BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - The candidates for New York's 27th congressional district participated in the annual debate held by St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute.
The debate, moderated by Ted Lina, featured pointed questions from students and the moderator to Republican Congressman Chris Jacobs, democratic candidate Nate McMurray, and libertarian candidate Duane Whitmer.
Coronavirus was the first of nearly a dozen topics discussed. Specifically, the candidates were asked whether or not President Trump's did a good job handling the health crisis.
"No one has gotten it perfect," Congressman Jacobs said. "I think the president has done a good job. He's made significant and swift actions in terms of closing travel from China, which I believe saved hundreds of thousands of lives. He commissioned a defense production act so we can turn around quickly more ventilators and PPE gowns. We saw in New York City...bringing the USS Comfort to New York City to provide aid there. The Army Corps of Engineers converted the Javits Center nearly overnight into a hospital."
While Jacobs had positive things to say about President Trump's handling of the pandemic, his political opponents said otherwise. Both McMurray and Whitmer believe the federal government has failed in their response.
"President Trump has failed," McMurray said. "There will be books written about this. This is a historic fiasco. We have about 4 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's deaths. Here's the worst thing about it: He lied to us. He knew how dangerous it was. It's as if somebody was hiding outside your door ready to attack you and he knew and didn't tell you. He figured you'd fight it off yourself."
"There was a test kit pending FDA approval for 60 days at the height of the coronavirus pandemic but we couldn't get FDA approval because of overbearing regulations and overbearing issues," Whitmer said. "Governor Cuomo panicked and Chris Jacobs voted to give him executive power to allow him to shut down your church, your school, your business, and ruin your childhood. The government has failed because they don't have solutions. These people don't care about solution. They don't care about change. They're overreacting because they don't know how to react."
• Other topics discussed include lowering the federal deficit, immigration, health care, marijuana, systemic racism, abortion, foreign affairs, sanctuary cities, questionable behavior by those in power, and whether or not they support their party's candidate for president. Listen to the entire debate below:
