Extended Time With Rep. Anthony Brindisi on NY-22 Race

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

Brindisi appeared on the Keeler Show the day after his opponent (who aired on Thursday) so he had the opportunity to respond to her comments.

The Debates

One issue he responded to was challenging Tenney's claim that he played a role in the postponement of an upcoming debate with Spectrum News. Brindisi said he had nothing to do with the changes and he's simply following the rules that have been agreed upon.

Police Reform

This week, members of law enforcement sent out a letter to the media endorsing Tenney and questioning votes they say Brindisi made that are negative to police. Brindisi disagreed and said that he is against defunding police and the bill he voted on was preliminary and there were things in it that he disagreed with, but overall the bill was good for police and community. He said the items he disagreed on would be debated later. He said the Fraternal Order of Police said they were heartened by the provisions in the bill.

The Student Reporter

Brindisi spoke about student reporter Luke Radel from New Hartford, as well as several issues that relate to the 22nd Congressional District. "If I'm a constituent listening to this I'm thinking- what the heck does this have to do with the problems I'm facing in my life right now," Brindisi asked. "We are going through a global pandemic, over 200,000 people have died, unemployment in the millions. We've got a virus that is starting to pop up again, all over the country," he added. Brindisi also referenced Broome County, which he represents were one of the state's hotspots has resulted in increased numbers of the virus.

Packing the Supreme Court

Brindisi was also asked twice about how he felt about "packing the Supreme Court," which is a hot topic for Joe Biden who has not given an answer on whether he would allow that to happen if Democrats have the opportunity.  When asked his opinion Brinidis said he felt the Supreme Court is fine the way it is. But when asked again, this time whether or not he would actually vote to expand the court, he avoided a yes or no answer and said that at this point, "I haven't seen a proposal to do that."

Listen to the complete interview below.