A super PAC that supports presidential hopeful Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will air an ad criticizing his Democratic primary opponents during the presidential debates Tuesday and Wednesday, breaking a taboo against super PAC attacks during the primary.
The ad from Act Now on Climate pictures five top-tier candidates — California Sen. Kamala Harris, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders — as its narrator says, “Democrats aren’t making climate change the number one issue.”
Inslee has made climate change the focus of his presidential campaign. On Tuesday, he released the fifth part of his plan to combat climate change.
“When your house is on fire, it’s obvious what’s your top priority. When the world’s on fire, there shouldn’t be any question either,” the ad says, picturing a burning forest, a tornado and a flooded street.
“Only Gov. Jay Inslee has the record and plan to fix it,” the ad says. It touts a quote from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said that Inslee has a “gold standard climate plan.”
[Read: 10 things to watch for on the first night of Democratic debates]
Act Now on Climate will spend six figures to show the ad in Iowa during the debates and continue in Iowa media markets for another week, Politico reported.
The super PAC was created in February with the purpose of supporting Inslee’s presidential bid. Unlike many of his primary rivals, Inslee has declined to condemn support from super PACs during the presidential primary.
“They want to defeat climate change, and this is something I’ve been very passionate about for decades,” Inslee said in March. “So, no, I won’t be condemning any organization that’s trying to defeat climate change.”
As of the end of March, the super PAC had spent nearly $1.3 million on TV and digital ads in support of Inslee’s presidential bid, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Digital ads from the PAC appeared to help push Inslee over the 65,000 donor threshold to secure his spot in the June and July debates.
Liberal group End Citizens United, which has called on candidates to disavow single-candidate super PACs, condemned the ad.
“Governor Jay Inslee is the only candidate in the race who has welcomed the support of a single candidate Super PAC and now he is the only candidate using big money to do his dirty work and attack fellow Democrats,” End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller the group said in a statement Tuesday. “The Democratic nominee should be chosen by voters, not a handful of special interests and wealthy donors contributing massive sums to super PACs and dark money groups.”
