Tom Barrett Must Apologize For Outright Lie About Congresswoman Slotkin’s Patriotism and Support for Veterans

This weekend, Tom Barrett showed why he cannot be trusted to represent mid-Michiganders and just how low he’ll stoop to raise campaign cash. A Detroit News report revealed that Barrett sent fundraising solicitations with the lie that Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin “thinks veterans are cowards.”

Barrett’s smears are flat out wrong – especially given Rep. Slotkin and her family’s lengthy record of public service. Slotkin served three tours in Iraq as a CIA officer, where the military protected her life on a daily basis, and in intelligence and defense positions under Democratic and Republican presidents. Her husband is a retired U.S. Army colonel and Apache helicopter pilot who served for over 30 years, and her stepdaughter is serving in the U.S. Army abroad. Slotkin has fought for veterans as a member of Congress on the Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services Committees and “recently championed a bill that would make it easier for veterans to get care and benefits for illnesses tied to prolonged exposure to burn pits overseas.”

“Tom Barrett’s blatant lie about Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin’s patriotism and record of support for veterans is an incredibly ugly and low place to stoop,” said DCCC spokesperson Elena Kuhn. “Barrett is proving that he’ll do anything to fill his campaign coffers, even if it means spreading offensive lies about Congresswoman Slotkin. He must apologize and take down his false smears immediately.”

READ MORE BELOW:

Detroit News: Political Insider: Slotkin denounces GOP opponent’s campaign ad as ‘lie’

• Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin is denouncing as a “lie” an attack from a Republican opponent that says she “thinks veterans are cowards.”

• The digital solicitation from state Sen. Tom Barrett, a Charlotte Republican running for U.S. House in the new 7th District, is an appeal for donations for his campaign.

• It shows an image of Slotkin, a Holly Democrat, with the words, “thinks veterans are cowards” and “hates voter ID.”

• Slotkin did three tours in Iraq as a CIA officer and is married to retired U.S. Army colonel and Apache helicopter pilot Dave Moore, who served for 30 years, including two tours in Iraq. Slotkin’s step daughter, Jennifer, is an active duty U.S. Army officer stationed overseas.

• “I was always taught that love of country and service to the nation should be deeply apolitical, and that patriotism is more important than politics,” Slotkin said in a statement.

• “Accusing me of thinking that veterans — including my own husband, and my stepdaughter — are cowards is a lie, particularly since my life was literally protected by the military as I served alongside them during my three tours with the CIA in Iraq,” she added.

• “Tom Barrett spends a lot of time touting his own service, so he should know better — and try to live up the very ideals that our military imparts.”
  …

• Slotkin’s career before Congress included intelligence and defense posts during the administrations of presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In the U.S. House, she sits on the House committees on Veteran Affairs and Armed Services.

• She recently championed a bill that would make it easier for veterans to get care and benefits for illnesses tied to prolonged exposure to burn pits overseas.

• The competitive new 7th District where Slotkin and Barrett are running is anchored by Lansing and covers Livingston, Shiawassee, Ingham and Clinton counties, nearly all of Eaton County and slivers of Oakland and Genesee counties.