BREAKING: Hawley Campaign Rejects TV Debates, Makes It Clear State Fair Stunt Was Meant To Avoid Future Debates
Independence, MO — A month into the general election, incumbent Josh Hawley has now rejected or refused to accept every invitation to participate in a fully televised U.S. Senate debate with his opponent, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce.
Hawley’s rejection of Gray Media’s invitation to participate in a televised debate comes just three weeks after Hawley’s embarrassing State Fair stunt backfired.
“Josh Hawley robbed Missourians of $250,000 to cover for his lawbreaking. He’s robbed Missourians of control over their own bodies. Now he’s robbing them of a chance to see a real debate in this Senate race,” said Kunce. “And this is the guy who wrote a book titled ‘Manhood’ — could Josh Hawley get any less serious?”
“Hawley’s strategy is clear — while he rejects fully televised debates, he’s spending millions of dollars on false attack ads against a Marine veteran, without a single ad even touting his own record in the Senate. And most cynically, he tried to get out of being held accountable for it with his fake debate stunt, which his campaign has now made clear was purely intended to dodge future debates,” said campaign manager Caleb Cavarretta. “He wants his lies to go unchallenged because he’s scared — but Lucas has built a movement that can fight back with more power than any challenger campaign before it in Missouri. There’s nowhere Hawley can run away to this time.”
Timeline of events:
- On August 6th, Lucas Kunce challenges Josh Hawley to five televised debates on multiple news channels, including on Fox News.
- The Missouri State Fair rejects a debate on fairgrounds on August 9th — but Hawley attempts an embarrassing debate stunt on August 14th anyway, in a transparent attempt to use that stunt as an excuse to dodge future debates.
- Hawley keeps ignoring real debate offers after the stunt — much unlike his 2018 campaign, where he constantly demanded media debates.
- Hawley rejects a debate offer from Gray TV stations across the state, making it clear the state fair stunt was intended to avoid future debates.