{"id":29359,"date":"2026-01-30T14:29:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=29359"},"modified":"2026-01-30T14:29:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:29:39","slug":"2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/","title":{"rendered":"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>(US REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, LT. GOV. JULIANA STRATTON, US REP. ROBIN KELLY)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By BEN SZALINSKI<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly met for the second U.S. Senate debate of the election cycle Thursday to explain why they are the best candidate to fight President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton called for implementing several achievements from Gov. JB Pritzker\u2019s administration at the national level, but Kelly argued it\u2019s more challenging given Congress\u2019 partisan make-up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krishnamoorthi and Stratton suggested Democrats block Trump\u2019s nominees and create more restrictions on spending by federal agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The candidates also debated what would be an appropriate national minimum wage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The top three Illinois Democrats vying for a seat in the U.S. Senate sought to position themselves as the best candidate to fight the Trump administration and restore trust in government Thursday night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an hourlong debate hosted by ABC-7 Chicago in partnership with Univision and the League of Women Voters, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton pitched voters on how they will serve as a legislative check to President Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thursday\u2019s debate featured less sparring over immigration and campaign donations compared to the first debate held two days prior as candidates were not given time to respond to attacks by their opponents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-democratic-u-s-senate-primary-heats-up-over-ice\/\"><b>Illinois\u2019 Democratic U.S. Senate primary heats up over ICE<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, the trio agreed Trump\u2019s second term has plunged America into a constitutional crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone imagined that someone would take advantage and break the laws that he has been breaking,\u201d Kelly said, arguing she\u2019s already taking steps to fight back by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/after-fatal-ice-shooting-in-minneapolis-illinois-democrats-seek-kristi-noems-impeachment\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">filing articles of impeachment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krishnamoorthi, who holds a solid lead in fundraising and the polls, advocated for Congress to use its authority over government spending to block the president\u2019s agenda by establishing conditions the executive branch must follow to spend money. He argued that would be an effective way to ensure the administration follows science-based vaccine policies, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think that we have to block appropriations &#8230; and restrict money that&#8217;s spent at HHS (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) unless it&#8217;s spent in the right way, including in executing a well thought-out vaccine policy,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Schaumburg Democrat also said he supports a series of ideas including banning mid-decade redistricting, and limiting the president\u2019s power to levy tariffs and issue pardons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krishnamoorthi also committed to using the Senate\u2019s \u201cblue slip\u201d process that allows senators to block nominees to federal judgeships in a senator\u2019s home state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton called for reforming the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the conservative-leaning body, which includes three justices appointed by Trump in his first term, of \u201crubber-stamping\u201d his agenda. She said she supports enacting term limits for justices and expanding the size of the court.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton, a Chicagoan who has served as lieutenant governor since 2019, committed to opposing any nominees Trump makes to the Supreme Court or federal agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Bringing Illinois to D.C.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton pledged several times to implement some of Gov. JB Pritzker\u2019s accomplishments at the federal level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe need to do what we\u2019ve done here in Illinois over the past seven years in our administration,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have made record investments in K-through-12 education and didn\u2019t leave it there. We also invested in early childhood and made college more affordable.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To improve voting accessibility, she added Congress should follow the state\u2019s lead in expanding voting hours and mail-in voting options. But Kelly, who polls show is in a tight second-place race with Stratton, sought to give Stratton a reality check.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOftentimes what you can do in Illinois, a very blue state, you cannot do that nationwide,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIt just does not work like that. As I\u2019ve often said, I\u2019ve been in Congress 13 years, and only in the majority four years.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Foreign policy<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The candidates also shared some disagreements over the War Powers Resolution and when a president should have to come to Congress for permission to take military action abroad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kelly took an absolute stance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think the president should have to receive our approval before he attacks any country or tries to take over any country, tries to buy a country, tries to take over a country, tries to kidnap any leader of a country,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that he needs to come to us first before he does anything that can put our country and our people in harm&#8217;s way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton said she wants \u201cto make sure that Congress has the appropriate ability to review, give authority, have oversight.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krishnamoorthi was willing to give the commander-in-chief more leeway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn the case of an emergency, the president should be able to act to defend the United States,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, where there\u2019s not an emergency, such as what we saw with Venezuela where he deployed armed forces in hostilities, he must come to Congress first.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The candidates were also asked what Congress should do to ensure the U.S. stays engaged in global public policy after Trump has removed the United States from international treaties and collaboration on a variety of issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have to take care of and be a role model in our own country before we can tell other countries what to do,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cThe other countries need to see that we care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Minimum wage<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton has carved out a bold lane in the race with her call to raise the minimum wage to $25 hourly. It has been $7.25 hourly since 2009 and $15 in Illinois for a little more than a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI don\u2019t think we should think about just minimum wage,\u201d Stratton said. \u201cI think we should think about a livable wage. What kind of income must people have so that they can put food on the table and maybe save a little extra money and maybe have something to spend in the small businesses in their communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stratton\u2019s opponents were less aggressive, both saying they support raising the minimum wage to $17.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Krishnamoorthi said it \u201csounds reasonable given inflation,\u201d but it must be done \u201cin a way that also respects small businesses.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kelly again pushed back on the reality of Stratton\u2019s idea making it through Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seventeen dollars is \u201cwhat studies show is viable,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAnd also, we have to be realistic about how much we want to raise it because we of course have to get 218 votes in the House and 60 votes in the Senate.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The seven other Democratic candidates running for Senate include Steve Botsford, Sean Brown, Awisi Bustos, Jonathan Dean, Bryan Maxwell, Kevin Ryan and Christopher Swann.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are six Republicans running for the office: Cary Capparelli, Casey Chlebek, Jeannie Evans, Pamela Denise Long, Jimmy Lee Tillman II and Don Tracy. They will meet for a debate on ABC-7 next month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early voting begins Feb. 5 and the primary election is March 17.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(US REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, LT. GOV. JULIANA STRATTON, US REP. ROBIN KELLY) By BEN SZALINSKI Capitol News Illinois bszalinski@capitolnewsillinois.com Article Summary Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-30T20:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"722\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Sapp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Sapp\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Sapp\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1\"},\"headline\":\"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-30T20:29:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1245,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/\",\"name\":\"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-30T20:29:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg\",\"width\":1140,\"height\":722},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":69,\"caption\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1\",\"name\":\"Greg Sapp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/greg_sapp\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","og_description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/","og_site_name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","article_published_time":"2026-01-30T20:29:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1140,"height":722,"url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Greg Sapp","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Greg Sapp","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/"},"author":{"name":"Greg Sapp","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1"},"headline":"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government","datePublished":"2026-01-30T20:29:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/"},"wordCount":1245,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/","name":"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-30T20:29:39+00:00","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/260129-SENATE-DEBATE.jpg","width":1140,"height":722},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/29359-2nd-senate-debate-democrats-talk-fighting-trump-restoring-trust-in-government\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2nd Senate Debate: Democrats Talk Fighting Trump, Restoring Trust in Government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","width":272,"height":69,"caption":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1","name":"Greg Sapp","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/author\/greg_sapp\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Greg Sapp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29361,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359\/revisions\/29361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}