...
By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A campaign ad linking Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, to Waukesha's 2021 Christmas parade killings has sparked backlash.
The ad paid for by One Nation—an independent group aligned with GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—began airing in Wisconsin last week. The ad showed footage of the aftermath of Darell Brooks Jr. driving his SUV through the Waukesha Christmas parade route in November 2021. Brooks Jr. killed six people and was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences without parole.
The narrator of the ad said the incident "never should have happened" and mentioned that Brooks was released on $1,000 bail just a day before the killings after he allegedly tried to run over his girlfriend with the same car.
Read More on Politics
Baldwin is then shown on the Senate floor with the narrator saying she voted against funding for pretrial detention of violent criminals. The narrator says Baldwin's vote made it "easier for criminals like Darrell Brooks to terrorize our communities."
However, the vote was from August 7, 2022, nearly a year after the killings, and Baldwin had nothing to do with Brooks' bail, which was requested by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office and granted by a judge.
...
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly condemned the ad on Wednesday, calling it a "pitiful political tool" that "doesn't just hurt the families that had members that were killed, or those that were injured or those that even saw it, it hurts the whole entire community."
"Unfortunately for the Waukesha community, our pain and our suffering from the 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade is once again being used by unprincipled people to drive votes," Reilly told The Associated Press (AP).
Reilly, a Republican turned independent who supports Baldwin's reelection campaign, pointed to a statement by Baldwin and Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, issued in the wake of the parade killings.
"I would hope that Eric Hovde would also support what Sen. Johnson said," Reilly said. "No politician should allow the use of the Waukesha Christmas parade attack and its impact on our community to drive votes by creating fear and disgust to purposely create divisions."
Hovde is Baldwin's Republican challenger in November's upcoming election. Baldwin's seat is one of a handful that are considered to be crucial for Democrats to win to maintain their majority in the Senate.
"This issue ad focused on Senator Baldwin's vote against increased funding for pretrial detention of violent criminals and included a call-to-action at the end," One Nation spokesperson Torunn Sinclair told the AP. "It's not political."
Sinclair said the ad stopped running on Monday. According to AP, the ad remained viewable online on Wednesday.
Baldwin's campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo also denounced the political ad, which ended with side-by-side images of Baldwin and Brooks in a prison outfit.
"Using the attack for political purposes is not only wrong, it is deeply hurtful to a community still recovering from the tragedy of that day," Mamo said.
Wisconsin political columnist Dan Shafer wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in reaction to Reilly's condemnation of the ad, "Glad to see Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly speak out on this. Not that this type of thing is unexpected coming from the right, but this ad is completely absurd and he is right to call it a 'pitiful political tool.'"
At a campaign stop in Waunakee on Wednesday, Hovde said that he wasn't familiar with the ad but called for an end to attack ads in general.
"I think we need to lower the rhetoric on both sides," Hovde said. "I would prefer not to see all these negative attack ads. I'd rather focus on the issues."
Hovde accused Baldwin and her supporters of unfairly attacking him, including his identity as a Wisconsinite. Hovde was born in Wisconsin but bought a business and a home in California.
Newsweek reached out to Hovde's campaign via email for comment on Wednesday afternoon.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
Update 9/5/24, 2:37 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and to reflect that One Nation is an independent group rather than a super PAC.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines