WMUR interviews US Senate candidates

This week Adam Sexton interviewd both candidates running for the NH US Senate, Dr. Karishma Manzur and Rep. Chris Pappas.

These are the full interviews:
WMUR interview with candidate Karishma Manzur
WMUR interview with candidate Chris Pappas

I have singled out two questions that came up in both interviews so you could read/hear both sides of the debate; one question on Manzur calling Pappas corrupt, the other on the Massie amendment vote which would have halted $3 billion in aid to Israel. I have transcribed candidate remarks with the timestamp* from their interviews.  You can listen to the full response in the recordings.
*timestamps may vary 

On corruption, Karishma Manzur video @8:18:
Q: Why do you say Chris Pappas is corrupt? What specific action has he taken in your opinion that makes him “corrupt”?
Manzur: It’s not just Chris Pappas. It’s also John Sununu and it’s actually almost over 90% of the members of our Congress. The job of a Congress member should be to represent the people. If anyone takes even a single dollar from corporate PACs, corporations, they are no longer a public servant. They’re just a contractor for their client. We have to change that paradigm allowing corporations to own our members of Congress. Those are public service positions. Your job is to represent the people not your corporations and not the donors. For me, that’s a form of corruption. You are going to DC to represent the people not your clients, and so that’s why I call it corruption.

On corruption,Chris Pappas video @4:26:
Q: Dr. Manzur contends that establishment politicians are bought and sold by their donors. How do you respond to this broad allegation she makes against you with corruption?
Pappas: Well, that’s absolutely not true. The fact is I’m focused on changing a broken system in Washington. The political system has been broken for a long time and we continue to see a flood of money coming into our political system that’s unaccounted for. I’m leading efforts to overturn Citizens United to pass the Disclose Act which I’ve authored, to make sure that we’re reining in the corruption in Washington, DC by banning members of Congress from trading stock and participating in prediction markets and holding this administration to account.

On the Massie amendment:
Karishma Manzur video @7:44:
Q: Congressman Pappas voted on the Massie amendment. It was “present.” What does that vote, not yes or no, tell you about him?
Manzur: When a person is being elected to represent the district in the United States Congress, that comes with awesome responsibility. You are either supporting an amendment or not supporting an amendment; “present” is just a cop out and that is absolutely sad.

Chris Pappas video @5.24:
Q: This last week, you voted “present “on the Massie amendment to essentially end about $3 billion in aid to Israel. Explain your vote. People may not realize that there’s a different option than this yes or no, so why vote “present'”?
Pappas: Well, look, the amendment was broad and it swept up a number of humanitarian programs that were important not just for Israel, but for the Palestinian people as well. We are reaching the end of the 10-year memorandum of understanding that was negotiated during the Obama administration and I think it’s an important moment to figure out how we reset our policy so that it is focused on America’s national security interests, how we promote security for Israelis as well as peace that’s going to allow for a Palestinian state to be established in civil society in Gaza in the West Bank to be able to be reestablished.

Q: How do you respond to critics who say that it’s a cop out to vote “present”, that it’s weak in this moment not to pick a side?
Pappas: Well the fact is I’ve taken thousands and thousands of votes in the house and this is a real fraught moment with respect to our engagement in the Middle East and what I didn’t want to do was to send a message that I somehow agreed with everything that was going down whether it’s the war in Iran or whether it’s the disproportionate actions of Benjamin Netanyahu so I think this is a time to reset the relationship and focus on our core interest in America, what’s best for our country and security in the region.