Hayworth: McCain Tells People How To Get Government Grants, Too! (VIDEO)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ).
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Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), the challenger to Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary who has come under fire for his participation in a 2007 infomercial for a company’s questionable seminars promoting “free money” in government grants, has put up a web video telling his side of the story. In it, he declares that McCain is a hypocrite on this subject. And in response, the McCain campaign is calling Hayworth a very dumb man for making the comparison.

“Three years ago I appeared in a video presentation about government grants, for which I was compensated. In retrospect, it was a mistake. I should have never appeared in the ad, and I apologize for my involvement,” Hayworth says. He then lays out all the problems with this company: the consumer complaints, its own financial troubles — and the fact that they later went on to continue to use his name and likeness past the agreed upon expiration date, necessitating a cease-and-desist letter from himself and his attorneys. “So I had my own difficulties with that entity.”

However, he calls out McCain: “It is worth noting, as well, that Sen. McCain, on his official website, has an entire section devoted to government grants. So obviously, he believes in the merits of government grants — though he tries to attack me for being less than fiscally conservative.”

Hayworth has been attacked on two fronts with this. First, he was a paid pitchman for a company with a less-than-stellar consumer record, which sold information on “free” government to seminar attendees for $999. On another level, he has been attacked for committing the very un-Tea Party act of encouraging people to seek government money. So clearly, he wants to return fire on the latter point by pointing to the grant information on McCain’s Senate site.

We asked McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers for comment.

“This is how Congressman Hayworth won the title ‘Dumbest Member of Congress.’ This isn’t even apples and oranges, it’s hot dogs and bananas,” Rogers said. Rogers pointed out that Senate websites frequently link to free information for constituents on how to apply for government programs — and this includes such noted fiscal conservatives as Jim DeMint (R-SC), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Cornyn (R-TX).

Rogers added:

The publicly available information on Sen. McCain’s website is free, while Congressman Hayworth was asking people to come to seminars where they were charged thousands of dollars for something that’s free in the first place. It was a scam.

Sen. McCain’s website makes no absurd claims of “hundreds of billions of dollars” available for individuals to buy yachts and horse farms, while Hayworth’s infomercial did just that, with him repeatedly appealing to people to bring that money into “your home” and adding credibility to the shady company’s entire bogus pitch, repeatedly saying, “it is true” and “it is real.”

Sen. McCain did not profit from providing this information, it’s done as a service, while Congressman Hayworth was paid a still-unknown sum of money to shill for a scam that ripped people off under the guise of helping them.

The stench of desperation from the Hayworth campaign must be wafting up to Canada by now.

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