Clay Aiken is just an entertainer who can't sing and dance away problems, U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers said Monday in a zinger-filled debate ahead of North Carolina's upcoming second congressional district election.
Aiken, who starred on Broadway after coming in second on "American Idol" in 2003, threw a few barbs of his own during the televised debate, saying that "the most embarrassing reality show in the country
right now is Congress," according to ABC News.
WRAL-TV wrote that Ellmers, a Republican, hammered away at Aiken's political inexperience, accusing the Democratic candidate of not understanding the legislative process.
"It's almost as if, as an entertainer, you think that means you can go in with a song and dance and change the minds of our military leaders," Ellmers said to Aiken after he responded to a question about improving services in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Aiken accused Ellmers of being a part of the current partisan gridlock in Congress, saying that she is beholden to House Speaker John Boehner, having changed her position on major policy issues multiple times to please the speaker.
"Whoever is speaker would never be my boss, and it's a shame that you still believe Speaker Boehner is your boss," Aiken said to Ellmers.
The News & Observer wrote that Ellmers repeatedly tried to link Aiken to President Barack Obama on several issues until Aiken sarcastically fought back.
"To call this the Obama-Aiken economy is preposterous," he said, according to the newspaper. "I have nothing to do with President Obama, and I can find several areas where I disagree with him."
Ellmers, chairwoman of the Republican Women's Policy Committee, told WRAL-TV that she was not bothered by Aiken's attack or his celebrity.
"That is his opinion," she said after the debate. "He is an entertainer. He is an actor . . . that's how the people of the 2nd District know him."
USA Today pointed out that, despite the debate, Aiken will have a difficult time winning an election in North Carolina's second district — an area Mitt Romney carried by 58 percent in the 2012 presidential election and where Ellmers is a two-term incumbent.
The election will be held Nov. 4.
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