Keep Kentucky Great’s Ad Includes False Claims About McGrath
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keep Kentucky Great, a super-PAC aligned with Sen. Mitch McConnell, is running a false ad that violates the FCC’s rules prohibiting false, misleading or deceptive advertising.
The ad takes comments made by retired Marine Lt. Col. Amy McGrath in a 2017 interview with Kentucky Newsmakers out of context to misrepresent her views and to present claims that are patently false and contradicted by the full interview.
“False advertising from the McConnell camp should come as no surprise,” said Dan Kanninen, McGrath’s campaign manager. “Mitch is resorting to outright lies in his smear campaign against Lt. Col. McGrath, because he thinks lying about Amy will distract from the truth about him. He’s been in the Senate for 36 years, and has failed to make things better for everyday Kentuckians.”
KKG’s ad falsely claims that “Amy McGrath wants to pass a government takeover of health care that could ban private and union-provided coverage.” She does not. McGrath supports a public option that allows individuals to continue with their private insurance or elect to choose a publicly run insurance plan.
A similar deceptive ad was run about McGrath in 2018, and was debunked by The Herald Leader.
In the beginning of his 36-year-long career in Washington, Sen. Mitch McConnell ran as a health care advocate, promising to make health care available for all and to hold down costs. Instead, he tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act without replacement legislation, which would have stripped health care coverage from up to 400,000 Kentuckians and increased premiums.