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Jon Tester “repeatedly pressed Republican Tim Sheehy on Monday night over a wide range of statements Sheehy has made,” from public lands to reproductive rights

MISSOULA – In last night’s final U.S. Senate debate in Montana, Tim Sheehy was on defense as third-generation dirt farmer Jon Tester “repeatedly pressed” him for his damaging plans and policy positions that would change Montana for the worse. 

Sheehy became increasingly flustered as he was forced to answer for his support for transferring public lands, banning abortion, and purely privatizing health care – a plan that would shutter rural hospitals and decimate Medicare. 

Reporters also called out Sheehy’s lies on his record on a variety of issues – from public lands, where Sheehy “falsely claimed that ‘no one, including myself, in that organization has ever advocated for selling our public lands’”, to reproductive freedom, where Sheehy “went on to claim that his opponent supports ‘abortion up to and including in a moment of birth.’ There is no evidence to support this claim.”

Here’s what they’re saying: 

Helena Independent Record: Tester, Sheehy sharpen attacks in 2nd debate

By Holly Michels

September 30, 2024

• “Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester repeatedly pressed Republican Tim Sheehy on Monday night over a wide range of statements Sheehy has made including racist comments about Crow Indians.”
  
• Another pointed exchange between Tester and Sheehy happened during a question about how to best manage the public lands that make up a large portion of Montana.
• “His view of turning these lands over to counties or opening them up for his rich friends to buy them is just the wrong direction to go from Montana, and it will impact regular Montanans in a very negative way,” Tester said.
• Tester accused Sheehy of changing his stance on public lands, pointing to the Republican’s former position on the board of Property and Environment Research Center, or PERC. Sheehy didn’t disclose his role on the board of directors in campaign filings, something his campaign later called an “oversight.”
• Tester repeatedly hammered home the message that Sheehy was saying one thing in private and something else in public.
• “Watch out what people say in back rooms, folks, because what they say in back rooms when they don’t think that recorders are going or the camera’s running is usually what they think.”
  
• He also emphasized a message that’s been key through his campaign that wealthy out-of-staters, which he says includes Sheehy, are driving many of the problems hurting middle-class Montanans like the lack of affordable housing.

HuffPost: Sen. Jon Tester Unloads On GOP Opponent Tim Sheehy In Montana Debate

By Igor Bobic

September 30, 2024

• Battling for his political survival, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) spent much of Monday’s Senate debate against Republican rival Tim Sheehy on offense, accusing the wealthy rancher of helping fuel the state’s housing crisis, posing a threat to reproductive rights and lying to voters about his plans for federal lands.
  
• Criticizing Sheehy’s record on protecting federal lands, a huge issue in Montana, Tester warned, “Watch out what people say in back rooms, folks.”
• In defending himself, Sheehy falsely claimed that “no one, including myself, in that organization has ever advocated for selling our public lands ― never have, never will.”
• When asked about making housing more available to Montanans, Tester highlighted his legislation that would provide tax credits to new homeowners and then quickly pivoted to slamming “hedge fund folks buying homes and kicking people out” of the state, a veiled reference to Sheehy moving to Montana from Minnesota a decade ago. The senator has railed about the ultra-wealthy driving up costs in the state and spending millions to try to oust him from office.
• But it was on the topic of abortion rights that Tester took his most direct aim at his GOP challenger, calling him out for opposing the state ballot initiative that would protect reproductive rights and criticizing his statements calling abortion “terrible” and “murder.”

KGVO: Montana PBS Holds Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy Debate in Missoula

By Peter Christian

October 1, 2024

• It was a hard hitting debate between three term incumbent Democrat Senator Jon Tester and his Republican challenger Tim Sheehy at the PBS studio in Missoula Monday evening.
• “Henry’s a veteran that a hard time getting onto Medicare,” [Jon Tester] said. “Our office helped him, and he now has the health care that he needs to be able to survive. That’s why we need to keep Medicare. Tim never talked about his pure privatization comment, and the reason is that he knows if he has it his way, not only will Medicare go away, Indian Health Service would go away and the VA would go away.”

Associated Press: Montana US Senate candidate says derogatory comments about Native Americans were ‘insensitive’

By Matt Brown

September 30, 2024

• Sheehy rejected his opponent’s call to apologize, during a contentious debate in a race that’s emerged as pivotal for control of the Senate […] Sheehy then tried to shift the discussion to the immigration crisis but Tester kept pressing him.

Newsweek: Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy’s Fiery Montana Debate: Five Key Takeaways

By Martha McHardy

October 1, 2024

• Tester criticized Sheehy for his record on protecting federal lands, which has been a huge issue in Montana.
• Sheehy defended himself during the debate, saying: “No one, including myself, in that organization has ever advocated for selling our public lands―never have, never will.”
• In a 1999 policy paper titled “How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands,” PERC’s then-director, Terry Anderson, along with others, outlined a plan they referred to as “a blueprint for auctioning off all public lands within 20 to 40 years.”
  
• The former Navy SEAL went on to claim that his opponent supports “abortion up to and including in a moment of birth.” There is no evidence to support this claim.
• The senator added: “Women should be able to make their own health care decisions. It shouldn’t be the federal government, a bureaucrat or a judge. Women should. That’s what Montanans like.”