Principled PAC, an organization that offers the motto: “We only support principled conservatives. Period,” has released an outrageous commercial ahead of Tuesday’s special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
The commercial links Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff with the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) by a Trump-hating terrorist:
The unhinged left is endorsing and applauding shooting Republicans. When will it stop? It won’t if Jon Ossoff wins on Tuesday. Because the same unhinged leftists cheering last week’s shooting are all backing Jon Ossoff, and if he wins, they win. Stop Jon Ossoff. Stop Nancy Pelosi. Vote Karen Handel for Congress.
Ossoff responded to the commercial, saying:
The man is fighting for his life. I think it’s disgraceful to politicize it, and I think Secretary Handel should call for it to come down. …Y ou have a national tragedy that has united people. There are still people who are in critical condition. It’s just got no place in an attack ad.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a spokesperson for Karen Handel “called the video ‘disturbing and disgusting’ in a statement that stopped short of asking for the ad to be removed.”
The spokesperson added: “For any group to use the shootings this week for political or personal benefit is shameful. … This group should be ashamed.”
This isn’t just shameful, it’s foolish and incorrect. Yes, some progressive Americans on social media cheered the Scalise shooting (here), and some political commentators have made arguments that essentially amount to: “he had it coming.” However, these people don’t represent the majority of Democratic voters any more than President Trump’s fringe acolytes represent the majority of his voters.
To suggest that “the same unhinged leftists cheering last week’s shooting are all backing Jon Ossof” is absurd — it’s unprovable. It cannot be concluded with any degree of certainty that those who “cheered the shooting” are also backing Ossoff.
Moreover, even if the cretins who are praising the shooting on social media are indeed supportive of Ossoff, that doesn’t mean that A) Ossoff is supportive of them, B) they represent a significant portion of his constituency, or C) his policies and rhetoric are somehow to blame for inciting violence against Republicans.
This commercial is a tangled mass of argumentative fallacies, and it’s quite frankly embarrassing and disgusting.