What They’re Saying: DSCC Launches Digital Ad Highlighting “Criticisms of Moreno by Dolan and LaRose” 

A wave of new reports highlight the DSCC’s new digital advertisement — “Matter of Trust” — which was launched following Bernie Moreno’s victory in the Ohio’s GOP Senate primary. 

See for yourself: 

MSNBC: The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
March 19, 2024

• Lawrence O’Donnell: “The Democratic Senate campaign committee weighed in against your Republican opponent tonight just about a minute after the race was called for Bernie Moreno, who will now be the Republican nominee running against you for Senate. Let’s look at the ad they put out tonight.” 
  
  

The Hill: Senate Democrats release ad targeting Ohio GOP candidate Moreno: ‘Even Republicans don’t trust him’
By Jared Gans
March 20, 2024

• Senate Democrats’ campaign arm released a new ad targeting Ohio Senate GOP nominee Bernie Moreno shortly after he clinched the Republican nomination Tuesday. 

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) called the ad “Matter of Trust” and quoted statements from Moreno and his two primary opponents.
  
  
• Dolan and LaRose are shown telling Moreno he can’t be trusted. “Even Republicans don’t trust him,” a narrator states. 

• The ad attacks Moreno on a variety of policy issues, including abortion, health care and immigration. 

• The ad accuses Moreno of wanting to “overrule” Ohio voters, who approved a state constitutional amendment in November protecting abortion rights up to the point of viability, citing comments he has made saying he is “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.” Moreno has said he supports a federal ban at 15 weeks with exceptions for cases of rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother.
  
  
• It alleges that Moreno supports eliminating the minimum wage, including a comment Moreno made at one debate saying “at the end of the day, the market” will handle ensuring people make good wages. 

• The ad states that Moreno would vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and slams his opposition to the bipartisan immigration bill that Senate Republicans blocked from advancing last month. 

• The narrator also mentions lawsuits that former employees filed against Moreno, a former car dealership owner, on allegations that he had not paid them proper overtime. The ad further accused him of destroying evidence “to get out of it.” 

• Court records have shown Moreno said in a deposition he had records stating if his employees worked overtime for him, but he did not keep them.
  
  
• He was sanctioned by the judge in the case. He was required by a jury to pay $400,000 to two former employees and settled more than a dozen other lawsuits alleging wage theft.
  
  
• “Ohioans have seen that Moreno can’t be trusted to look out for anyone but himself — and that’s why they’ll reject him in November,” DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a release. 
  
  

The Washington Post: Democrats preview campaign against Moreno in Ohio
By Maeve Reston
March 20, 2024

• On Tuesday night, Democrats attempted to paint Moreno as an untrustworthy extremist — noting his swerves in the way he talked about Trump — and also his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and abortion.
  
  
• In one missive, they noted Moreno told Breitbart News in 2021 that he did not believe there should be exceptions for rape and incest.
  
  
• And the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Democrats, put out a digital ad questioning whether Moreno was someone voters could trust based on his shift in tone about Trump.
  
  

NPR: Up First
Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin and Karen Kasler 
March 20, 2024

• Democrats started attacking Moreno almost immediately after the race was called by about 8:35 last night. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee put out a digital ad that featured criticisms of Moreno by Dolan and LaRose, his opponents.
  
  
• The Ohio Democratic Party has been pushing a narrative that whoever emerged from this brutal campaign would do so with a lot of baggage. They’ve attempted to draw attention to Moreno’s positions on immigration and on abortion.
  
  
• Meanwhile, [Sherrod] Brown…has appeal to blue-collar voters, he has strong support from unions. Democrats see him as a candidate who can appeal to moderate Ohians and those frustrated with Trump.
  
  

The New York Times: Trump-Backed Bernie Moreno Wins the Republican Senate Primary in Ohio
By Jonathan Weisman
March 19, 2024

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee attacked [Moreno] immediately as well, recycling videos of attacks from Mr. Dolan and Mr. LaRose that tarred the newly minted nominee as an untrustworthy, corrupt extremist.

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