Tipsheet

Yikes! Bob Casey Jr. Posts a Terrible Self-Own on Fundraising Appearances

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  January 10, 2024 3:30 PM

Among the many U.S. Senate races worth watching for November is out of Pennsylvania, where Dave McCormick is looking to replace Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. While McCormick runs a strong campaign, Casey has made a fool of himself, including with a Wednesday morning post about McCormick's fundraising appearances.

"Dave McCormick starts 2024 by having fundraiser with Jan. 6th attendee," read the headline from the leftist outlet, The Keystone Newsroom. 

The headline turned out to be clickbait, suggesting that the senator, or whoever posts for him, didn't even bother reading the article he was seeking to use to his advantage. The "attendee" in question, shared selfies of himself in Washington, D.C. over Facebook in which he also denounced violence. 

Such a mention came early on, too, making the Casey campaign's failure to note this part particularly embarrassing. 

As the article mentioned:

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McCormick is starting the new year by traveling to Johnstown on Wednesday for a fundraiser hosted by someone who was in Washington DC on Jan. 6, 2021, while a second host for Wednesday’s fundraiser was quoted in a local newspaper following the 2020 election stating that they would like to vandalize the home of Biden supporters. 

Ross Stewart, a Pennsylvania Republican State Committee member and an advisor for the GT Commonwealth Fund, which is associated with Congressman GT Thompson (R-Pennsylvania), posted selfies of himself outside the US Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 on Facebook. 

“Scenes from today in D.C. (took some time off, and the violence is unacceptable),” Stewart’s caption read. 

At one point, Stewart agreed with a friend that the violence witnessed on that day looked like something from a third world country.

It’s unclear if Stewart made it onto the capitol grounds but the photos taken that day placed him on the west side of the building.

Such a post becomes even more embarrassing as, so far, over 100 replies and 13 quoted reposts have chimed in to remind Casey of who he has fundraised with. That includes appearances with Kendall Stephens, a biological man who identifies as a woman. As Madeline covered at the time last month, Stephens was arrested for allegedly raping two minors. Stephens also campaigned for Gov. Josh Shapiro, another top Democrat in the commonwealth.

A short time after Casey shared The Keystone Newsroom article, McCormick's communications director, Elizabeth Gregory, posted screenshots from articles sharing that the campaign raised $5.4 million last quarter, while Casey raised $3.6 million. That's not only more than Casey raised, but also more than Casey has raised in his best quarter, as PennLive.com pointed out.

As PennLive also mentioned:

Casey’s campaign reported last year that the $4 million he raised in the second quarter was the best quarter he ever had, according to the Associated Press, so McCormick’s $5.4 million in contributions would easily surpass that even without his own $1 million[.]

“As I’m going across Pennsylvania and across the country saying, ‘I’m in,’ that’s just a demonstration of being committed to the race both with my heart and my soul and my reputation, and my resources,” McCormick told PennLive during a visit to the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Monday.

McCormick also ran in the crowded Republican primary for the November 2022 election to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). He narrowly lost the nomination to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who had been endorsed by Donald Trump, and Oz lost to now Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). This time, however, the field is much more clear for McCormick, especially after state Sen. Doug Mastriano--who had run against and lost to Shapiro in 2022--endorsed him. McCormick has racked up many more endorsements, including an early one from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. 

Forecasters currently consider the race to slightly favor Casey, with the race being regarded as "Lean Democratic," "Tilt Democratic," or, in the case of Sabato's Crystal Ball, "Likely Democratic."