Ronald J. HansenArizona Republic
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly gave renewed support to the Democratic presidential ticket even as his name creeped into discussions about replacing one of his party’s nominees.
Kelly, D-Ariz., twice voiced his backing for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC. Earlier in the day, Politico reported on polling showing Kelly among four Democrats who fare better with voters in battleground states — including Arizona — than Biden.
He was included in a group with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Kelly wasn’t asked about that matter on MSNBC and publicly only has shown continued support for his party’s nominees.
“Alternative Democratic candidates run ahead of President Biden by an average of three points across the battleground states,” a memo with the poll said. “Nearly every tested Democrat performs better than the President. This includes Vice President (Kamala) Harris who runs better than the President (but behind the average alternative).”
As U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was set to formally accept the Republican vice presidential nomination, Kelly emphasized the Biden-Harris ticket.
“We have got to get voters out, showing up to make sure that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are reelected,” he said. “I am really concerned about our future with four more years of Donald Trump in the White House and then what could come after that possibly with JD Vance.”
Kelly criticizes Vance stances on abortion, in vitro, Social Security
Kelly helped lead the Democratic pushback against the possibility of Vance ascending to higher office on Wednesday, attacking him as supporting abortion bans, opposing in vitro fertilization, and hinting at problems for recipients of Social Security and Medicare.
Kelly noted that Vance had the same political benefactor as Kelly’s 2022 opponent, Blake Masters.
“They’re very similar. I mean, I know these guys,” Kelly said in a comment that echoed his most memorable attack on Masters in their 2022 debate.
“J.D. Vance wants a total abortion ban. I mean, total abortion ban. When asked about exceptions for rape and incest, what does he say? He said two wrongs don’t make a right. When is it wrong for a woman who has been raped to want to terminate a pregnancy?
“He said these were just inconveniences, the fact that a woman could be pregnant after being raped. An inconvenience is when you get stuck in traffic on your way home from work.”
Kelly went on to say Vance had voted against protections for birth control and IVF.
“When he talks about Social Security and Medicare, he talks about how this is a roadblock,” Kelly said. “Those programs are lifelines for millions of seniors across our country.”
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Both lines of attack echoed his current rhetoric against Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and his 2022 message against Masters, who mused at a candidate forum that year about privatizing Social Security.
Kelly and his Democratic allies pounded Masters on that issue, even though Masters backtracked to say he wanted to encourage separate investing by younger workers. Masters is currently running in the Republican primary for the seat currently held by retiring U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.
In their 2022 debate, Masters peppered Kelly as an enabler of President Joe Biden’s agenda. In one icy moment, Kelly hit back by tying Masters to a vaguely defined patriarchy with a superiority complex.
“I think we all know guys like this,” Kelly said, referring to Masters. “Guys that think they know better than everyone about everything.
“You think you know better than women and doctors about abortion. You even think you know better than seniors about Social Security. You think you know better than veterans about how to win a war. Folks, we all know guys like this, and we can’t be letting them make decisions about us because it’s just dangerous.”
'We’ve got to tone down the rhetoric'
Kelly said he was “thankful” Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday in an incident that he said brought back memories of when his wife, then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head in 2011.
Kelly blamed Trump for the violence in the attack on the U.S. Capitol and called on everyone to bring down political tensions in the country.
“You know, the former president was extremely lucky here and was only slightly injured. But we have an election coming up and we’ve got to tone down the rhetoric,” Kelly said.
“I was on Capitol Hill on January 6th when the former president through a political speech sent a mob up there to interfere with the peaceful transition of power. That should not be something that is tolerated in our society and I am concerned if this continues that we could have somebody, additional people injured or killed. So I think it is on all of us to try to tone down the rhetoric.”
