Live updates: Warren and Deaton face off in first of two debates

The relatively unknown Republican goes toe-to-toe with popular Democratic Senator Warren in their first of two debates this week.

Senator Elizabeth Warren will meet Republican John Deaton on the debate stage Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. for the first of their two debates this week.

Warren, a Democratic fixture in the Senate, is facing off against Deaton, a political newcomer who has repeatedly said he’s willing to go against his own party on abortion and on former President Donald Trump.

Progressive Warren holds a substantial lead over Deaton with just three weeks to Election Day, according to recent polling.

Follow along here for live updates of the debate, hosted by WBZ in Boston, along with some fact-checking.

Immigration

Boston Globe politics editor Victoria McGrane first asked the candidates about the migrant crisis in Massachusetts, which could’ve been mitigated by a bill killed by Republicans in Congress, at the request of former President Donald Trump.

Deaton said the migrant crisis is “the one issue that separates me and Senator Warren.” He pointed out that Warren rejected the bipartisan bill and called her policy on immigration “extreme.”

“It’s a national security crisis. When you learn what the migrants are going through, it’s a humanitarian crisis, and Senator Warren is extreme on this. She supports open borders,” Deaton said.

Warren said Deaton’s rhetoric is “a page out of the Donald Trump playbook.” She explained that she voted against the bipartisan bill because “we all knew the bill was dead, the Republican support had been pulled.”

“John Deaton certainly doesn’t refer to immigrants eating our dogs and cats, but he’s taking a page out of the same playbook,” Warren said. “We need comprehensive immigration reform, but the only way we’re going to do that is by cutting off extremist Republicans and actually coming together and fixing it.”

Bipartisanship

WBZ political analyst Jon Keller asked who the two candidates will be loyal to – constituents or their party leaders.

Warren said “her record” stands for itself. She was the principal sponsor of 44 bills, 27 of which were bipartisan, she boasts.

“That’s how it is that I broke the hearing aid monopoly with help from Republican Charles Grassley. That’s how it is that I protected pensions with help from Republican Steve Daines,” Warren said.

Warren said Deaton would contribute to Republican control of the Senate, while Deaton said he would “stand up” to Trump and would protect abortion rights.

“She lied about me. She called me a MAGA extremist Republican recruited by the Trump machine when she knew that I was even more critical of President Trump than she has been,” Deaton said.

Abortion

Both candidates say they support abortion rights, so McGrane asked what separates the two candidates on the issue. Warren said that Deaton, as a candidate, is raising money for Republican control of the Senate.

“This is a matter of trust,” Warren said. “When we talk about abortion, we are potentially talking about the lives of our daughters and our granddaughters, and when that’s on the line, we cannot trust John Deaton.”

Deaton said with three daughters, he would never support a law that would restrict their “freedoms and privacy.” He said when Warren could’ve codified Roe when she was in the Senate.

“She’s guilty of exactly what she said Donald Trump’s guilty of,” Deaton said. “They didn’t want to settle the abortion issue. They wanted it divisive. They wanted it as an election issue.”

Cryptocurrency

Deaton, a cryptocurrency advocate and lawyer, said he supports cryptocurrency because it helps “unbanked people like (his) mom,” who was on welfare programs and used food stamps to afford groceries. Deaton said he’s “upset more Bitcoin billionaires” than Warren, who is a member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

“Another example that Senator Warren’s policies do not help poor people,” Deaton said. “They do not help the working class. She favors the accredited investor rule that excludes 85% of the American population.”

Warren rebutted that Deaton’s campaign is funded by cryptocurrency. She said she gains donations from people who support her campaign, not “the banking industry.”

“I’m all in favor of more restrictions on the bank,” Warren said. “I’m in those fights, but I think crypto ought to have to follow the same rules as everybody else.”

The candidates went on to discuss Israel, affordable housing, the ballot initiative to remove the MCAS graduation requirement, and healthcare.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.