Martha McSally (R-AZ) has gone from a never-Trumper to an unapologetic backer of the president, while Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) demonstrated an eerie calm in their only face off Monday night in Arizona.
McSally started the debate sounding truly annoyed about being asked about her never-Trump past. But in 2016, McSally never endorsed Trump, and she called his comments about sexual assault ‘disgusting’ and ‘unacceptable.’ In addition, she was caught on tape last year telling donors that Trump’s behavior and Twitter habit made her life more difficult.
But tonight you would never know that McSally and Trump haven’t been friends for years. McSally expressed support for the president, describing Trump as a “disrupter” who isn’t afraid to shake up Washington and take bold steps on trade with the goal of helping Americans.
McSally, like Mitt Romney in Utah, are both desperately attempting to bury their concerns about Trump’s character raised just two years ago. They have seen the plight of Sen. Jeff Flake and have decided it’s better to be on Trump’s train rather than be run over by it.
Sinema, who had a calm and passionless demeanor during the debate, almost to the point of voters wondering if she can hold her own in the senate, had to be asked three times before she finally revealed that she would have voted no on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
That dodge was frankly annoying, especially considering she had put out a statement to that effect prior to the vote. McSally said she would have joined her fellow Republicans and voted yes.
Sinema did have one light moment, claiming Trump’s tariffs have driven up the cost of beer.
“That’s something I think we should all be able to agree on – that beer shouldn’t cost more,” Sinema quipped.
McSally again seemed annoyed to be asked about the possibility of Kavanaugh being the fifth vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. She emphasized several times she is anti-abortion, but continued to dodge whether she personally wanted to see Roe v. Wade overturned.
Perhaps sensing that the proposed Trump wall on the border is popular in Arizona, Sinema moved to the right saying she would back legislation that includes funding for it. McSally, like Trump before her, has made the wall a central part of her campaign.
McSally touted the current economy and her support of Trump’s tax cuts, failing to mention that just today the Treasury Department announced the deficit has swelled to $779 billion this year. Still, the economy is hard for Sinema, and other Democrats, to argue this year.
McSally and Sinema also disagreed on what would result from their proposed fixes to ObamaCare. McSally championed a plan that sounds an awful lot like what existed prior to the current law that protects preexisting conditions. Sinema was not specific on how she would stabilize the health care markets, and she was not asked if she prefers a Medicare for all type system.
McSally provided a high-octane moment when she brought up Sinema’s opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s.
“While we were in harms way, she was protesting our troops in a pink tutu,” McSally said, echoing an ad her campaign is running against Sinema.
McSally’s military service, and the effective way she advertises it, could be the deciding factor in a state that has not sent a Democrat to the senate in over twenty years.