Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) re-election campaign hit the airwaves in Kentucky to attack Sen. McConnell’s presumed Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath, on her far-left abortion stance.
Dubbed “Own Words,” the radio ad uses McGrath’s own previous rhetoric to highlight her far-left stance on abortion, as she attempts to paint herself as the moderate candidate in the Democratic primary. In a 2018 interview with radio host Larry Glover, McGrath declined to draw the line on abortion at any specific point of gestation, as Team Mitch’s ad shows.
McGrath initially used the rehearsed Democratic talking point for this issue, that the government should not be “making decisions” for a woman. But when pressed by Glover on abortion in the ninth month, and even on the day of delivery, McGrath would not draw a distinction:
“So you think a woman on the way to the hospital to give birth could decide to abort it instead?”
“I don’t think that government should be involved in a woman’s right to choose what is happening to her body,” McGrath responded.
This unspecific answer from McGrath mirrors similar rhetoric from her bid for Congress in 2017, when she told voters that she was “100 percent pro-choice.”
Sen. McConnell’s re-election campaign unveiled a similar ad on McGrath’s progressive record last week, highlighting when the Senate hopeful enthusiastically claimed herself to be the most progressive person in all of Kentucky in 2018:
“I am further-left, I am more progressive, than anybody in the state of Kentucky.”
McGrath claimed that Sen. McConnell’s campaign was twisting her words and doctoring videos, but the GOP incumbent’s ads are comprised of McGrath’s own words.
“Amy McGrath is trying to hide from her 100 percent pro-abortion views on TV, but her own words reveal just how radical her support for abortion is,” said McConnell Senate Committee press secretary Kate Cooksey. “After months of attempting to deceive Kentuckians about her far-left views, Amy cannot deny her support for abortion on demand. Amy’s support for abortion goes so far that she even says people should not stand up for an unborn child who does not yet have a voice. Extreme Amy McGrath is 100 percent pro-abortion and 100 percent too liberal for Kentucky.”
McGrath is the favorite to win the Democratic primary on June 23, with two progressive competitors challenging her, but McGrath’s bid against Sen. McConnell is undoubtedly a long-shot. Cook Political Report and Crystal Ball rate the seat as “Likely Republican,” while Inside Elections says the seat is “Solid Republican.”
Watch Team Mitch's new ad here:
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