New England College welcomed the Republican candidates from the 2nd Congressional District for the ‘Live Free or Die’ debates in the Putnam Center. The debate took place six days before the primary election that will be held on September 10th.
Vikram Mansharamani, Billy Hamlen, and Lily Tang Williams are Republicans running for the 2nd Congressional District.
The first question that was asked by Jeff Chidester, the host of WFEA Morning Updates, focused on gun control.
Mansharamani explained that the United States government needs to get to the “root causes” of gun violence. He believes that mental health issues, and social media are huge influences on gun violence.
“The root causes are mental health issues,” Mansharmani said. “I frankly think that some of the social media algorithms out there are creating anxiety and depression.”
Williams supports the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, she believes the issue with gun violence involves mental health issues.
“We cannot blame citizens, and not blame guns, we need to look at the real cause of the gun shootings,” Williams said. “When you look at a moral decline and our countries mental health issues, the community partnership could help.”
Hamlen believes in the right to bear arms, and that there needs to be more security at schools to prevent school shootings.
“We need to start with defending our school with proper security now,” Hamlen said. “The last thing we need are arms in the hands of the mentally ill.”
Another question asked by Jasen Stovall, a reporter from The NewEnglander, was about when America was truly great.
Hamlen started by explaining that America was great when the founding fathers wrote the constitution and implemented the three branches of government. He went on to explain that the founding fathers took pieces from ancient Greek and Rome philosophy.
“They all knew their ancient Greek and Roman history,” Hamlen said. “So what makes America great is the constitution that we all rely on.”
Williams went on to add that America needs the prosperity it used to have. She said that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are foundations of America, and the U.S needs to protect those rights.
“The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are the two most important funding documents that brought me to this country,” Williams said. “In my eyes, America is the last step on Earth to defend these ideals, which is freedom, free market, capitalism, free enterprise, and the rule of law and meritocracy.”
Mansharamani explained that the American dream is what makes America great, it gives everyone an opportunity and is the reason many immigrants have been coming to America.
“Its a story of hope. It’s a promise that everyone has a fair shot,” Mansharamani said. “Its’ a promise that we all, with hard work, playing by the rules, can get ahead, improve our lives and the lives of our children.”
Another question asked by Chidester involved foreign policy with the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Mansharamani started off by emphasizing that Iran is the root of the problem, and that America is weak with Joe Biden as President.
“The root cause is American weakness. The Biden administration has telegraphed weakness with its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Mansharamani said. “It’s unlocking billions of dollars to the Iranian regime that has funded not only terrorism by supporting Hamas but has actually fueled this problem.”
Hamlen explained that since Biden has entered office, Iran has taken $100 billion of oil. He said Biden’s weakness has fueled terrorism groups like Hamas.
“Iran is the problem in the Middle East, and we need to stop being weak with Iran,” Hamlen said. “Between 2016 and 2020 the Iranians were on the ropes, Donald Trump killed the commander of terror […] we had peace through strength.”
Williams supported Trumps tenure as President, praising him for four years of peace. She also agreed with the other candidates that Biden as President has made the U.S weak.
“The Ukraine war and Israel attacked by Hamas probably would have never happened under President Trump,” Williams said. “We had peace for four years, no wars, and everybody respected him.”
Additional debates on Wednesday were held between the Republican candidates for Governor and the Democratic candidates for the 2nd Congressional District.
