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Candidates for Congress debate Ukraine, impeaching Biden, TikTok

By Bill Moss, Published: January 31, 2024

Christian Reagan, a mortgage broker from Hayesville, is challenging U.S. Rep.Chuck Edwards in the March 5 Republican primary for the 11^th Congressional District seat.

The candidates met at the Brasstown Community Center in what was the only debate Edwards agreed to attend. The candidates responded to questions on why they’re running, aid to Ukraine, impeaching President Biden and outlawing TikTok. Here are the candidates' responses:

Why are you running for Congress?

Reagan: “I believe as individuals who love this country, who love God, who love family, that it’s important that we get involved in politics today … I’m a strong supporter of Donald Trump. He’s the only guy in this country that can drain the swamp and I want to be in Congress so I can help him do that.”

Edwards: “I wish that I could be a messenger of good news right now, but fortunately I cannot, and that’s because Joe Biden is in the White House. And since Joe Biden has been in the White House we’ve had 8 million illegal aliens come across our border. The No. 1 policy that is on everyone’s mind here in America right now is a major threat to the safety of our communities and especially right here in North Carolina. We’re seeing violence, drug trafficking, fentanyl-laced drugs killing folks with addictions, and the open border is the key core problem in to our society today. My Republican colleagues and I have stood firm in pushing for more aggressive measures that would close the border. As a state senator, our Republican leadership in the House and Senate outlawed sanctuary cities, reinstituted voter ID and cut your taxes. We can do that in Washington once we change the occupant in the White House. That’s the foundation of my campaign.”

Do you support continued funding of Ukraine in the war against Russia?”

Reagan: “We’ve spent north of $125 billion in Ukraine. It’s a slush fund. It’s well established that the people that are receiving the money — it’s not going where it needs to go. And so I’m against any money being sent to Ukraine. We shouldn’t be a part of that.”

Edwards: “There’s a common theme here but I think that I can’t say it too often. The world is such a dangerous place because Biden is in the White House. He sat there for months and watched Putin send troops and equipment to the border and did nothing. I was brought up in a world where communism was a bad thing and where dictators were not allowed to invade adjoining countries and roll across continents, which is what Putin’s goal is right now at this time. I believe that the world should come together to stop Putin in his tracks once and for all. But there are some things that come with that. No. 1, we need to close our own border, and the action that I’m supporting in Congress right now is that while the White House is coming to us and asking for additional funding and equipment to send to Ukraine, we’re putting our foot down and saying, ‘Not until we take care of our own border.’”

The U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering an impeachment inquiry into President Biden and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Since any formal impeachment of the president or a federal government officer must be tried in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate, with a two-thirds majority required for conviction, the chances of conviction appear to be slim to none. Should the House spend time, energy and public resources on this effort that is likely to be DOA in the Senate?

Reagan: “I’m from Texas, born and raised. I’ve seen illegal immigration my whole life I’ve seen the devastation that it does to the local economy. What we’re seeing today is an absolute invasion in our country. Over 10 million people within the last three years crossed that border illegally. They’re coming into our country. We have no idea why they’re coming here or where they’re going. Yes, we need to send a message of impeachment, we need to send it regardless of what the end result is gonna be in the Senate. That’s what the American people want.”

Edwards: “Absolutely, we need to continue with impeachment hearings over both Secretary Mayorkas and Joe Biden. I’m excited to have been a part of the House Oversight Committee that got to peel back the onion and understand many of the problems going on with the Biden family and the 20 or so shell companies that were set up for no other reason than to bring money in from foreign nationals and other countries. I voted to proceed with the impeachment inquiry over Joe Biden and the problems that I’ve been able to help uncover so far.”

There is legislation pending in Congress to ban the use of Tik Tok or other social media apps. Would you support such legislation?

Reagan: “I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for social media. I can guarantee you that. When we started this campaign, that’s all we had. We’ve advertised on Tik Tok, on Facebook, every social media platform you could think of. It’s a freedom that I feel that we have to be able to decide where we want to go to be able to participate in social media. So I would be reluctant to go against any social media platform in the country. If you feel like it’s a problem that needs to be resolved, then use your money to do that. It’s called the free market.”

Edwards: “The thing that folks need to recognize and why social media has been weaponized is because Joe Biden is in office. I’m really proud to have been serving on the House Oversight Committee as a new member. We brought folks from the FBI and from the social media companies under oath and uncovered the fact that social media is being weaponized against the American people and to slant towards political opinions, and that’s just totally wrong. And so I think the first thing that we have to do, which is what I’ve been fighting for, in the year that I’ve been honored to be in Congress so far, is to stop the weaponization of our federal government against our people. I believe that folks should be able to make a decision what platforms that they want to use and under what circumstances but we got to get Joe Biden and the weaponized federal government out of the White House if we’re really going to enjoy our freedoms in this country.”