The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a TV ad on June 3 that attacks U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman because of his ties to Bernie Sanders and other progressive politicians.
“This ad is frankly laughable,” says Fetterman campaign spokesperson Joe Calvello in a statement.
Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor since 2018, recently won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate and will face either Mehmet Oz or David McCormick in the fall campaign, depending on the outcome of a revote for the Republican nomination.
“To be clear, John cannot be labeled because he is not like other politicians, and voters across Pennsylvania know that, and they know John, that’s why he just won every county in the primary,” says Calvello. “Some cheap looking ad that is chock-full of inaccuracies is not going to change that.”
The 30-second ad shows a white van with a large Fetterman campaign sticker on the side, and a group of “supporters,” who are clearly actors, banging on the side of the vehicle and clapping their hands.
The actors then take multiple fake protest signs out of the van, including handwritten quotes like “End fracking, no more oil,” “AOC is QUEEN,” and “Republican=Bigot.”
In his statement, Fetterman’s spokesperson poked fun at the video, which includes an actor aggressively slapping a bumper sticker reading “Fetterman loves Biden” onto the van.
“And by the way what’s the deal with the white van? Is that the same van Dr. Oz used to move to PA a few months ago?” says Calvello.
The NRSC calls Fetterman “Bernie Sanders’ favorite Senate candidate” and “a socialist’s dream Senator” in a statement announcing the release of the ad, adding that “radicals from around the country couldn’t be more excited to support John Fetterman and his agenda.”
Throughout the video, the ad claims that Fetterman sided with socialists, backed a government takeover of health care, and supported the Green New Deal.
The ad is scheduled to run through Thu., June 16 on broadcast and cable TV, according to Politico, which says the NRSC put in “just under $1.5 million behind the ad.”
Fetterman campaign calls GOP attack ad “frankly laughable”
