A debate in Virginia‘s 7th Congressional District scheduled for this week is now in jeopardy after Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) reportedly pulled out of the event due to one of the moderators.
Spanberger had concerns about conservative talk show host Larry O’Connor being named as co-moderator for the event alongside PBS NewsHour’s Lisa Desjardins.
“So, in a last-ditch effort to protect their candidate, Vega’s team insisted on installing Larry O’Connor — a right-wing radio host known for spreading lies, hyper-partisan vitriol, and hatred against Democrats — as a debate moderator. This effort came after they rejected multiple experienced, nonpartisan moderators with a record of moderating debates,” a statement from the Spanberger campaign said.
The host of WMAL Radio’s O’Connor and Company said Monday the announcement came out of nowhere.
“Spanberger never reached out to me, never said anything to me, and just starts sliming me in the media.”
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He has now offered to step away from the event in the hopes that Spanberger and her challenger, Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega (R-VA), will discuss the issues.
O’Connor said this really is about Spanberger not wanting to be part of the debate.
“The last thing she wants is to be on the stage with Yesli Vega, and the second to last thing she wants is to be actually asked challenging questions by someone who disagrees with her politically. So she’s using me. She’s using me as an excuse, and it’s kind of disgusting.”
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Vega, also appearing on WMAL, said she’s still hoping the debate will happen.
“It would be nice if she had the courage to take the stage with me this coming Friday. The invitation is still open,” Vega said.
“She is running scared and quite frankly, doesn’t want to debate me,” Vega told WMAL on Monday. “And if I were her, I wouldn’t want to debate me either.”
Despite the attempted moderator change, a spokesman for Spanberger’s campaign said in a statement to the Washington Examiner they will not take part.
“Due to the Vega campaign’s pressure to corrupt the Prince William Committee of 100’s efforts and stall the debate into nonexistence, with just five days to go before the scheduled debate, it became increasingly clear a debate was never going to become a reality. Ever since the Republican nominee was declared, Rep. Spanberger has been crystal clear in her efforts to join a debate with her opponent to discuss the issues that matter most to Virginians. The same cannot be said for her opponent, Yesli Vega, who declined a traditional debate in Fredericksburg with a nonpartisan moderator. Additionally, Vega has pulled out of multiple nonpartisan forums, including with local chapters of the NAACP and other local committees.
“In a last-ditch effort to spare the utter embarrassment of pulling out of a debate traditionally attended by Republican candidates, the Vega campaign corrupted the Prince William Committee of 100’s proposed event. She did so on multiple occasions, at first, by threatening to withdraw without WJLA’s help drafting and moderating the questions and forcing an in-studio event — which the nonpartisan committee rightly refused. However, she then worked a last-ditch effort to install a hyper-partisan to co-moderate the debate.
“We thank the Prince William Committee of 100 and the League of Women Voters for their efforts to create a debate when the Vega campaign so clearly put hurdles up at each pass; we encourage you to review the Prince William Committee of 100’s public meeting minutes for more information.”
