Markey and Moulton traded fiery accusations during Monday’s debate. Here are the facts
Well that was nasty.
For two politically aligned Democrats with few substantial policy disagreements, Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Seth Moulton found a lot to argue about Monday night.
In the second of three scheduled debates ahead of the Democratic primary on Sept. 1, they accused each of lying, of failing to fully disclose their finances and of casting votes in Congress at odds with their progressive claims.
There was no love lost between the two men vying to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate, as they traded charges and counter-charges, using words like “reprehensible,” “sexist” and “character assassination” during the debate, sponsored by Boston 25 and GBH.
Here’s a look at some of their key points of contention:
Voting records
Moulton accused Markey of voting in 2002 to authorize the war in Iraq, where Moulton served four tours of duty as a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer.
“You voted to send people like me, thousands of young Americans,” Moulton said.
Markey was among 29 Senate Democrats who voted “Yes,” (21 voted “No.”) on Oct. 10, 2002, to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. Since then, Markey has said his vote was a mistake, explaining that he relied on false information from the Bush administration regarding weapons of mass destruction.
Markey, meanwhile, accused Moulton of voting in favor of “a $1 trillion budget” for the war in Iran.
This claim is mostly wrong, though the truth is somewhat nuanced. The House passed the $1.15 trillion defense policy and spending package by a mostly party-line vote of 216–212, with just six Democrats supporting the bill; Moulton was not among them.
According to Media Bias Fact Check, “Moulton voted for a defense authorization bill that established military policy but did not directly appropriate Pentagon funding.” Moulton voted against separate appropriations measures that provided the actual defense spending, citing a bloated budget and opposition to administration policies.
Who is more progressive?
When asked by the debate moderators, both candidates claimed the mantle of “progressive Democrat.” And when it comes to policy, there is little daylight between the two candidates. Moulton said that he has put forward “one of the most progressive affordability agendas of anybody in Congress today.”
“Housing, healthcare and education are just human rights,” he said.
Markey claimed he’s the true progressive, citing endorsements from some of the country’s progressive leaders, including U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
“And it’s because I support Medicare for All.” Markey said. “I believe in universal healthcare,” adding that he also supports the Green New Deal and raising taxes on billionaires.
In fact, both candidates embrace the concept of “universal health care,” though Moulton’s approach differs from Markey’s embrace of a single-payer system that he calls Medicare for All.
Moulton said he’d expand Medicare, making it available to anyone who wants it, but his approach would allow people who prefer to keep their employer-provided healthcare to do so.
Financial disclosures
Markey assailed Moulton for amassing more than $1 million in holdings from defense-related companies with business before the House Armed Services Committee, of which he’s a member. The issue was first reported in June by WBUR.
“That should be illegal,” Markey said Monday night, adding that Moulton should “divest of those ill-gotten gains.”
Moulton defended his financial record, saying he has followed “every law and ethics rule,” and then pushed back against Markey, accusing him of failing to disclose all of his family’s income.
Moulton is correct about this. While Markey released his individual 2025 tax returns — reporting $250,263 in income, mostly from his U.S. Senate salary — he has not released the earnings of his wife, Susan Blumenthal, who files her taxes separately.
Moulton said both he and Markey benefit from from financially successful wives. He said it was “sexist” of Markey to imply that his family’s investments are due to his job in Congress, rather than his wife’s work.
“You and I have have both married up,” Moulton said. “Your family has made investments; so has mine. But the difference is we have disclosed everything.”
The Epstein files
In perhaps the most incendiary moment of the evening, Moulton claimed that Markey’s name “appears” numerous times in the Epstein files, a charge that Markey called “absolutely reprehensible.”
“I have never had any relationship with Epstein,” Markey said. “I have no business with him. And what you’re saying right now is actually the worst of the playbook of distraction and character assassination.”
The debate moderators asked Moulton for specifics but he didn’t provide any. After the debate, the Moulton campaign sent an email to reporters that included a timeline of Markey’s alleged contact with lobbyists connected to Epstein.
Among the lobbyists, according to the timeline, was Robert Crowe, who was involved in Epstein’s efforts to free Karim Wade, the son of Senegal’s then-president and a friend of Epstein. But Moulton’s campaign offered no evidence of any direct contact between Markey and Epstein.
Furthermore, campaign finance records show Moulton accepted $2,000 from the same lobbyist.
PAC Money
Each candidate accused the other of taking “corporate” PAC donations. Both claimed to have taken “none.” But each has received some funds from the business sector.
According to federal campaign records, Moulton has received $192,000 in total PAC funds, or 3.5% of his total $5.5 million raised this cycle.
Markey has received $495,500 in total PAC funding, according to the federal records — or 10.6% of the $4.7 million his campaign has raised this cycle. After “single-issue” PAC donors, labor groups gave the majority of his PAC funding.
A Markey spokesman said his campaign mistakenly accepted some corporate PAC money, but he said as soon as the error came to light, the campaign began the process of giving it back.