ICYMI: DSCC Hits McConnell Over Reckless Statement Telling Cash-Strapped State and Local Governments to “Use the Bankruptcy Route” [The Hill]

New DSCC Digital Ad Holds McConnell Accountable For Irresponsible Bankruptcy Comments

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) launched a new digital ad this week holding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accountable for his position that state and local governments struggling to respond to the coronavirus can “use the bankruptcy route.” 

The DSCC ad highlights the Republican Senate Majority Leader’s irresponsible comments telling cash-strapped states and municipalities impacted by the coronavirus to consider filing for bankruptcy, rather than Congress working across the aisle to provide desperately needed federal relief.

Governors on both sides of the aisle condemned McConnell’s remarks, and analysts say his reckless stance risks “turning a potentially short recession into a prolonged depression.” This is another weak point for vulnerable Senate Republicans who have either fallen in line with McConnell or refused to speak out against a plan that threatens their states. GOP incumbents have already blocked the aid that state and local officials on the front lines of this crisis need.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

The Hill: Exclusive: Democratic Senate campaign arm hits McConnell over bankruptcy comments in new ad

By Max Greenwood

April 27, 2020

Key Points:

• The Democrats’ Senate campaign arm is launching a new digital ad hitting Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over his suggestion that states file for bankruptcy rather than seek more federal funds amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• The four-figure ad buy from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), shared first with The Hill, will begin running on Facebook on Monday. 

• McConnell raised alarm bells last week when he suggested that it may be better for states to declare bankruptcy than to give them more federal money to help them amid the coronavirus crisis. “I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday.

• The DSCC ad buy suggests that the group sees McConnell’s bankruptcy remarks as a weak point for the Kentucky Republican as he prepares for his reelection bid in November.

• He’s facing a challenge from Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot who has proven to be an adept fundraiser since launching her Senate campaign last year. And while election handicappers see the race as a likely win for McConnell, Democrats believe that Kentucky could come into play as they look to expand their offensive Senate map through the summer and fall.

• The ad buy is also an effort by the DSCC to put pressure on other Republican Senate incumbents to either buck McConnell on the issue of state bankruptcy or side with him. 

Read the full report here.

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