National Republicans are refusing to disavow their candidate in Arizona’s 9th Congressional District – even after she ran a reprehensible broadcast TV ad using footage of an ISIS terrorist immediately before beheading an American journalist. Not only have Republicans kept Wendy Rogers on their premier “Young Guns” program, they’re engaging in discredited fear-mongering attacks across the country, using images of terrorists.
The ads from the National Republican Congressional Committee have been called misleading,” “significant distortions,” “misleading to the point of being false,” a “stretch,” Republican “spin,” and attempts “to take advantage of global volatility and the understandable fear surrounding it for [Republican] electoral purposes.” And now, their nationally touted candidates are taking it one step further by using footage of the tragic beheading of journalist James Foley.
From DCCC Chairman Steve Israel: “Instead of uniting the country against the grave threat of ISIS, House Republicans use the sickest form of partisan politics to divide us. It’s no surprise. The same House Republicans whose policies have stabbed the middle class in the back are now using beheadings to win seats to protect the special interests. If only they were as relentless in protecting our economic security as they are in politicizing our national security.”
BACKGROUND:
NRCC Young Gun Wendy Rogers Featured ISIS Execution in Campaign Ad. “Retired Air Force pilot Wendy Rogers, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona’s 9th Congressional District, is using part of an ISIS execution video in a new political advertisement to attack her opponent’s national security record. The ad begins with a clip featuring a member of the Islamic State holding a knife as he stands over American journalist James Foley kneeling in the desert sun, moments before he is beheaded.” [ABC News, 10/07/14; NRCC Young Guns, accessed 10/08/14]
TIME Magazine: NRCC’s National Security Attacks Discredited by Federal Officials, Attempts “to Take Advantage of Global Volatility” for “Electoral Purposes.” “Yet federal law enforcement officials have repeatedly stated that there is no active plot against the U.S. from ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria, and no intelligence to suggest incursions on the Southern border […]By juicing the threat of ISIS, Republicans are hoping to take advantage of global volatility and the understandable fear surrounding it for their own electoral purposes.” [TIME Magazine, 10/07/14]
Minnesota Public Radio: NRCC’s Attacks on National Security “Misleading to the Point of Being False.” “The ad says Nolan voted to release ‘terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay,’ but there’s more to the story. Nolan didn’t vote to cut funding for troops. He voted to block the government from funding a resolution it’s used in the past to justify going to war. For not telling the whole story, this ad is misleading to the point of being false.[Minnesota Public Radio, 9/24/14]
CBS Minnesota: NRCC Attacks on National Security “Misleading.” “Nolan voted against an amendment forbidding the use of funds for any future terrorist transfers. That’s not a vote to release terrorists. Nolan voted in favor of an amendment to stop funding for a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria. That’s not a vote against funding troops […]In fact, in 2014 Nolan voted ‘yes’ for the Department of Defense bill, which increased military funding by $4 billion. This ad against Rick Nolan is misleading.” [CBS Minnesota, 9/30/14]
New York State of Politics: NRCC Attacks on National Security a “Stretch.” “Technically speaking, this isn’t a simple funding cut, and it’s a bit of a stretch for this ad to say that the congressman voted in favor of reducing financial support for troops fighting terrorists overseas. One hundred thirty five of Maffei’s fellow Democrats voted ‘yes’ on Lee’s amendment, and so did 21 Republicans – including Rep. Chris Gibson, a US Army vet who taught at West Point and is the author of ‘Securing the State’, a book on national security decision-making that was published in 2008. The claim that Maffei voted in favor of bringing individuals accused of terrorism to be tried here in the US isn’t so cut-and-dried, either.” [New York State of Politics, 9/18/14]
Auburn Citizen: NRCC Attacks on National Security are Republican “Spin.” “Republicans spin this amendment to say that Maffei voted to cut funding in the fight against terrorism. But the purpose of this amendment is actually quite different and more complex than how it’s explained in the ad […]The NRCC’s claim isn’t necessarily inaccurate, but it certainly lacks the appropriate context. Would this provision, as the NRCC suggests, give ‘constitutional rights for foreign terrorists?’ If they are detained on U.S. soil, yes. But a closer look at the amendment — supported by Democrats and Republicans in the House — shows that the intent of the proposal lacks the sinister motives suggested in the NRCC’s commercial […]But simply saying Maffei ‘voted to bring them to America’doesn’t provide viewers with enough information about the measure he supported. And like other votes referred to in the ad, it’s more complex than it seems.” [Auburn Citizen, 9/20/14]