Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel’s Senate campaign has long accused supporters of Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) of shopping around advertising accusing McDaniel of racism and connecting him to the Ku Klux Klan.
Audio of the ads were obtained by the Daily Mail Online.
But now, the owner of a radio station in Canton, Mississippi said a Democratic operative reached out to the station multiple times about making an ad purchase for a spot linking the Republican primary challenger to the Klan, according to the Clarion-Ledger.
The owner of radio station WMGO, Jerry Lousteau, told the Daily Mail that Democratic operative Greg Brand contacted the station about airing the ad a few days before the June 24 runoff between McDaniel (pictured) and Cochran, which Cochran won, according to the Clarion-Ledger. Brand, however, denied to the Clarion-Ledger on Monday that he was involved with the ads, and Brand’s name no longer appears in the Mail story. According to the Clarion-Ledger, the voice in the ads is allegedly Ruth Harris, a resident of Jackson who has been involved in get-out-the-vote efforts with Brand. Harris also told the Mississippi newspaper Brand was not involved.
The audio in the ad links McDaniel to a lawyer who represented the Klan and also said that if voters do not go out and vote, they could lose food stamps, student loans, disaster relief as well as suffer cuts to social security and Medicaid.
“The right wing tea party people are saying we are too lazy to care or too afraid to vote. They say we only want a handout or something for free,” the voice in the ad said.
Listen to the ad here.
This post has been updated for clarity and attribution.
