How desperate is the Democratic Party to get rid of Mitch McConnell? A Democratic PAC called Americans United For Change produced an ad titled “Bad Company” that links McConnell with Al-Qaeda, The Atlantic reports.
McConnell has been uncompromising with regard to opposing background checks, even voting in favor of filibustering a proposed bill that approves of them.
Americans United for Change was founded in 2005, and has been led since 2009 by Tom McMahon, the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Executive Director, who took over from Brad Woodhouse, who left to be communications director at the DNC. Its Deputy Executive Director is Caren Benjamin, a former aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The PAC has been supported by MoveOn.org as well as the Teamsters.
In the ad, a voiceover says over a picture of McConnell, “Most Kentucky residents want comprehensive background checks for gun sales. But Republican leader Mitch McConnell is against them. So who does agree with Mitch?”
Then a 2011 Al-Qaeda recruitment video is shown, in which the bearded Al-Qaeda spokesman intones:
You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check, most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?
The voiceover reappears, saying: “Call Mitch McConnell. Ask him why he’s in such bad company.”
The ad ends with the Al-Qaeda voice repeating, “So what are you waiting for?”
As Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager, asserted on CNN, “It’s outrageous the left would make the comparison, but not surprising considering their track record of bullying anyone who disagrees with their point of view.”