Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) wasn’t ready to let bygones be bygones after winning his primary Tuesday night, blasting his opponent for running what he called a “disgusting, despicable smear campaign.”
{mosads}Amash, who defeated businessman Brian Ellis by a 14-point margin, slamming Ellis and his allies for their highly charged negative campaign.
“You owe my family and this community an apology for your disgusting, despicable smear campaign,” Amash said during his victory speech after refusing to take Ellis’s concession call. “You had the audacity to try and call me today after running a campaign that was called the nastiest in the country. I ran for office to stop people like you.”
In successive ads, Ellis accused the Arab-American Amash, who has two young daughters, of being “al Qaeda’s best friend” in Congress and of refusing to oppose gender-selection abortion.
“I’m an Arab-American, and he has the audacity to say I’m al Qaeda’s best friend in congress. That’s pretty disgusting,” Amash said in a follow-up TV interview.
Amash also went after those backing Ellis, including former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), calling him called a “disgrace” and saying he’s glad “we could hand you one more loss before you fade into total obscurity and irrelevance.”
Amash also attacked the Washington groups that went after him in his victory speech. The Chamber of Commerce endorsed Ellis, and though it didn’t spend on his behalf, the Michigan Chamber did.
“Everyday Americans are taking back their government from the crooks and the cronies … the insiders that have contempt for the American people,” he concluded, making it clear he’s going to keep being a thorn in the side of House GOP leadership and the Republican establishment.
“I’m going to go back to Washington, and I’m going to continue to fight for liberty, the Constitution and for you,” he finished.
Watch the full speech here.