Johnson pulled radio ad after Highland Park shooting: report

Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) campaign pulled a radio ad that said “the latest mass murder in America didn’t involve guns” following the Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., The Intercept reported on Thursday. 

The ad, which was set to be released on Wednesday, references the more than 50 migrants who were found dead in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, last week after being smuggled into the country. 

“Fifty-three people, including five children, were murdered by human traffickers because Joe Biden’s open border policy is facilitating the multibillion-dollar business model of some of the most evil people on the planet,” the ad states, according to The Intercept. “Human, sex and drug trafficking are out of control because of Democrat governance.” 

But a top executive from Katz Radio Group, which sells advertising space for radio stations and sold space to Johnson’s campaign for the ad, sent an email the day after the Highland Park shooting telling its client, a radio station, that the campaign ordered the ad pulled as soon as possible.

“If you listened to the spot it talks about mass shootings which obviously is not good creative after this past weekend (especially in Chicago),” the email, obtained by The Intercept, reads. 

A gunman opened fire at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, on Monday, killing seven and injuring dozens more. 

A sales assistant at Cumulous Radio Station Group told colleagues in an email the next day that the ad should be pulled. 

Johnson’s campaign and Katz Radio Group did not immediately return requests for comment from The Hill. 

Hypothetical polling released last month showed Johnson set to be locked in a tight race with his top potential Democratic opponents — Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

This story was updated at 5:59 p.m.