A super PAC tied to House GOP leadership released a television ad on Wednesday that links the Democratic candidate in a special election in Pennsylvania to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) “crumbs” comments on the new tax law.
The Congressional Leadership Fund’s ad connects comments from 18th Congressional District Democratic candidate Conor Lamb suggesting that the GOP tax efforts are a “complete betrayal” to comments Pelosi made that the law is “armageddon” and that the bonuses companies have announced are “crumbs.”
“Pelosi and Lamb. Too out of touch. Too many taxes,” the narrator says in the ad, part of a $1.7 million buy.
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It’s the latest effort by Republicans link Pelosi to Lamb, who has called for new House Democratic leadership. The CLF last month released an ad arguing that Lamb will “join Pelosi’s liberal flock.”
Republicans believe that hammering Pelosi on taxes will be a winning strategy for them, arguing that attacks on the California Democrat helped them in a special election for a House seat in Georgia last year.
Lamb faces Republican Rick Saccone in the March 13 contest to replace former Rep. Tim Murphy (R), who resigned in October following a report suggesting that he recommended that a woman he was having an affair with have an abortion.
Trump easily carried the district in 2016, but Democrats are hoping that they can pull off an upset. The Cook Political Report rates the race as leaning Republican.
Democrats argue that their message on the tax law resonates more with people. They argue that the law provides far less of a benefit to the middle class than it does to the wealthy.
Lamb’s “complete betrayal” comment was made on Twitter in December during the Senate’s debate over its version of the legislation. He was retweeting Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who said she got a list of amendments being added to the bill from lobbyists.
“Complete betrayal of the middle class,” Lamb tweeted. “We were promised infrastructure & jobs, instead we get big tax cuts for the rich written by & for corporate lobbyists. People in #PA18 are tired of being lied to. We’ll put an end to this hypocrisy on March 13th.”