TAKE STANCE ON LIZ
“We have to be careful with our false equivalency … the Russians aren’t our friends — they just flat aren’t.”
Diehl then tried to walk back his remarks, saying he was being “facetious” about Warren.
When asked about the comments and others throughout the debate framing Warren as an extremist, the senator’s campaign spokeswoman Gabrielle Farrell told the Herald, “Massachusetts Republicans will decide among themselves who will run for U.S. Senate. Senator Warren is focused on her work fighting for the people of Massachusetts and standing up for working families against powerful corporate interests.”
Meanwhile, Lindstrom came out swinging in the debate, suggesting front-runner Diehl is unelectable in deepblue Massachusetts because of his full-throated support for Trump.
“You will have a tough time if you are a blind loyalist like Geoff is,” said the centrist Lindstrom, though she said she is ready to vote to re-elect Trump. “He cannot unseat her.”
Diehl shot back that his long-standing support for Trump could benefit Massachusetts citizens by giving the state stronger pull than it would have otherwise.
“That gives me a seat at the table that Massachusetts doesn’t have,” Diehl said.
Massachusetts political strategists say whoever receives the GOP nod in the Sept. 4 primary will have a very difficult time taking on Warren.
“I don’t think any of the Republican candidates have a shot at winning this,” political observer Todd Domke told the Herald.
“This state is so anti-Trump. … That’s what it’ll come down to: are you pro-Trump or anti-Trump? And Trump will help make it that binary of a choice.”