As voters continue to see threats to our democracy as a top issue heading into Election Day, End Citizens United and Senate Majority PAC released a new seven figure ad campaign today featuring former Madison police captain George Silverwood hitting Ron Johnson for continuing to excuse the deadly actions of January 6 insurrectionists and defend Trump’s Big Lie.
Johnson hired fake electors to work on his campaign and was involved in the scheme to overturn the election. He cannot be trusted to be the next Senator of Wisconsin.
NBC News: Democrats hit Sen. Ron Johnson on Jan. 6 remarks in new Wisconsin Senate ad
Natasha Korecki
10/19/2022
Key Points:
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Democrats are hitting Republican Sen. Ron Johnson over his remarks downplaying the January 6 riot with a new TV ad in the Wisconsin Senate race.
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The 30-second ad features a former Madison police officer narrating a video that shows violent clashes around the U.S. Capitol during last year’s insurrection.
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“I’ll never forget Jan. 6th, watching my fellow law enforcement officers defending the Capitol,” retired Police Capt. George Silverwood says in the ad. “And then, five officers died. But Ron Johnson is making excuses for rioters who tried to overthrow our government, even calling them ‘peaceful protests.’”
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As Silverwood talks about the deaths tied to the attack, the ad shows a coffin draped in the American flag.
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The ad is paid for by the Senate Majority PAC and End Citizens United.
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Johnson and his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, are entering the final weeks of a contest that could determine which party controls the Senate over the next two years.
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Johnson, a two-term senator, has come under increased scrutiny on the campaign trail in recent weeks for his past comments about Jan. 6.
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Johnson, who recently told the Milwaukee Rotary Club that Jan. 6 wasn’t an armed insurrection, has said he strongly denounced the violence on that day. He previously told Fox News: “By and large it was all, it was a peaceful protest, except for there were a number of people, basically agitators, that whipped the crowd and breached the Capitol. And you know, that’s really the truth of what’s happening here.”
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A digital ad earlier in the campaign also drew attention to Jan. 6. The ad from the Senate Majority PAC aims to counter that messaging by painting Johnson as being too extreme for Wisconsin while seeking to undermine Johnson’s contention that he is the candidate on the side of law enforcement.
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NBC News reported Monday that Johnson had hired an attorney to consult on a possible recount of the Nov. 8 election. The lawyer — James Troupis, an attorney for President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign who led Trump’s unsuccessful recount efforts in Wisconsin — is already embroiled in the Justice Department’s investigation of the Jan. 6 riot.
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