GOP Senate candidate for Virginia Corey Stewart engaged in a heated debate with CNN’s Chris Cuomo after Stewart said he would accept support from those whose views he didn’t support.
Among other things, Stewart has faced backlash after it was revealed he called white supremacist Paul Nehlen, who ran against Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in 2016, one of his “personal heroes.”
“I take support from whoever wants to give it to me,” Stewart told Cuomo Wednesday. “That doesn’t mean I support their views.”
Cuomo fired back and said there was “guilt of association.”
“Don’t associate with known dirtbags and you won’t be guilty of doing that,” Cuomo said.
Later, Cuomo pressed Stewart to explain why he called Nehlen a hero.
“Because he took on Paul Ryan and I don’t support Paul Ryan,” Stewart, who later disavowed Nehlen, said in response.
Stewart secured the Republican nomination on Tuesday and will face Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in the 2018 midterm elections in November.
Watch the full clip below:
“I take support from whoever wants to give it me. That doesn’t mean I support their views”
GOP Senate candidate Corey Stewart defends reported associations with people who have demonstrated racist, bigoted and anti-Semitic views, in a tense exchange with anchor @ChrisCuomo pic.twitter.com/yriSO30mcy
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 14, 2018
[Opinion: Meet Corey Stewart, the clown the GOP nominated to challenge Sen. Tim Kaine]
