Exclusive: Ken Cuccinelli Says Bob Dole Should Be Ashamed of His Hit-Tweet on Tim Huelskamp

Ken-Cuccinelli-AP
AP Photo/Steve Helber

Speaking exclusively to Breitbart News the president of the Senate Conservative Fund, which supports candidates for both the House and Senate, ripped Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, for his interference in the Aug. 2 Kansas-1 GOP primary, pitting Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R.-Kan.) and OB-GYN Dr. Roger Marshall.

“Yeah, 104 years old, or whatever he is, sure, he’s using Twitter,” he said. “And, the second tweet he ever sends is attacking Tim Huelskamp–it is so classic,” said Ken Cuccinelli, who is the chairman of the Virginia delegation at the Republican National Convention and who served as a very active surrogate for the now-suspended presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R.-Texas). The SCF was founded by Jim DeMint, who passed the torch to Cuccinelli when he took over the Heritage Foundation.

Bob Dole is part of the problem,” said Cuccinelli, who as Virginia’s attorney general led the strongest legal challenges to President Barack Obama’s health care reforms. “He exemplifies the problem. He should be ashamed of himself.”

Dole, 92, told Breitbart his tweet was motivated by Huelskamp’s refusing to temper his conservative deals in the legislative process.

“I’ve been watching the race, and I believe the people of Kansas want to discuss issues that matter to them – issues like farm policy and the economy,” Dole said.

“Compromise is not a bad word. We compromise every day in our personal lives – with our wives and husbands, friends and neighbors.  You can’t say “no” to everything and still believe you’ll be able to maintain those relationships,” he said. “Sometimes you have to be ‘for’ something.”

The Kansas-1 Republican fight is shaping up as one of the fiercest in the 2016 cycle.

The challenger Marshall has raised more than $500,000 for his campaign and has made hay of Huelskamp’s temperament, which he said led Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to boot the congressman from the Agriculture Committee. It was the first time in 100 years that the congressman from Kansas-1, the country’s largest agriculture district, did not sit on the committee. The move came after Huelskamp did not support Boehner for speaker at the opening of the 2013 session of Congress and despite Huelskamp having a PhD in agriculture legislation.

Marshall also unsuccessfully challenged Huelskamp’s residency in Kansas.

The congressman has hit back at Marshall, too. Huelskamp questions Marshall’s commitment to restoring legal protections to unborn children, given his membership in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The ACOG supports full-access to abortion and recently celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Texas laws that standardized clinical and professional codes for abortion clinics.

Tim Huelskamp even found a 9-1-1 tape from a pedestrian telling the operator that Marshall nearly ran him over. The doctor later pled  nolo contendere to misdemeanor charges that he recklessly endangered life and property while driving. 

The congressman told Breitbart News he has respect for Dole, who as a congressman also represented Kansas-1.

“Senator Dole and I often mutually greet Kansas Veterans on their honor flights to D.C., and I respect his service,” he said.

But, he said, Dole may not have been fully aware of the facts in his attacks on Marshall.

“I do not know if he has reviewed the actual court records outlining Roger Marshall’s serious criminal charges and his conviction.  However, multiple Kansas media outlets have concluded that my ads are completely fact-based. Meanwhile, Marshall’s desperate attempt to cover up his criminal record was found full of deceit and fabrication,” he said.

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