Rep. Beto O’Rourke challenged Sen. Ted Cruz to six debates before Election Day, including two in Spanish. Cruz countered with five– all in English.
Cruz’s proposed debate schedule would take place on Friday nights “because the Senate is expected to be in session during that time,” his staff said. The debates would each be one hour long and vary in format from town hall-style to seated or standing one-on-one debates.
They would all be in English and in five different cities:
- Aug. 31 in Dallas on “Jobs/Taxes/Federal Regulations/National Economy”
- Sept. 14 in McAllen on “Immigration/Border Security/Criminal Justice/Supreme Court”
- Sept. 21 in San Antonio on “Foreign Policy/National Security”
- Oct. 5 in Houston on “Energy/Trade/Texas Economy”
- Oct. 12 in Lubbock on “Healthcare/Obamacare”
When asked earlier this year if he would debate O’Rourke, Cruz told reporters he is “sure we’ll see a debate in this race.” Cruz added that he debated U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., multiple times on national TV, adding, “I am not remotely afraid to debate left-wing liberal socialists.”
During a conference call with reporters O’Rourke suggested he wasn’t intimidated of Cruz, who is a college debate champion and attorney who has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court nine times.
“While I know that Cruz is a master debater, a very skilled politician, a very shrewd person … I would love the opportunity to talk about what all of us have been doing together over the course of the campaign and what we want to achieve for Texas,” O’Rourke told supporters.
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