10 Lies You Will Hear Corey Stewart Say at Tonight’s Senate Debate

From the Tim Kaine for Senate campaign:

10 Lies You Will Hear Corey Stewart Say at Tonight’s Senate Debate

At tonight’s NBC debate in Northern Virginia, you can expect Corey Stewart to repeat a litany of lies that have been debunked or are easily disprovable. To make your night easier, so you don’t have to ask our team or Senator Kaine to respond to each of his whoppers, below is a full list of lies we expect Corey to tell, and information rebutting each of them.

LIE #1: Tim Kaine opposed the 355-ship Navy and pay raises for our troops.

• TRUTH: Politifact fact-checked Stewart’s lie, calling Stewart “off the mark in repeated attacks on Kaine’s support for military.” Kaine was an original co-sponsor with Republican Sen. Roger Wicker on the 2017 bill that committed to a 355-ship Navy. President Trump later signed this into law as part of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. Kaine supported the omnibus spending bill that included a military pay raise. (Trump signed that bill, too.) Ironically, it was Corey who called that legislation a “disaster” and said it should be vetoed.

LIE #2: Tim Kaine has accomplished nothing in the Senate.

• TRUTH: 29 of Kaine’s bills have been signed into law — 12 under President Obama, and 17 under President Trump. Some highlights: Kaine has successfully passed legislation to reduce veterans’ unemployment, fight the opioid crisis, provide better tools to deal with campus sexual assault, expand career and technical education, obtain federal recognition for Virginia Indian tribes, among numerous other priorities.

LIE #3: Tim Kaine is an automatic ‘no’ to everything President Trump does.

• TRUTH: 17 of Kaine’s bills — including 6 since the last Senate debate alone — have been signed into law by President Trump. These include the Military Spouse Employment Act, the Jobs and Childcare for Military Families Act, and the Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce Act, among others.

LIE #4: Tim Kaine’s “Medicare-X” plan will drain money from the Medicare Trust Fund.

• TRUTH: Kaine’s “Medicare-X” plan explicitly mandates that it will have no effect on traditional Medicare: Text from Sec. 2210 of Kaine’s legislation: No Effect on Medicare Benefits or Medicare Trust Funds. “Nothing in this title shall — (1) affect the benefits available under title XVIII; or (2) impact the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund under section 1817 or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund under section 1841 (including the Medicare Prescription Drug Account within such Trust Fund).”

LIE #5: Tim Kaine supports abolishing ICE.

• TRUTH: Politifact fact-checked this claim and rated it “Pants-on-Fire.” It’s just not true. Kaine supports comprehensive immigration reform, and strongly supported legislation that passed the Senate in 2013 to create a path to citizenship and fund border security.

LIE #6: Tim Kaine opposes securing our border — and in fact does not want a border at all.

• TRUTH: Kaine is the only candidate in this race to vote for more border security. Kaine voted for $45 billion in additional border security funding in the 2013 immigration bill that passed the Senate, and earlier this year he wrote a plan with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to invest an additional $25 billion in border security.

LIE #7: Tim Kaine flip-flopped on abortion when he became Hillary Clinton’s running mate and even supports allowing abortions up until the moment of birth.

• TRUTH: Kaine supports a woman’s freedom to make her own health care decisions. Stewart’s claim is a dramatic misstatement of Kaine’s vote against a bill that would have barred all abortions after the 20th week — similar bans have been repeatedly challenged in court as unconstitutional.

LIE #8: Tim Kaine refuses to speak out against Democrats accused of sexual assault.

• TRUTH: Kaine has openly criticized Democrats who have been accused of sexual assault or abuse. Kaine said that Harvey Weinstein’s alleged actions were “low-life behavior.” He continued, “Anybody who sexually harasses somebody or anybody who uses their position of power, especially to coerce or intimidate anybody, that’s low-life behavior and that’s unacceptable.”
• Kaine said the allegations against Rep. Keith Ellison should “absolutely” be investigated as well.

LIE #9: Tim Kaine has done nothing — as Governor or as Senator — to address transportation issues in Virginia.

• TRUTH: Kaine has supported and secured funding for major transportation projects in Virginia both as Governor and Senator. As Governor, Kaine passed the “first substantial funding reforms for Virginia’s roads, rails and transit operations in a generation” and played a key role in making projects like Metro’s Silver Line to Dulles, the Norfolk Tide light-rail system, and extending Amtrak service to Lynchburg a reality. In the Senate, Kaine has secured funding for major projects like the I-95 Atlantic Gateway multimodal project, a new interstate connector at Norfolk International Terminal, the replacement of the Chesapeake Deep Creek Bridge, and rehabilitation of the I-64 Delta Frame Bridges.

LIE #10: Tim Kaine wants to erase our history instead of preserving it.

• TRUTH: Kaine supports allowing local communities to make their own decisions about how to best preserve and remember history. As mayor of Richmond, Kaine supported a plan to add a statue of Arthur Ashe to Monument Avenue, which previously only included confederate monuments after listening to the suggestions and concerns of the local community.