{"id":41419,"date":"2024-10-01T15:13:40","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T19:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=41419"},"modified":"2024-10-01T15:18:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T19:18:40","slug":"native-issues-take-center-stage-at-fiery-u-s-senate-debate-in-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/10\/01\/native-issues-take-center-stage-at-fiery-u-s-senate-debate-in-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Native issues take center stage at fiery U.S. Senate debate in Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ioLt11Dh8JU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Montana PBS Debate: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/ioLt11Dh8JU>&#8216;You&#8217;re a big guy. Just apologize.&#8217;<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Native issues take center stage at fiery U.S. Senate debate in Montana<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Tuesday, October 1, 2024<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nNative issues are playing a big role in the U.S. Senate race in Montana, the outcome of which is being closely watched in an already heated presidential election year.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nDuring a televised debate on Monday night, Native issues came up repeatedly as <a href=\"https:\/\/jontester.com\/\">Jon Tester<\/a>, the Democratic incumbent, faced <a href=\"https:\/\/timformt.com\/\">Tim Sheehy<\/a>, the Republican candidate, for the second time during the campaign. The most explosive moment came toward the end, when <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/30\/audio-republican-candidate-tim-sheehy-admits-to-insensitive-jokes-about-native-people\/\">Tester confronted Sheehy<\/a> for making <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/02\/char-koosta-news-republican-candidate-for-u-s-senate-talked-about-drunk-indians\/\">negative remarks about Native people<\/a>.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;The bottom line is this, though,&#8221; Tester said at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montanapbs.org\/\">Montana PBS <\/a>studio on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula. &#8220;Tim, if you really feel this way about Native Americans, you ought to apologize for the statements you made about them that were totally inaccurate.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;But yet you won&#8217;t,&#8221; said Tester, who is seeking a fourth term in office.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_indianz-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/30\/audio-republican-candidate-tim-sheehy-admits-to-insensitive-jokes-about-native-people\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/01\/timsheehyjontester-1.png\" alt=\"AUDIO: Republican candidate Tim Sheehy admits to \u2018insensitive jokes\u2019 about Native people\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/30\/audio-republican-candidate-tim-sheehy-admits-to-insensitive-jokes-about-native-people\/\">\n\t\t\tAUDIO: Republican candidate Tim Sheehy admits to \u2018insensitive jokes\u2019 about Native people\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/30\/audio-republican-candidate-tim-sheehy-admits-to-insensitive-jokes-about-native-people\/\">\n\t\t\t<p>Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Montana, finally admitted making negative remarks about Native people. But he said he was joking. And he refused to apologize.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"Native Vote\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tNative Vote\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSheehy, a newcomer to political campaigns, proved Tester right. The Republican candidate refused &#8212; not just once, but twice &#8212; to apologize for remarks in which he described <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/02\/audio-great-way-to-bond-with-all-the-indians-while-theyre-drunk-at-8am\/>Native people as being &#8220;drunk at 8am&#8221;<\/a> and said they throw beer cans at people.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;But the reality is, yeah, insensitive,&#8221; Sheehy said at the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GKHBH2Nrxpw\">Montana PBS debate<\/a>. &#8220;I come from the military &#8212; as many of our tribal members do. You know, we make insensitive jokes and probably off-color sometimes.&#8221;\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;And, you know, I&#8217;m an adult. I&#8217;ll take accountability for that,&#8221; Sheehy continued, before pivoting to an entirely different subject &#8212; the U.S. border.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;But let&#8217;s not distract from the issues that our tribal communities are suffering,&#8221; Sheehy said, failing to explain why he repeatedly &#8212; on at least four occasions &#8212;  perpetuated stereotypes about Native people and alcohol during his campaign events.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_indianz-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/12\/crow-tribe-on-tim-sheehy-disparaging-and-degrading\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/01\/crowtribe-1.jpg\" alt=\"Crow Tribe on Tim Sheehy: \u2018Disparaging and degrading\u2019\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/12\/crow-tribe-on-tim-sheehy-disparaging-and-degrading\/\">\n\t\t\tCrow Tribe on Tim Sheehy: \u2018Disparaging and degrading\u2019\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/12\/crow-tribe-on-tim-sheehy-disparaging-and-degrading\/\">\n\t\t\t<p>Leaders of the Crow Tribe are speaking out against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"Native Vote\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tNative Vote\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nTribal leaders have been calling on Sheehy to apologize for his comments ever  since <a href=https:\/\/www.charkoosta.com\/news\/senate-candidate-tim-sheehy-makes-questionable-racially-tinged-remarks-about-crow-reservation\/article_afc75344-6725-11ef-9065-afb44493d9ff.html>Char-Koosta News<\/a> first reported them on <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/02\/char-koosta-news-republican-candidate-for-u-s-senate-talked-about-drunk-indians\/\">August 29<\/a>. He avoided responding to media inquiries about his statements and sidestepped the issue during a television interview with a Republican friendly outlet on <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/23\/audio-u-s-senate-candidate-sidesteps-questions-about-drunk-indians\/>September 20<\/a>.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;But let&#8217;s talk about our Native Americans here for a second, Tim,&#8221; said Tester, who is a former chair and vice chair of the <a href=https:\/\/indian.senate.gov\/>Senate Committee on Indian Affairs<\/a>, bringing up the controversy again at the debate.\r\n<P><\/p>\r\n&#8220;The statement you made degrades Native Americans across this country. And you can say, look, I&#8217;ll take responsibility,&#8221; Tester continued. &#8220;But, you know, apologies matter. And how you treat people matter.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;And if you treat them with disrespect, other people will disrespect them,&#8221; Tester added. &#8220;So, like I said to begin with, you&#8217;re a big guy. Just apologize.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nSheehy ignored the request and again shifted to the border.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;Will you apologize for opening the border?&#8221; Sheehy replied.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GKHBH2Nrxpw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Montana PBS: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/GKHBH2Nrxpw>Race for the U.S. Senate 2024<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe fiery exchange came after a rare instance of Sheehy agreeing with Tester when it comes to American Indians and Alaska Natives, who represent about 6.2 percent of the population in Montana, according to the <a href=https:\/\/data.census.gov\/profile\/Montana?g=040XX00US30>U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>. He said the <a href=https:\/\/www.ihs.gov\/>Indian Health Service<\/a>, a federal agency, needs to be fully funded.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;When it comes to the IHS, you know, there&#8217;s a long history there &#8212; almost a century now &#8212; of a lot of challenges,&#8221; Sheehy said. &#8220;But a lot of it does come down to funding and access.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBut even here, Sheehy failed to embrace the issue in the same manner as Tester, who <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2006\/11\/09\/native_vote_in.asp>won his first election with the help of the Native vote<\/a> in 2006.  The Democratic incumbent explained that  providing health care is trust and treaty obligation of  the United States government.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;Our Native Americans, our first Americans, are a big, big part of this country and certainly a big part of the state of Montana and we have trust responsibilities to those Native American people,&#8221; said Tester.  &#8220;And we need to make sure we&#8217;re living up to those trust responsibilities.&#8221;\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nTester also said the U.S. must recognize tribal sovereignty over health care. Through self-determination contracts and self-governance compacts, tribes have had to repeatedly fight in the courts and in the U.S. Congress to hold the federal government accountable.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;But in the end, it&#8217;s funding,&#8221; Tester observed. &#8220;And you can take a look at the amount of money that&#8217;s spent in Indian Country for health care and it is a pittance compared to what&#8217;s spent in the private sector.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/p>\r\n&#8220;We need to let the Native Americans drive the bus here, but we need to make sure we&#8217;re funding it in a way that makes sense for health care for Indian Country,&#8221; Tester said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n <img decoding=\"async\"  src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/TimSheehyJonTester.png\"    alt=\"Tim Sheehy and Jon Tester\" class=\"img-fluid\">\r\n                                   <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> Tim Sheehy, left, and Jon Tester are seen side-by-side in a screenshot from their U.S. Senate debate on Montana PBS on September 30, 2024. <\/figcaption>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nYet Sheehy&#8217;s comments about fully funding the IHS appeared to contradict those he made during an exchange earlier in the debate. He called for the U.S. government to get out of health care entirely &#8212; pointing to    the IHS and the <a href=https:\/\/www.va.gov\/>Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> (VA), another federal agency, as examples of a &#8220;<a href=https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/defense\/commentary\/intelligence-disaster-bureaucratic-sclerosis>sclerotic bureaucracy<\/a>&#8221; that has failed Native people and veterans alike.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;The private sector is going to be able to do it better, faster, and cheaper than trying to build a government system that will not be able to handle the caseload, not be able to make the reimbursement payments needed to actually sustain those systems,&#8221; said Sheehy.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;We cannot hand our health care to the government,&#8221; he added. &#8220;That&#8217;s a pathway to disaster.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nTester countered that privatization of health care equates to the elimination of the <a href=https:\/\/www.medicare.gov\/>Medicare system<\/a>. As a result, he said Sheehy&#8217;s proposal would result in the gutting of not only the IHS but the VA, both of which rely heavily on Medicare to patch up gaps in their budgets caused by  inadequate government appropriations.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;Not only will Medicare go away, Indian Health Service would go away, VA would go away,&#8221; said Tester. &#8220;That&#8217;s not practical, it&#8217;s not logical, and it&#8217;s not what Montana needs. Montana needs more health care, not less.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;The bottom line is this,&#8221; the Democratic incumbent said. &#8220;The government plays an important role and they need to continue to play an important role, especially in Medicare, VA, and IHS.&#8221;\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s no room in the U.S. Senate for comments like the ones my opponent made against Montana\u2019s Native communities. Tribes need a committed partner in the Senate to work on addressing the challenges their communities face\u2014it&#39;s clear you won&#39;t get that from him.<\/p>&mdash; Jon Tester (@jontester) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jontester\/status\/1840932989024256142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 1, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nYet Tester&#8217;s assertions that the IHS and the VA would be negatively  impacted by privatization of government-mandated health care went unchallenged by Sheehy, who is  a veteran himself, having served overseas for the U.S. military, earning combat decorations in war-torn places like Iraq and Afghanistan.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m tired of hearing politicians use veterans, you know, as a political prop,&#8221; said Sheehy, who went on to say his &#8220;friends&#8221; are not receiving adequate services from the VA, which has long had an <a href=https:\/\/department.va.gov\/administrations-and-offices\/tribal-government-relations\/access\/>agreement with the IHS<\/a> to ensure the <a href=https:\/\/www.ihs.gov\/vaihsmou\/>IHS is reimbursed for care<\/a> provided to American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe  Senate rivals also discussed  public safety in Indian Country, with both agreeing that the federal government is not doing enough for tribes and their citizens. Sheehy specifically brought up missing and murdered Native women and girls, a crisis that has been of extreme significance in Montana, with  the <a href=https:\/\/www.daines.senate.gov\/2024\/05\/06\/daines-tester-resolution-marks-national-day-of-awareness-for-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-sheds-light-on-mmiw-crisis\/>National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls<\/a>  recognized every year in <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2016\/06\/29\/effort-builds-for-missing-and-murdered-n.asp>honor of Hannah Harris<\/a>, a young woman from the <a href=https:\/\/www.cheyennenation.com\/>Northern Cheyenne Tribe<\/a> who went missing and was murdered in the state.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;One of the issues  that we all know, unfortunately, all too well is missing and murdered Indigenous women,&#8221; said Sheehy. &#8220;And there&#8217;s not enough law enforcement out on reservations to provide a basic level of public safety.&#8221;\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSheehy   attempted to link inadequate law enforcement in Indian Country to U.S border policy, blaming Democrats like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris &#8212; along with  Tester &#8212; for exposing tribes to &#8220;drug cartels&#8221; that operate in neighboring nations. In doing so, he opened himself up to criticism  about a <a href=https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/republicans-kill-border-bill-sign-trumps-strength-mcconnells-waning-in-rcna137477>bipartisan immigration reform bill<\/a> that <a href=https:\/\/democrats-naturalresources.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/one-day-after-republicans-heed-trumps-wishes-and-tank-senate-border-bill-grijalva-blasts-pointless-gop-only-border-hearing-in-arizona>failed  earlier in 2024<\/a> after Republican former president Donald Trump, who is seeking election this year, <a href=https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/4459861-trump-praises-collapse-of-bipartisan-border-deal\/>told Republicans not to vote for it<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;Tim,  if we&#8217;d have passed that bill that was up six, eight months ago, it would have made a huge difference in fentanyl across the United States, including Indian Country,&#8221; Tester said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;We also need to plus up the FBI budget, something that, quite frankly, your party has been trying to take money away from,&#8221; Tester continued. &#8220;We need more FBI agents in this state. Why? Because it will help fight crime in Indian Country.&#8221;\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kamala Harris \u2764\ufe0f Jon Tester <br><br>Kamala The California Radical\u2019s disastrous agenda and entire Presidency hinges on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jontester?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JonTester<\/a>\u2019s vote.<br><br>It\u2019s time to put an end to the Harris-Tester agenda. VOTE THEM OUT! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/RetireTester?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#RetireTester<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kJORQHJiYT\">pic.twitter.com\/kJORQHJiYT<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tim Sheehy (@SheehyforMT) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SheehyforMT\/status\/1841127605300576494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 1, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIt was Sheehy&#8217;s  comments about U.S. border policy, incidentally, that paved the way for Tester to demand the apology that tribal leaders have sought from the Republican candidate. Up until the debate on Monday night, the Democratic incumbent had not directly spoken about the controversy, which has attracted widespread  national and international media coverage.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nBut the   focus on   Montana is deeply linked to high-stakes  battle for the White House.\r\nAlthough Harris, the Democratic nominee,  is highly  unlikely to outpoll  Trump among  voters   in <a href=https:\/\/www.montana.edu\/marketing\/about-msu\/bozeman\/state.html>Big Sky Country<\/a> &#8212; a <a href=https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_presidential_elections_in_Montana>Democrat hasn&#8217;t won the state<\/a> since 1992, and before that, since  1964 &#8212; Republicans like Sheehy are  intent on tying Tester to the incumbent vice president, who is now running for president following Biden&#8217;s departure from the race.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAnd the outcome of the    Senate race in Montana  will determine which party controls the   chamber. Democrats are in danger of losing their narrow hold on the legislative body should Tester fall to Sheehy on November 5. \r\n<P><\/P>\r\nPublic polls in fact show Tester meeting such a fate. Almost every <a href=https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/polls\/senate\/2024\/montana\/general\/>forecaster<\/a> shows <a href=https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/ratings\/senate-race-ratings>Sheehy in the lead<\/a>, with some results even indicating the Republican has <a href=https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/latest-polls\/senate>gained ground<\/a> since his negative remarks about Native people were first reported by <a href=https:\/\/www.charkoosta.com>Char-Koosta News<\/a>, which is owned by the <a href=https:\/\/csktribes.org>Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes<\/a>, on <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/02\/char-koosta-news-republican-candidate-for-u-s-senate-talked-about-drunk-indians\/>August 29<\/a>.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;Senatorial candidate Tim Sheehy&#8217;s disrespectful comments about Native people send a dangerous message &#8212; that he is okay using negative and tired stereotypes about Montana Indians in an attempt to get elected,&#8221; a <a   statement  on tribal council letterhead, signed by Chairman Michael Dolson and <a href=https:\/\/www.charkoosta.com\/cskt-responds-to-candidate-sheehys-comments\/pdf_7d360f1e-7d33-11ef-be66-4f6822523eb2.html>published by Char-Koosta News<\/a>, reads.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nLeaders of the <a href=http:\/\/www.crow-nsn.gov>Crow Tribe<\/a> also have criticized Sheehy, whose based his remarks  about Indian people being &#8220;drunk at 8am&#8221; and having beer cans thrown at him  about his supposed experiences on the <a href=https:\/\/tribalnations.mt.gov\/Directory\/CrowNation>Crow Reservation<\/a>.   They said his comments were  <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2024\/09\/12\/crow-tribe-on-tim-sheehy-disparaging-and-degrading\/>&#8220;disparaging and degrading&#8221;<\/a> and discriminatory towards Native people.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"h4-responsive\">Related Stories<\/div><div class=\"related-story\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/10\/01\/montana-free-press-republican-candidate-called-racist-ahead-of-u-s-senate-debate\/\" title=\"Montana Free Press: Republican candidate called \u2018racist\u2019 ahead of U.S. Senate debate\">Montana Free Press: Republican candidate called \u2018racist\u2019 ahead of U.S. Senate debate<\/a> (October 1, 2024)<\/div><div class=\"related-story\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/09\/24\/montana-free-press-white-farmers-ad-airs-amid-racial-baiting-in-u-s-senate-race\/\" title=\"Montana Free Press: \u2018White farmers\u2019 ad airs amid racial baiting in U.S. Senate race\">Montana Free Press: \u2018White 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year.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20,13,1,14],"tags":[3786,1457,214,45,5326,354,430,94,1554,75,56,210,697,53,335,54,511,243,2282,5455,25,197,249,55,47,61,85,213,193,189,91,220,675,5240,154,234,57],"class_list":["post-41419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-3786","tag-apologies","tag-appropriations","tag-borders","tag-char-koosta-news","tag-crow","tag-cskt","tag-democrats","tag-discrimination","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-ihs","tag-immigration","tag-joe-biden","tag-jon-tester","tag-kamala-harris","tag-law-enforcement","tag-media","tag-medicare","tag-michael-dolson","tag-military","tag-mmiw","tag-montana","tag-native-vote","tag-race","tag-racism","tag-republicans","tag-scia","tag-self-determination","tag-self-governance","tag-senate","tag-sovereignty","tag-stereotypes","tag-tim-sheehy","tag-treaties","tag-va","tag-veterans","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/01\/timsheehyjontester.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-aM3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41419"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41438,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41419\/revisions\/41438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}