SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 12, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Sen. Burgess Owens announced just before 1 p.m. Wednesday that he would not participate in Wednesday pre-election debate scheduled for five hours later.
Incumbent Owens said he hoped to debate challengers Democrat Darlene McDonald and United Utah Party candidate January Walker at a future date, but he strongly opposed the chosen moderator for Wednesday’s debate, Lauren Gustus, the executive editor for the Salt Lake Tribune, due to her support of a cartoon the paper ran that depicted Owens as a KKK member.
“Last year, the Salt Lake Tribune published a racist cartoon depicting me as a KKK member,” Owens said in a video released on his Twitter page.
“The moderated selected by the Utah Debate Commission not only supported this bigoted cartoon, but she doubled down and defended it. Even after the entire Utah delegation, overstated their disgust with such an ugly attack, despite our good faith efforts and speaking with chair Eric Nelson, the Utah Debate Commission has refused to remove Lauren Gustus, the executive editor for the Tribune, as a moderator for the fourth district debate.
“I will not in good conscience have anything to do with the racist Salt Lake Tribune and will therefore not participate in this debate. I expect bias from such a liberal outlet, but racism is where I draw the line.”
See Owens’ full statement below:
We expect bias from liberal media, but racism is where I draw the line. Watch my full statement on tonight’s debate👇🏾https://t.co/HGPSMLBKK5
— Burgess Owens (@BurgessOwens) October 12, 2022
