MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican challenger Eric Hovde repeatedly accused each other of lying over the course of their closely watched Senate race during an often-testy and confrontational debate Friday.
Here are eight takeaways from the debate, held in Madison and hosted by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association:
Repeated allegations of lying
In their back-and-forth, each candidate accused the other of playing fast and loose with the truth, both on the campaign trail and during the debate itself.
“The one thing you’ve perfected in Washington is your ability to lie,” Hovde said during an exchange about Social Security.
His comment came after Baldwin pointed out that Hovde supports returning the federal budget to 2019 levels, which she said will result in massive cuts to popular programs like Social Security.
“He supports spending, just not for you,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin noted that more than a dozen independent fact-checkers found that Hovde made false statements during the campaign.