Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey argue during the debate in the California US Senate on the impeachment trial against Trump

Echoes of Donald Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial sparked acrimonious exchanges between California Senate candidates Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey at the U.S. Senate Candidates Forum on Tuesday.

The forum, hosted by ABC station KABC and the League of Women Voters of California and co-hosted by ABC stations KGO and KFSN and media partner Univision Los Angeles, was also streamed on ABC News Live as part of a live series -Streaming the US Senate debates.

When asked by anchor and KABC Eyewitness News anchor Marc Brown which presidential candidate they each supported, Schiff – who led the impeachment trial – said he supported Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and then turned his ire on Trump.

“Donald Trump was, in my opinion, a disastrous president. I believe he has threatened our democracy… Americans want someone who is good, decent, ethical, who knows right from wrong, who is able to tell the truth as President of the United States.” “And the election is for me clearly, and it’s Kamala Harris,” Schiff said.

Garvey – a former MLB player who has tried not to align himself closely with Trump – responded to the question by saying: “They’ve been trying to push me into one corner or another for a year now, and I have “I’m running a Steve Garvey campaign and making decisions based on what I think is best for the people.”

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When he ran as a Republican, Garvey did not attend the Republican National Convention in July and Trump did not endorse Garvey.

Garvey praised Trump, whom he said he voted for three times, but added that Schiff was focusing on Trump to the detriment of California voters. “I can’t imagine how you can get up every morning and accomplish a single mission, and that is to go after Donald Trump. You have been made a second-in-command by your party’s superiors…how can you think about a man every day and…”Is that what you focus on when you have millions of people in California to take care of?”

“Mr. Garvey likes this particular attack because that’s what Trump likes to say. It’s his way of telling MAGA.” [Make America Great Again] Viewers out there: “Hey, I’m one of you.” “That’s not what Californians are looking for, Mr. Garvey,” Schiff responded while defending his work as impeachment manager.

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Schiff then brought up his presence at the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, adding: “The fact that you think that’s totally fine, that you still want to support the guy who supported this violent “Incited the attack – that tells me that.” You would never take your oath of office as seriously as I do.

Garvey took a moment to respond, to which Schiff scoffed, “I left him speechless.”

“I’m trying to think of all the things you’ve lost. You know, if you show up and talk the way you’re talking now, it shows the hard-working people of California that you don’t care.” “You care about something else,” Garvey replied.

Garvey also criticized Schiff for being censured by the House of Representatives and later “banned” from the House Intelligence Committee. Both moves were pushed by Republicans and criticized as partisan politics by Schiff and Democrats.

Both candidates are vying for the California US Senate seat, which was long held by Dianne Feinstein, who died in September 2023.

Schiff is a long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives and was first elected to the House in 2000. Steve Garvey, a ten-time MLB All-Star, is a former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Most recently, he worked as a businessman and motivational speaker.

Analysts did not consider the race to be too closely contested, unlike the top two primaries, which were hotly contested.

In the deep blue state, Schiff currently has a lead of more than 30 points over Garvey in the current polling average of 538 for the Senate race, and his fundraising dwarfs Garvey’s by tens of millions, according to an OpenSecrets analysis.

But the race is one of 34 U.S. Senate seats up for election in 2024, as Democrats hope to hold the Senate and regain control of the House and Republicans hope to flip the upper chamber.

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The majority of the debate focused on issues relevant to Californians, although some of them are considered issues of concern to Americans nationwide in the current election cycle.

On immigration and border security, both Schiff and Garvey support stronger border security, although they framed their views largely along party lines.

Schiff called for both strong border measures and humane policies: “We have to gain control.” [of] the border. “We need a strong border policy, which above all requires us to have more personnel at the border,” he said, adding that better technology is needed to interdict people and drugs. “But we also need a comprehensive immigration policy that treats those who try to immigrate or emigrate as human beings, that is consistent with our values,” he said.

Garvey then expressed support for a secure border and linked Schiff to what he saw as the current presidential administration’s failure to do so.

“Let’s be honest: The times I was at the border, walking up and down, are an existential crisis in this country caused by Joe Biden and this man here,” Garvey said. He would increase border patrol, reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers not to cross the border, and supporting the completion of the border wall.

On the economy and the cost of living, Garvey said, “I think over the last 25 years, under Mr. Schiff’s watch, you’ve seen that we’re much worse off now than we were four years ago.” He said he supports free markets and less Energy restrictions.

Schiff said he supports a low-income housing tax credit to incentivize the construction of new housing units to ease the burden of housing costs, adding, “We also need to get local communities to approve housing much more quickly.” .”

On trade, Garvey later said that he supports some tariffs on companies that threaten the success of American companies, but overall he does not believe that tariffs are the answer to the economy, including lower taxation of American companies, “so that we all have this.” can get products”. and services in this country without the need for import from other countries.

Schiff said he does not support “blanket tariffs” like Donald Trump’s, but rather he supports “targeted tariffs when China dumps steel or other products or technology to drive American companies out of business.”

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Garvey also used the economic situation as an opportunity to attack Schiff again.

“As Mr. Schiff mentioned, about the economy and restoring the economy – well, I like to call it ‘Schiff-flation’ when he talks about the economy and trying to sort of align that” with new innovations like AI Garvey replied to a question about artificial intelligence elsewhere.

ABC News’ Zoohreen Shah, Olivia Rubin and Galen Druke contributed to this report.

Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey’s argument over Trump’s impeachment during California Senate debate originally appeared on abcnews.go.com