A top Republican outside group is making a new push to tie Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to Hillary Clinton in the wake of remarks made by the former secretary about supporters of President Trump.
In a new digital ad, Missouri Rising, a state chapter of America Rising Squared, calls a third term of McCaskill “disdain Missouri doesn’t need,” citing her past support for Clinton and repeatedly showing the Missouri Democrat looking forward to calling Clinton “madam president.”
“Liberal. Elite. Out of touch. Hillary Clinton and Claire McCaskill — disdain Missouri doesn’t need,” the ad says.
This comes on the heels of McCaskill pushing back Sunday night against Clinton’s recent remarks in India, where she said Trump supporters are looking “backwards” and touted her electoral wins in states that are “optimistic” and “moving forward.”
“I understand the point she was trying to make, but it felt like she was criticizing Missouri voters,” McCaskill told MSNBC. “I would draw a line there. I have great respect for Missouri voters, and there were a lot reasons why they voted for Donald Trump, some of them I understand.”
“No, it wasn’t helpful. I think it was wrong how she put it,” McCaskill said. “For those of us that are in states that Trump won, we would really appreciate if she would be more careful and show respect to every American voter and not just the ones who voted for her.”
Earlier Monday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released a cadre of ads targeting Senate Democrats up for re-election in red states in an attempt to tie them to Clinton’s remarks.
Despite a growing sense of Democratic optimism heading into November, Republicans are pushing to flip multiple Senate seats where Trump won, with McCaskill’s seat at the forefront. Trump defeated Clinton in Missouri by 18 points.
McCaskill will likely be pitted against state Attorney General Josh Hawley in November.
