| A new fact check finds that a Mariannette Miller-Meeks ad “repeats baseless claims that [Christina Bohannan] wants to defund law enforcement.”
The truth?
“Nonpartisan fact-checkers debunked the [defund] accusation during Miller-Meeks’ 2022 campaign against former state Rep. Christina Bohannan… Miller-Meeks referenced one of the sources in making the same claim, which PolitiFact Iowa rated false.”
GET THE FACTS:
- LIE: Miller-Meeks claims that “Bohannan wants to defund the police. She proved it.”
- FACT: A PolitiFact Fact Check from 2022 rated this claim as “false,” quoting Bohannan as saying, “I do not support abolishing the police. I never have, I never will.”
- LIE: Miller-Meeks claims Bohannan voted against law enforcement health benefits.
- FACT: The fact check noted “Bohannan voted for an amendment to expand health insurance benefits for retired law enforcement officers” – the exact amendment Miller-Meeks is referencing in her ad.
DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Mariannette Miller-Meeks is repeating lies about Christina Bohannan that have already been rated as ‘FALSE’ because she can’t defend her own record. Christina has always stood with law enforcement and fought for the resources they need to keep communities across Iowa safe, and that’s what she’ll do in Congress.”
Read more:
PolitiFact: Does Christina Bohannan want to abolish law enforcement? No
The Iowa Independent: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks ad repeats debunked ‘defund the police’ claim
- A new ad for Iowa Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks repeats baseless claims that her Democratic opponent wants to defund law enforcement.
- Nonpartisan fact-checkers debunked the accusation during Miller-Meeks’ 2022 campaign against former state Rep. Christina Bohannan.
- The Miller-Meeks campaign spot, called “Life On the Line,” which was posted online by the site AdImpact, shows a woman kissing a man who holds a police vest. In a voice-over, the woman says: ”Every day he walks out this door, and I pray. He puts his life on the line for everybody else, and it’s not for the money. Radicals like Christina Bohannan are the problem. She voted against better health benefits for law enforcement. That crushes families like mine, and it’s just wrong.”
- Viewers then hear the voice-over say: “Bohannan wants to defund the police. She proved it. She’ll never support us, and that’s why we can’t support Christina Bohannan.”
- On the screen, text that reads “Christina Bohannan wants to defund the police” is sourced to two right-wing websites, neither of which cites any comments or votes by Bohannan that back up the statement.
- In 2021, Miller-Meeks referenced one of the sources in making the same claim, which PolitiFact Iowa rated false.
- In a PolitiFact fact check with the title “Christina Bohannan does not want to abolish law enforcement,” the outlet quoted Bohannan as saying: “I do not support abolishing the police. I never have, I never will. As a law professor for over two decades, I have dedicated my career to standing up for the rule of law, and I do not support abolishing law enforcement.”
- In another caption in the Miller-Meeks campaign’s ad, the claim that Bohannan opposed law enforcement health benefits cites her vote against S.F. 342, a 2021 law containing provisions that made what it called a “riot” a felony, expanded legal immunity for police officers and withheld funds to localities deemed to have failed to enforce the law.
- Bohannan voted for an amendment to expand health insurance benefits for retired law enforcement officers, but opposed the underlying bill.
- A Miller-Meeks campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
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