Politics & Government

REPLAY: Rep. Keith Ellison's Name-Calling Gets Vulgar in Angry Debate

Congressman later apologizes for incivility against Republican Chris Fields in a debate hosted by KFAI-FM and Patch.com.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Incumbent DFL Congressman U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison twice called his Republican opponent Chris Fields a "lowlife scumbag" in an extremely contentious, personal and at times uncivil debate Thursday morning that at one point led to a local radio station cutting away to dead air until tempers had cooled.

LISTEN TO THE ARCHIVED AUDIO OF ELLISON-FIELDS DEBATE

The debate, co-sponsored by KFAI (90.3 or 106.7)Patch.com and Mature Voices MN, was in the Minneapolis studios of KFAI and moderated by former KFAI news director Ahndi Fridell.

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Midway into the debate Fields alluded to recent DFL research into Fields' 2006 divorce, the heated words were exchanged, and KFAI News Director Dale Connelly cut the audio feed in the studio while he literally stepped between the arguing men.

Patch sites in the Fifth Congressional District (see below) hosted a CoverItLive liveblog and chat (archived above). Patch users submitted questions via Twitter (#MN5debate) and through local Patch Facebook pages:

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Other related stories:

  • AUDIO: Hear the Low Points of Today's Fractious Ellison-Fields Debate
  • Ellison: 'I Acted Beneath My Personal Standard'
  • What Happened in KFAI Studio During Keith Ellison-Chris Fields Debate Fracas


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