U.S. Senate debate: Klobuchar criticizes White for saying ‘the bad guys won in World War II’

The only debate between DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White started Sunday on the street outside WCCO Radio.

As White approached the building, he loudly called some two dozen flag-waving and cheering Klobuchar supporters a “whole lot of commies.” The 33-year-old provocateur and podcaster also told them to thank Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney — who endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — because there was “no chance in hell” that Harris would defeat Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5.

Klobuchar, 64, had arrived moments earlier, smiling and wishing “good morning” to her supporters. Once inside, the two took questions for an hour from moderator Blois Olson. Their tone was generally polite with White often interrupting a Klobuchar response with, “rebuttal,” indicated he wanted to respond.

The senator repeatedly raised White’s claims on X, formerly Twitter, that “The bad guys won in World War II” and that there were “no good guys in that war.” She called that stance offensive to veterans.

Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth six-year term, portrayed herself as a pragmatist. She opened by saying that we live in “incredibly divisive times politically” but that she has listened and worked with Republicans to bring down shipping costs, drug prices for seniors and to help veterans and push for more housing and child care.

“Courage in this next few years is not going to be standing by yourself yelling at people,” she said, her opening allusion to White’s rhetoric, which she said is often vulgar.

White, a former NBA player, is a political novice, but a close ally of Steve Bannon, the jailed former chief strategist for Trump and right wing media executive. Last summer, White won the state GOP endorsement to run against Klobuchar.

“Our country’s coming undone at the seams. I think we can change that,” White said in his opening statement. He said he threatens the status quo, decried the “permanent political class” and referred to the two major parties as the “uniparty.”

He repeatedly talked about how the post World War II economy is “based on a bunch of lies” as well as “debt and death” that the middle class fund through taxes and interest. He talked about abolishing the Federal Reserve and returning to the gold standard, which Klobuchar said would be tremendously disruptive to the economy.

She said she would address the national debt in part with Social Security taxes on high-earners, those who earn more than $400,000 annually. Currently, the tax ends for gross earnings above $168,600.

When Olson asked how U.S. foreign policy should balance domestic and global security, White said it should start at the borders because “currently, our borders are wide open.”

While he said he supports a strong military, he said the question is where it’s “getting involved and for what reasons.” He said “as a general principal, I don’t want us to be on both sides of every war.”

Klobuchar said the U.S. plays a major role in global security and has to balance that with maintaining a strong domestic economy and investing in the military. She turned to the situation in Ukraine, decrying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of a sovereign nation and alliances with North Korea, China and Iran. “These are not our friends,” she said.

White interjected with “rebuttal” as she continued.

Klobuchar said the United States couldn’t stand by as Russia invaded and bought up White’s claim that the “bad guys won” in World War II. “That’s a quote from this year,” she said, adding that he also said there were “no good guys in World War II. That’s an insult to our veterans and those who serve in our military.”

She talked about her support of the military in terms of equipment, including C130-J planes, the military transport aircraft, and providing good health care for veterans after they return home.

White responded, “Well first of all, it just is a matter of fact that the Russians were a communist regime, a totalitarian communist regime that saw 20 million Christians die under their rule there in Russia there. So definitively there were bad guys there. Not only that but we did incorporate Nazi scientists into our military and academic institutions after World War II so those were bad guys as well.”

The total number of Christians killed under the Soviet Union because of their faith has been estimated between 12 million and 20 million.

“I didn’t say there were no good guys. I said the bad guys won and they did,” White said, adding that the “permanent political class” agrees on one thing, military spending, without oversight.

In rebuttal, Klobuchar responded, “well, actually in your Twitter feed in 2022, you said, ‘it dawned on me today the bad guys won in World War II. There were no good guys in that war’ and in 2024 you said, ‘well, I think the bad guys did win in World War II.’”

She told White, “You tell that to Earl Myer,” a St. Peter veteran who served in World War II and the Korean War and still has shrapnel in his leg. Klobuchar handed him the Purple Heart earlier this year.

“This is not the kind of rhetoric that we need. We don’t need untruths,” she said. “We need somebody who’s going to go in there and be willing to stand up for our country, our democracy. Not just here, but around the world.”

On the question of the U.S. role in the Middle East, Klobuchar said the United States must do all it can to bring peace through diplomacy. She said she was hopeful before Oct. 7 that the Abraham Accords, negotiated during the Trump administration, could be expanded to bring peace.

White said, “Well, Abraham Accords, point for Donald Trump.” But he again mentioned World War II and the Russians and said the United States shouldn’t fund two sides of wars.

Klobuchar responded, “Again, the key is a ceasefire, a release of the hostages and to move to a two-state solution.

White said, “Rebuttal. And furthermore, when I said the bad guys won World War II, I said it for a specific reason. I reject that the Black identity and the Jewish identity are used in a similar way to push identity politics which ends up being an expansion of federal government and social programs or the expansion of the military industrial complex.”

Klobuchar criticized White for using vulgar language, calling people “fags” and writing on his head that “Alex Jones was right.” Jones lost a libel suit for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre was fake.

She said his election denial was scary for democracy. When Olson asked White whether Trump lost Minnesota in 2020, White responded, “It would appear so but I can’t be sure and I don’t think that’s dangerous to say.”