Senatorial candidate and Riverton, Utah, Mayor Trent Staggs (R) is challenging Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) — who he intends to unseat next year — to a debate so that the failed presidential candidate can “answer for the destructive things he’s done.”
On Wednesday, Staggs took to social media to propose the potential face-off.
“Hey @MittRomney, let’s debate,” he wrote, calling on the Utah senator to “defend your support for raising the debt ceiling, voting in Mayorkas and Kentaji [sic] Brown Jackson, and many other bad votes.”
In contrast, Staggs said he would “explain why Americans DO deserve America First policies and a small federal government.”
“You in?” he asked.
In response, several conservative media figures offered to moderate such an event.
“I offer to moderate,” tweeted the official Twitter account of the Gateway Pundit. “The public demands this.”
Just the News founder and journalist John Solomon also offered to “gladly moderate such a debate on Real America’s Voice with my co-host, @AmandaHead.”
Timcast News Editor-in-Chief Cassandra MacDonald suggested the debate happen on The Culture War Podcast with podcaster and journalist Tim Pool.
In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, Staggs declared that “it is time for Mitt Romney to answer for the destructive things he’s done,” including “his votes raising the debt ceiling and adding trillions in spending [and] vindictive impeachment votes.”
He also pointed to Romney’s support for Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, “who’s been a disaster for our border,” and his “confirming radical Ketanji Brown Jackson — the first Supreme Court Justice I know of that can’t define what a woman is!”
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The Riverton mayor demanded that Romney “be called to account and answer these questions for Utah Republicans that voted him into office — especially when he campaigned on the exact opposite!”
In addition, Staggs stated that the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate needs to answer why he “worked so hard to get Joe Biden elected” and if he “feels guilty as Americans struggle to survive in the high-interest rate, inflation ridden, destructive economy he and Biden have created.”
“I’m running for U.S. Senate because we need change,” he concluded. “If Mr. Romney disagrees, he should show up and defend why.”
Last month, Staggs accused the former Republican presidential nominee of weakness in the face of the “weaponization” of the Justice Department against political opponents after Romney charged that former President Donald Trump had brought a recent indictment “upon himself.”
The mayor also accused Romney of seeking the favor of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) over the interests of America, following his decision to vote in favor of increasing the nation’s debt ceiling.
Staggs, 49, is among multiple potential contenders predicted to position themselves more conservatively than Romney — who he described as a “millionaire from Massachusetts” who relocated to Utah.
Over the months leading to his official declaration, Staggs had become more and more outspoken on a variety of topics.
After announcing his run for U.S. Senate in May, Staggs charged that Romney “doesn’t represent most Utahns” and that he could no longer sit by and watch as Romney and Schumer “mortgage my children’s future.”
“This guy votes to add trillions in spending, votes twice to impeach President Trump, but then turns around and votes to confirm guys like Open Borders Mayorkas and Radical Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,” he said, adding, “It’s unacceptable.”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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