Nithya Raman is brutally exposed in final debate with Karen Bass and the moderators lead the attack
Karen Bass and Nithya Raman faced off Tuesday evening for their last debate of the election.For Bass, the incumbent, it was a chance to reinforce doubts about her socialist challenger.
For Raman, it was a chance to attack Bass’s record, and sell her promise of change.The moderators from NBC4 and Telemundo 52, for their part, made their choice clear: They attacked Raman all night.Was it fair? No.Was it informative? Oh, yes.They began with a neutral enough question: Voters say they don’t trust either of you.
What’s the best case for your candidacy?Bass emphasized improvements in public safety during her term.Nithya Raman quoted Ronald Reagan: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” It was her best moment.
But things went downhill from there for the challenger.During an exchange on homelessness, one of the moderators asked Raman whether, as chair of the city council’s homelessness committee, she bore any responsibility for the citywide problem.
Raman dodged.When the moderator pursued the point, Raman dodged again.In a follow-up question, Raman was asked if she would repeal an ordinance that banned homeless encampments near schools (which she opposed).
She took a long time to admit that she would not.Bass then hammered Raman over her alleged mismanagement of the committee.
Raman, unable to defend that point, accused the mayor of “personal attacks.”The moderators then asked Raman about her infamous “fascist” video, broken first by the California Post, which her campaign made with a social media influencer, Ed Choi.In the video, which her campaign posted and then deleted, Raman appeared to call Bass and LA Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell “fascists.”Raman tried to argue that she believed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was racist, not the city or the mayor itself.The moderators were not convinced.
They asked Raman why no one at the campaign had vetted Choi’s views.She had no answer.Bass then accused Raman of...