Georgia Senate candidate Jon Ossoff was caught lying to voters, attempting to appease Georgians on both sides of the Second Amendment debate. Ossoff rolled out a new ad running exclusively in rural markets, in which he claims to be a staunch supporter of second amendment rights.
“Nothing’s more important than keeping Georgians safe. I’ll fight for Georgia’s military bases. I’ll defend our Second Amendment. And police officers put their lives on the line to protect us. Of course, I don’t support defunding the police,” he says.
This ad, a clear attempt at courting center-right voters, completely contradicts Ossoff’s past rhetoric on both the second amendment and supporting law enforcement. The Senate hopeful has an “F” rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA), and though he is “unsure” about the mandatory gun buyback program championed by the far-left, previously said that assault weapons should not be available to the public and voiced his support for universal background checks. His bid to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue is backed by gun control groups, including Every Town for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign.
On support for law enforcement, Ossoff has been notoriously vague, refusing to outright condemn the movement to “defund the police.” In June, however, Ossoff said that funding for law enforcement should be “on the line” if force is used.
"You have to have national standards for the use of force, and yeah, you've got to be able to hold individual officers and entire departments accountable, and there also has to be funding for those departments on the line."
While Ossoff plays both sides of the gun debate, hoping to make strides with more conservative voters, Sen. Perdue holds a slight advantage in polling averages.