Senator Schumer and Pinion debate on abortion and immigration ahead of Election Day

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his challenger Joe Pinion went head to head in their first and only debate on Sunday.

Some of those topics included immigration, the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack, and climate change. The debate lasted about an hour.

Spectrum News 1 aired the debate which was held at Union College between the longtime incumbent Schumer and Pinion, his republican challenger.

Both are striving for the U.S. Senate seat held by Schumer since 1999. Both sides came out throwing accusations at each other and their political parties. Other topics discussed during the debate focused on issues still relating to the COVID pandemic, foreign relations, and the Supreme Court. The biggest and most contentious topic happened to be about abortion. Here’s what both candidates had to say.

“I do not support a national ban on abortion because it was a matter reserved for the states.” Pinion said. “I think that we should have less patience for politicians that use their perch to knowingly pass legislation that violates the law, and they’ve been doing it for a very long time. So, Chuck Schumer will say whatever he is going to say, Lindsay Grahm will say whatever he is going to say. They’re both willing to lie for the headlines and the vote. They’re wrong and it need to stop.”

“My opponent doesn’t want to answer the question directly and it is very relevant,” Schumer said. “Because Mitch Mcconnel, Lindsay Graham, and a large number of the senators he will align with have said they want a national ban. So if people don’t want a national ban, which would overrule New York’s law, they have to elect Democrats to the senate because we want to preserve Roe and all of its protections.”

Our exclusive poll with Survey USA shows Schumer leading Pinion by 14%.