DCCC Chairman Faces Heat for False Ad Against Mike Kelly
DCCC Chairman Deflects Question on Inaccurate Ad Against GOP Congressman
By Cameron Cawthorne | Washington Free Beacon
Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D., N.M.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on Sunday deflected a question about an inaccuracy in one of the committee’s ads targeting Rep. Mike Kelly (R., Pa.).
Luján appeared on “Fox News Sunday” alongside his Republican counterpart, Rep. Steve Stivers (Ohio), at the National Republican Congressional Committee, where they discussed the upcoming midterm elections. Host Chris Wallace played a clip of the DCCC’s ad targeting Kelly and then pressed him on an inaccuracy in the ad.
“2010, car dealer Mike Kelly is elected to Congress and while there, his net worth increased by millions, so it’s no surprise he helped give special tax breaks to car dealers like himself,” the ad narrator said.
Wallace then referenced the Center for Responsive Politics, the source cited in the ad claiming that Kelly’s net worth has increased, saying that their data shows that his net worth has “dropped dramatically.”
“It hasn’t risen,” Wallace added.
“When we see our Republican colleagues voting for a tax package dubbed by the American people as a tax scam that was prioritizing corporations and the most wealthy in America over hardworking middle-class families, we are going to call them out on the record,” Luján said.
Wallace followed up by saying that his question was about Kelly’s net worth, calling it a “fact.”
“To the point of your question, I think that all committees and all spenders out there that are investing in campaign ads across the country, they need to be respectful of that tone, but I would agree with Steve that when we’re looking at voting records, that I think that is fair game as well and we need to make sure we are all looking to see that we can make sure we are having a better conversation with the American people whether it’s the last nine days of this cycle or going into next election as well,” Luján said.
Factcheck.org featured the ad in a post from last week about misleading ads from the DCCC.
About Author
Mike believes in fiscal responsibility and smaller government. As a business owner, he knows first-hand that businesses create jobs – not the government. Thanks to his seat on the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee, Mike is in a position to promote pro-growth tax reform that would simplify the tax code and lower tax rates.