borders, stronger military, lower taxes. [58:53] That's what Republicans stand for. [58:55] Secure borders, stronger military, lower taxes. [58:58] If we would lose this seat, that means Chuck Schumer controls the Senate. [59:03] That means Elizabeth Warren would control the Banking Committee. [59:06] Bernie Sanders would control the healthcare. [59:09] And Cory Booker would be in charge of the Ag Committee. [59:12] We can't have that. [59:13] That's not what Kansas needs. [59:14] We need someone who's going to stand up and make sure that we have strong jobs, good jobs, [59:18] and protects our traditional Kansas values. [59:21] I'm a fifth-generation farm kid who got to live his American dream, [59:25] delivering a baby most every day for some 25 years. [59:28] Thank you, sir. [59:29] Appreciate that. [59:30] Please vote. [59:31] Appreciate you both being here. [59:32] Thank you for joining us tonight all across the state of Kansas. [59:34] Don't forget to vote and have a great rest of your debate night in Kansas.