is made this country less safe. and, in fact, my opponent wants to go even further to the extreme to allow more people in this country for unfettered and illegal migrants. >> that's just not true, congressman. that's not to. >> donald trump is promising mass deportations on day one of his presidency. these would inevitably because he is much as a trillion dollars over ten years, and a large reduction in the gdp of more than 4% due to the loss of workers and industries that can't find enough labor. in addition to the humanitarian costs. so will you support mass deportations in congress,ot mr. king? and how should we cover these costs and what will not get done so mass deportations can be prioritized?d? .. over 10 years and a large reduction in the gdp of more than 4% due to loss of workers

in industries i cannot find enough labor. in addition to the humanitarian cost. will you support mass deportations in congress and how should we cover these costs and what will not get done so that mass deportations can be prioritized? >> over the course of the last three and a half years, >> to make sure that those individuals who are criminals and who-- could be deported naturally need to start. my opponent has an extreme position in this regard and she supports allowing-- and she's left of joe biden on her policies on the border. she supports illegal unvetted people coming across unchecked and that's clear tonight. we need to ensure that we have people who can be leaders and at the southern border to make our communities safe. >> yeah, congressman, you just dodged the question. you were asked a specific

question, would you support supporting migrants, yes or no. we're going to let you finish your statement and then we can go back to tom kean for a 30 second rebuttal, but finish your remaining 35 seconds. i know how the reporters feel. [laughter] >> i obviously do not support supporting migrants. that's the end of my answer. >> mr. kean, would you like 30 seconds to respond? >> as i said in my first minute, i said when we started to look at the people who have committed crimes and here illegally, that's where we should start and people here both illegally and who have a criminal record. >> okay, we're going to move on now, david, we go back to you and your next set of questions. >> and there's so many questions to ask and we're a

little behind so what i'd like to do is this. in this next round, i'm going to read a statement and i'm going to ask that you simply respond with your agreement or disagreement with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. you're both going to be on the camera at the same time. if you feel you want to amplify your view, you can use both hands awe allows us to move things quickly, hopefully. we'll give you each 60 seconds at the end to address anything that you'd like to. so, let's put both candidates up together and i'll start with this, joe, thumbs up if you agree, thumbs down in you disagree. joe biden was a fair and legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election. okay. congress should consider a

constitutional amendment to eliminate the electoral college. >> thumbs up, thumbs down. >> okay. climate change is real and it's a threat to america's future. israel is committing genocide and the u.s. must stop supporting the war with hamas. casting your ballot by mail is safe and it's secure. >> getting some agreement in this round. congress should consider granting some form of reparations to black americans as part of a national apology for the practice of slavery. >> this is an agree or disagree. i will vote to fund a strong

national defense, including nuclear weapons to assure that the united states maintains a military advantage over the nations. social media is a threat to the mental health of children and to americans of all ages. bill murphy has been a great governor for new jersey. i'm looking forward to another four years of donald trump in the white house. my party has done everything possible to help me win this election. there are people currently serving in the u.s. house of representatives who are worse human beings than my opponent.

there is extraterrestrial life on a planet beyond earth. [laughter] >> i will unconditionally agree to vote to certify the results of the 2024 election, regardless whether my preferred candidate wins and why don't we-- 60 seconds on that round of questions on anything, and you'd like to comment on. >> i want to talk about the reparations thing. so new jersey remains a segregated state and i think it's important to study the ways in which we can stop segregation and stop perpetuity of poverty in this country. while i don't believe in reparations, i think we need to understand how not to repeat history and how to break the cycle of poverty in our country

and all races, white folks, black folks and everyone in between, we need to make sure we understand why poverty seems to be generational and what we can do as a country break it. for every child important in poverty, they have a lower quality of life, lower life expectancy. worth educational outcomes and to say nothing of the humanitarian problem there and it's a loss of human capital potential. >> my opponent supports getting rid of electoral college. that was by the framers of the constitution so everybody has a voice and she also has an extreme position in terms of expanding the supreme court. we need to send people down to washington d.c. that are supported by republican and democrats alike, like i was last cycle, who it find common

ground and make sure we have those necessary and make sure that we have the trust to make sure that we can make the right decisions on behalf of our constituents. >> would you like 30 seconds to respond? >> no. >> okay. all right. very good. you agreed on quite a bit there and we all agree we're going to take a quick commercial break. stay with us as we continue debate night here in new jersey's race for the 7th congressional district between incumbent tom kean and susan altman. i'm laura jones, stay with us. >> thanks for staying with us, i'm laura jones and debate night in new jersey. the first and only debate in the 7th judicial district between the incumbent john kean, a republican and democrat susan altman. now is the time in the debate we'll let the candidates ask a

question to each other, first tom kean to susan altman and then susan altman to tom kean. >> and first over to you, tom kean? >> thank you. it's important that you've grown up in new jersey, to protect our environment. we need to make sure we have clean air, clean water, clean soil. and, but -- in fact, i met my wife rhonda a little over 30 years ago when we're both working for the epa and making sure that we have, you know, responsible environmental protections, but also making sure we grow the economy. it is important for future generations of this country. you know, my question for you, sue, you've changed your position on so many issues over the course of the last couple months during this campaign. do you still support aoc's green new deal? >> i support components of it. i think that it's very important that we transition to

a clean economy. i think a lot of what was in the original green new deal was supported and enveloped into the last big budget bill that was passed through congress and i think we need-- i mean, there's not a lot radical in investing in public transportation, growing green economy and keeping our clean air and water safe for future generations. congressman, as you know, project 2025 wants to get rid of the department of environmental protections so super fund sites like the one i grew up near on lowerton town road would never get cleaned up and areas of new jersey, this beautiful part of the state that's a complete, just an area of beautiful rivers and lakes would be under attack from pollutants. people once said that in new jersey we could never clean up our state because it could hurt the economy, we've been able to. we have cleaner air than ever before, cleaner water than ever before.

we've protected the highland water and watershed and we continue to grow a green economy. i know we can do it, i believe in us, and if it wasn't for partisan bickering and if it wasn't for the incompetence and the nastiness and divisiveness of our current congress, of our current presidential nominee on the republican side i know that we could build a clean economy that works for everyone. there's nothing radical about saving acreage from development. nothing radical about building up our flood protections to make sure that towns like lambertville, or clinton, or lyndon are protected. there's nothing radical making sure there's a one seat rise from every town in the district. when were you in politics, supported chris christie, gutted the arc tunnel would have been done by now, and cheaply and all of this time the commuters have wasted waiting for late trains wave been salvaged.

congressman there's nothing radical about a sustainable solution, it doesn't mean the green new deal, but stop the bickering and partisanship, that paints all in sum, not all not. >> now susan altman you can ask tom kean a question. >> congressman, i'm glad we did this, i would have liked to do more. if you want to do another one, i'm always game. i have -- while were you in congress, or sorry, while were you in the state senate, you voted against gay marriage. while were you in state senate, you voted down the minimum wage bill, voted to slash the benefits of law enforcement and teachers and a few weeks ago convicted felonies, you endorsed donald trump. congressman, do you regret any of these things, any of these decisions you made or do you stand by them tonight? oh, and i forgot one more, you

also voted against planned parenthood and voted against the codification of roe in new jersey. tell me, congressman of all the things i've listed, do you regret any of them. >> as you know, i, like many people, republicans and democrats alike when the vote was first cast in 2013-2014, changed their minds on marriage equality and i voted on it in the state senate as well. the most important thing we can do is send lead towers washington d.c. who can find common ground and understand what is important in people's lives. my opponent has an extreme position, whether she is not a person who works across the aisle, to find common ground and always be on the extreme progressive wing of her own party. the reason that the firefighters are supporting me is because i can work to find the common ground to find those. the reason that the police, every single police union has endorsed in this race has

enforced me because i understanded dangerous policies that would make streets less safe for -- if susan altman's politics were prosecuted, we also know that the building trades, people who are working hard, grow this economy and build this economy, are supporting me because they know that susan altman is extreme in her policies. i ran for congress to solve problems for the people. i've joined the problem solvers caucus and fought to make sure we lower overall costs and in four months of me taking office i was one of two republicans and two democrats, who found the common blueprint to keep the government open after only four months as -- in congress. i've done that on many issues and on domestic and foreign policy. focus on finding common ground. >> okay. we're going to go back to our

panel and over to joey fox for his next round of questions. >> congressman, you alone, among new jersey's members of congress, don't talk to reporters in the halls of the capitol and turned down a request for an interview from me, an in depth interview on your positions and beliefs. why is that? >> as i -- i respect the press. when we look at-- i've had seven town halls to reach thousands of constituents, we go where the constituents want to meet with us and whether the senior town halls or at schools and veterans town halls. but i also have a policy and you know this joey from when we were in the legislature and people around the state know, that i've got a policy when i'm down in washington d.c., i make sure that i'm on my constituent's time and making sure i find their solutions,

that i -- it's important to schedule that type of congress. as you know, i have been right now i've spoken to the ledger and nj-tv and news, and the record, and talked to local groups, including you, so my focus is to make sure that we have a direct conversation with our constituents in the ways that they are best able to-- i also have weekly newsletters as well. >> joey. >> excuse me, susan altman, your response. joey-- >> no, no. >> congressman, i have done, by this time next week i have have done seven town halls in seven counties and one extra one at the college, new jersey's crown jewel, only four year university and you have done

zero in-person town halls. every time we do one of these town halls our organizing team goes out and recruit people who are undecided voters and deep meaningful in the town hall, they're unscripted. people are allowed to get up and ask me anything about the issues. they have been productive, i think they've brought us closer together as a district and that's so clear is that people are hungry for this conversation, to not hold town halls, to dodge the press, to avoid your constituents, that is a dereliction of duty. i understand why you do it, you have a cognitive dissonance you have to have in your brain. elon musk as values, donald trump's values, and extremists in your party don't match the values of our district and you're worried about having to explain yourself. i'm here to tell you your

absence created a vacuum and we're filling with leadership and it's disrespectful. >> i'm going to give the congressman 30 seconds to responds. the vast majority of this district prefer that i come to them whether it's through the telephone tone halls, the in-person district meetings within their communities and making sure we go where they are, which is going to the schools, when we go to the veterans, when we go to senior centers, when we're able to have the conversations in person where we can listen and learn. the vast majority of people prefer this type of outreach and in-person communication. >> all right. joey? >> ms. altman, a cornerstone of vice-president harris' campaign is to build three million homes nationwide as we've seen development battles in places like westfield and summit and elsewhere in the district, new development isn't always warmly

received. do you support the vice-president's plan and do you think that any of those homes should be built in the 7th district? >> there's definitely a housing shortage in new jersey and part of that comes from new york city. because new york city has not kept up with its bargains in terms of building housing at all and so, all of that extra need floods over into new jersey. we need to fix our transportation system before we continue to add pressure onto it. but if we can fix public transportation and we can preserve open space because that's crucial and i grew up into the late '80s, early '90s of new jersey and watched beautiful beloved farms that i loved become paved over and become shopping centers. we have to provide open space and public transportation, but we can build walkable downtown, build places like clinton and lambertville, beautiful downtown and we can make them and towns all over the district accessible to people of all kinds. we can make sure we have enough

housing so that first time home buyers could afford to purchase homes and live in our communities, it will make us stronger, it will make us richer as a state and i'm supportive of plans that build housing in smart, sustainable ways in communities where it's wanted. >> tom kean. >> i think that one of the things that makes new jersey so special is you have three generations of people who live near each other and unfortunately, for the seniors, for the parents, as well as the kids, it's unaffordable at every step, and that is in part because of the increased spending, increased cost that directly caused inflation. everybody is making the toughest choices between getting the groceries, getting gas or actually paying for home goods and the policies that are making this less and less affordable are driven by susan altman's allies from the extreme left wing.

progressive parties and she allies herself with. i opposed that development that was being put in, and the number of places that didn't include transparency and didn't include in that -- we need to make sure we have affordable housing, but we need to make sure that we have the less regulations that are causing -- driving up costs. >> so, i'm going to forge ahead in the interest of time to get to as many issues as possible. congressman, gun control or any type of legislation has not really been a top priority in congress. if that were to change in future congress what level of restrictions on firearms would you be comfortable in supporting? >> well, on the state level, i've got a record where i supported bump stocks and also making sure to get guns out of hands of people who do others

harm. we've got to make sure-- i do support the second amendment. i do support assault weapons ban and i did that on the state level and now on the federal level and i need to make that we have the policies that keep our schools safe and our places of worship safe and our streets safe. and so, we need those kinds of common sense proposals and my opponent, on the other hand, supports policies like defunding the police. at an unsecured southern border. think about that when sends less resources to help people in need in these communities. we need to make sure that we have the policies that protect our communities. >> susan altman. >> that was an amazing ballerina pivot from guns to the border, so well done on sticking that landing. congressman, you used to have an a-rating, or an f-rating, i'm sorry, from the n.r.a.

and somehow, between the years of 2013 and 2017, that f-rating went up to an a-plus. in so many ways this issue to our young people is precisely why they don't trust government, it's precisely why they're frustrated with both parties, because we have not been able to keep our children safe. we must put an assault weapons ban onto congress and have universal background checks, must have red flag laws and we must do things that keep-- that gives law enforcement the tools they need to keep our communities safe. while speaker johnson has the gavel, there will be no legislation in congress to help get bad guns off of our streets. and congressman, when you were in trenton, you were no fan or no friend of common sense gun legislation. i've received the -- moms demand and i'll be a champion

at protecting our children and time in congress by getting dangerous guns off the streets. >> we're starting to run a little over on time. tom kean, 15 seconds. >> joe biden on -- in the country we've got to make sure to keep those out of the hands of gangs. my opponent has extreme position she wants to defund the police. she wants to let cop killers out of jail and narcotics legalization and think how dangerous to families across the district as crime is increasing dramatically day after day in the district. >> and we have time for one, two more questions. micah, to you. >> mr. kean, 10 years ago you voted with most of the new jersey legislation to cashless bail. has that worked as you hoped it would? >> i think that the intent was

good in that regard, but there are new reforms that have to happen. there has to be consequences associated when individuals -- right now too many people are being let out of jail who are repeat offenders and when you talk to police officers, there are not just one provision in that bill that needs to be improved and changed a bit. the second thing you need to-- every other issue that's kept police safe have actually been weakened by the murphy administration. when you look at driving down the fact that there are-- in fact, bill murphy tried to make sure that people under 18, they commit a violation, the parents -- we need funding for the cops, for the justice system and make sure that we-- that people who commit crimes should face the consequences. >> susan altman, congressman, i

can't let go of the last answer where you said i want today legalize all drugs like heroin and fentanyl and stuff, that's a complete fabrication, i don't know where that came from. i know you sent out-- or i'm sorry, elon musk sent out a mailer claiming this, this is not a thing, it's a complete and utter lie and disappointed in you, congressman, you don't have to repeat the lies that you're to tell you you don't get a point for every time you use the word extremism. it's disappointing you resort to lies in this debate because it's unnecessary. when it comes to bill reform, our egregious offenders should not be out in bail and i've never supported things otherwise. we need to keep our community safe and fund our law enforcement to keep our community safe and congressman, i would appreciate if you didn't blatantly tell lies about my position anymore. >> give tom kean 15 seconds.

>> that was the working family, a couple of years ago. >> they are not me and that's not my position, stop, that's not true. >> and when they took that position you didn't oppose it. you have changed your position-- >> didn't work it on in new jersey. >> you changed was your position on police, on israel, on a number of other issues, only once you became a candidate, that's what people see in you and what we have to focus here is same person to congress, which is going to be consistent in the support and get the bipartisan support that i've had. every single police union has endorsed me they know she will not have her back. >> i have to end is there, we are going to have to end it there with our panel. we've run out of time and tried to cover as many topics as possible. we want to give both of you closing statements, tom kean, you have 90 seconds on your

closing statement to you. >> thank you. it's great to be with you again tonight. i want to thank the voters, the panelists for tear questions and allowing us to talk about the issues that are important to people of the 7th congressional district. i ran for office so i could help solve problems and i joined the problem solvers caucus and sought to keep the government owner, and at the southern border, i've supported cops, support ukraine, israel and taiwan. my entire focus has been to make sure that we find those solutions that keep america strong and energy independent once again. what you've seen tonight from my opponent is an extreme position. she professional political activist since 19-- excuse me, since 2019 and positions that reflect that. only once she chose to run for office she started to change her position. that's wrong for this district.

we need an independent leader like i have been in the congress, and before that in the state legislature, will make sure that we put new jersey values first, that we fight for affordability, and restoring the-- making sure we have lower overall -- stop the out of control inflation that my opponent has supported year in and year out. i'm asking for your vote for a second term because i'm trying -- continuing to find the common ground to respect your values. thank you. i'm asking for your vote. thank you. >> and susan altman, your closing statements, 90 seconds. >> congressman, we've heard in the last 90 minutes is nothing compared to what you haven't accomplished in the last 23 years in politics. congressman, with your last name, with your family's legacy, with your family's fortune, you could have been a leader in congress, you could have been someone who fund --

stood up to trumpis -- and this is one of the most highly educated districts in the country, a beautiful country full of smart, engaged people who believe in government, institutions and believe in the rule of law and have no time for the value vulgarity of another trumpism, to paraphrase sinclair, it's hard to stand up against someone who is funding your campaign. elon musk funds your campaign, the national republicans fund your campaign. in contrast with us, we knock thousands and thousands of doors every day, we're outorganizing you, we have over 30,000 individual donors, our campaign is a campaign of