Senator Chuck Grassley falsely claimed during his Capitol Hill Report last week that he has debated his opponents in every campaign.
While Grassley has certainly run in many campaigns and could have possibly made the error of forgetting an early campaign, he never agreed to debate his primary opponent in this campaign cycle — State Sen. Jim Carlin.
Grassley was asked about a recent article in the Iowa Capital Dispatch which highlighted the lack of Republican candidates engaging in debates and participating in events like the Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.
Grassley said he will debate his Democrat opponent, Mike Franken, on Oct. 6. Later during the interview, Grassley said he wasn’t aware of this being an issue. The reporter followed up…
“Senator, specifically with respect to debates, and participating in the debates, it’s not the first time in your history as a candidate that you’ve declined to participate in debates with other candidates.”
Grassley interrupted.
“No, that’s wrong. That’s wrong because there’s never been a campaign that I haven’t debated my opponent. Not one. Not one.”
Grassley never debated Carlin during the primary, despite requests by the Carlin campaign.
