Extended Time with Claudia Tenney on NY-22 Race Issues

There's less than a week until early voting begins in the 22nd congressional district and on Thursday of last week, Claudia Tenney spent more than 20 minutes with WIBX's Keeler Show to discuss the issues.

Supreme Court Nominee

The interview started with the topic of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett who Tenney overwhelmingly supports. "She's obviously very well versed in the law, she questions very well, very well qualified," said Tenney. "I think the Democrats have realized that they're not going to break through her veneer and she's very poised and she's probably going to get confirmed..."

The High School Reporter

The interview became bogged down when it came to a young high school junior from New Hartford who has started his own Twitter channel called Elected News. Luke Radel was covering Tenney's appearance at a Herkimer County Republican event two weeks ago when friction broke out between Radel, and both organizers and the Tenney campaign. Tenney said Radel "was almost a bully" as he was not following proper protocol for media at campaign events. Tenney started by saying she knew nothing about the Radel situation and it was between Radel and the organizers. But, then she continued to describe what the student reporter had done and how he was being inappropriate. She also said he was acting more like a tracker than a reporter. (A tracker is a photographer hired by campaigns to video tape opposition footage that often times ends up being used online and in negative ads.)

The COVID-19 Death Tally Controversy

Following a 10-minute back and forth on the teen reporter, WIBX's Jeff Monaski asked her about a tweet she posted and has since removed that questioned the number of COVID-19 deaths, which are currently over 220,000 in the United States.

Hunter Biden

Tenney also felt that the WIBX staffers should have been asking questions that really matter like the Hunter Biden story where alleged emails suggest that he was using his father's influence when he was Vice President to offer favors to a Ukrainian businessman. The Biden campaign has denied authenticity and it's believed that the FBI is currently investigating the matter.

The Debates

Tenney also discussed the debates and has claimed that her opponent, Anthony Brindisi, played a role in the cancellation of one of those debates from last week, which is now reportedly rescheduled because of a COVID-19 outbreak at Spectrum, according to the candidates.

Listen to the complete interview here: