Trump plays a starring role in California Senate debate as four candidates clash

Four candidates for a U.S. Senate seat in California squared off in their first debate Monday as they compete for a rare open seat vacated by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

And Donald Trump, the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee, who would be all but guaranteed to get pummeled in the general election in the solidly blue state, played a starring role.

The three Democrats — U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee — all sought to highlight their opposition to the former president and corner the lone Republican onstage, former baseball player Steve Garvey, for refusing to say whether he'd support Trump this fall.

"What more do you need to see of what he’s done to be able to say that you will not support him?" Schiff asked him after saying he "took on" Trump during his first term and calling him a "dictator" and "the gravest threat to democracy in our history."

Garvey responded that “both times, he was the best person for the job,” referring to the 2016 and 2020 elections. But he declined to say whether he’d support Trump or President Joe Biden this year, drawing some laughter from the crowd.

“What they say is true: Once a dodger, always a dodger,” Porter said, referring to Garvey’s past as a Los Angeles Dodgers player. “This is not the minor leagues. Who will you vote for?”

Porter tried to carve out an economic-populist identity, calling herself a consumer advocate who “took on greedy corporations.” She vowed to “stand up to corporate power” and work to “address income inequality and wealth inequality” if elected.

Porter said “special interests have too much power” and “we as Californians — we don’t have enough,” adding that she wants to ban earmarks — the congressional practice of