Associated Press: Obama criticizes Toomey over ad in Senate race
President Barack Obama is pushing back against Republican Sen. Pat Toomey’s use of the Democrat’s words in a campaign ad for his Senate race.
Obama responded Saturday to a Toomey campaign TV ad that shows Obama speaking outside the White House in 2013 and thanking Toomey for his courage in backing a gun control bill, despite its failure. The ad is running in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Obama says courage is telling voters “where you stand on the tough issues.”
Obama also criticized Toomey for refusing to say whether he’ll vote for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Toomey is working to win over moderate voters in his too-close-to-call race against Democrat Katie McGinty in Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania.
President Obama’s full statement:
“Pat Toomey may have done the right thing on one vote, but courage is telling Pennsylvania voters where you stand on the tough issues, not just the easy ones like background checks. Pat Toomey won’t tell Pennsylvania voters where he stands on Donald Trump, trying instead to have it both ways by telling different people what he thinks they want to hear. That’s not courage. Voting to shut down the government and against bills to close the terrorist gun loophole isn’t courage. And playing politics with the Supreme Court isn’t courage. I support Katie McGinty for Senate because she will always do the right thing for Pennsylvania families.”