Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) fired back today at a recent ad by his opponent in the Connecticut Senate GOP primary, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, by blasting the indecency of WWE’s programming.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Bringing The Smackdown: Linda McMahon’s Campaign For Senate, And Her Colorful Pro-Wrestling Past]
During an appearance on Hardball, Chris Matthews asked Simmons about McMahon’s ad, which shows two women talking to each other in a car, and concluding that WWE was a “soap opera” and that McMahon was a strong businesswoman who could shake up Washington.
“Well I think it makes those two women look a little bit like airheads,” said Simmons. “Look, I’m like you. Back in the days when I was a kid, I saw Haystack Calhoun wrestle in New London. It was a lot of fun, it was a carnival show. But when you see a Down syndrome wrestler being beat up and abused, and his head being pushed in the toilet by Mrs. McMahon’s husband and son, that’s not funny. And that ad simply ridicules some of the ugly behaviors that they’ve promoted as soap opera. It’s not soap opera. It’s ugly, it shouldn’t be marketed to our children.”
The Republican primary will be held this Tuesday, August 10. The TPM Poll Average shows McMahon ahead with 48.9%, followed by Simmons at 28.7%, and financial commentator Peter Schiff with 13.9%.
