Politifact VA: Mark Warner says he opposes defunding police, contrary to Daniel Gade's claims

By Warren Fiske / July 29, 2020 

The national debate on law and order is spilling into Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, with Republican nominee Daniel Gade repeatedly saying incumbent Democrat Mark Warner wants to defund police departments.

"@MarkWarner & his party bosses are calling to defund police…" Gade tweeted on July 22.

"Do you agree with @MarkWarnerVA and @TheDemocrats that we should defund our police?" Gade asked in a July 23 tweet, which contained boxes for readers to vote "yes" or "no."

We fact-checked Gade’s claim and found no evidence that Warner supports defunding police. To the contrary, the senator has often said he opposes such action. Let’s take a deeper look.

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Warner has said at least four times that he opposes defunding police. All of his statements came at least a month before Gade accused him of backing the policy. 

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On July 22, Gade said Warner is "calling to defund the police." He repeated the claim two days later.

Warner, at least a month before Gade’s statements, said he is opposed to defunding police. The senator staked out his position in virtual town hall meetings, TV reports, and on his campaign website. The statements can be easily found, clear as day.

We rate Gade’s claim False.

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