House Democrats are trying to capitalize on bad publicity surrounding freshman Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by tying other GOP lawmakers to QAnon conspiracy theories she’s espoused.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday dropped a $500,000 TV and online attack ad campaign against eight House Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
The spots mimic a 2020 campaign theme by House Republicans tying Democrats to the Black Lives Matter “defund the police” movement. Democrats lost more than 10 seats, significantly cutting the size of their majority.
In addition to McCarthy, who represents a safely Republican district based in Bakersfield, California, the other Republican QAnon ads are targeted at lawmakers in vulnerable districts: Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Garcia of California, Young Kim of California, Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, Michelle Steel of California, and Beth Van Duyne of Texas.
There is no current evidence that any of the lawmakers targeted in the campaign ads embraced QAnon conspiracy theories, and each has condemned the attacks on the Capitol. In October, during the last Congress, McCarthy, Bacon, Garcia, and Fitzpatrick all voted for a resolution “condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.”
Like most campaign attack ads produced by the DCCC or the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, the videos are designed for quick and easy editing, to splice and replace one lawmaker’s name for another into the same general ad structure. Every ad is the same except for which lawmaker the ad is targeting.
For example, the ad targeting Bacon opens with eerie music, and the ominous voiceover begins by saying: “QAnon, a conspiracy theory born online, took over the Republican Party, sent followers to Congress, and with Donald Trump, incited a mob that attacked the Capitol and murdered a cop. Then, Republicans like Don Bacon voted to protect Trump, letting the QAnon mob win. Congressman Don Bacon should have stood with us, but he was a coward. He stood with Trump and the lies. Congressman Don Bacon: He stood with Q, not you.”
House Democratic leaders want Republicans to punish Greene for “reprehensible statements” and strip her of committee assignments.
McCarthy is expected to meet privately with Greene this week, a GOP aide told the Washington Examiner, and discuss her previous statements regarding school shooting conspiracy theories and past belief in QAnon, which she has since renounced.
