A new television ad paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee is being condemned by John McCain's family for using an old video to criticize former Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick.
"The McCain family believes it is unfortunate that the senator’s image is being weaponized this election season," said Julie Tarallo, a McCain family spokeswoman. "They would hope there would be more respect, especially so soon after his passing."
The 30-second video called "Warning" re-uses a campaign commercial from 2016 when Kirkpatrick was the Democratic nominee challenging McCain for his Senate seat. In the ad, McCain faults Kirkpatrick for not opposing tax increases and additional federal spending.
Kirkpatrick, who is running to replace Congressional District 2 Rep. Martha McSally, said the NRCC was despicable for running the ad little more than a week after McCain's burial in an attempt to support her Republican rival, Lea Marquez Peterson.
“For them to use footage of Senator McCain for political purposes without permission while his family and all of Arizona are still grieving is classless and shameful. I can’t imagine why Lea Marquez Peterson or her allies want to run their campaign this way," Kirkpatrick said.
Jack Pandol, a regional press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, defended the ad, saying it speaks for itself.
It was unclear as of Wednesday night whether the ad would be taken off the air.
During memorial services in Arizona for McCain roughly two weeks ago, Republicans condemned the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for continuing to air an attack ad in CD2 critical of Marquez Peterson.
Chris Scotten, the campaign manager for the Marquez Peterson, said that she has a deep respect for McCain.
“Lea has the utmost respect for Senator McCain and his service to Arizona and the country. We are focused on talking about why Lea is the best choice for the Second District," he said.
By federal law, campaigns are not allowed to coordinate with independent expenditures.
A little more than a year ago, McCain stood on the Senate floor to denounce partisan infighting, asking his colleagues to work together.
"I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better serve the people who elected us," ge said. "Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good."
