McCain’s Primary Challenger Ripped Off An Old Romney Ad To Attack McCain

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain talks to reporters about an incident earlier when members of an anti-war group approached a witness table where former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, Madele... Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain talks to reporters about an incident earlier when members of an anti-war group approached a witness table where former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright and George P. Shultz were testifying, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. The protesters carried signs calling the 91-year-old Kissinger a war criminal, when McCain blurted out, "Get out of here, you low-life scum." As a Navy aviator during the Vietnam War, McCain was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi, then imprisoned and tortured by the North Vietnamese for five years. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS

By Lauren Fox

July 13, 2016 10:19 a.m.

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Kelli Ward, a former Arizona state senator who is challenging Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the Republican primary, released an online ad this week that looks strikingly familiar to one cut by Mitt Romney’s team in 2008 when Romney was challenging McCain for the GOP presidential nomination.

The ad plays out a fictional debate between Hillary Clinton and McCain and alleges that on “amnesty for illegal immigrants,” votes against President Bush’s tax cuts and “blocking conservative judges,” McCain and Clinton agree.

The similarities were first reported by the Arizona Republic. The only difference noted by the Arizona Republic is the very end of the ad where Ward –instead of Romney– announces she supports the message. It appears the ad was a direct replica otherwise.

The Arizona Republic reached out to Ward’s campaign, which did not dispute that the ad was the same.

“Mitt Romney got it right,” Stephen Sebastian, Ward’s spokesman, told the Arizona Republic. “If the shoe fits, wear it. The substance is still the same. Some things never change.”

Check out the Mitt Romney ad here:

And Kelli Ward’s ad here:

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Lauren Fox Lauren Fox is a reporter at Talking Points Memo.

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Notable Replies

tiowally says:

July 13, 2016

Headline:

Fuck Sid McCrashcup

Subhed:

Palin Says …
jcblues says:

July 13, 2016

couldn’t they just get the rights and make this an anti McCain ad?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LUT6K3JwWM
azjude says:

July 13, 2016

Good!

This guy needs to lose!

Worthless, do nothing, waste of a paycheck, ever!
hippocritic says:

July 13, 2016

I love how the nitwit spokescritter’s entire response was a string of cliches.