LISTEN: Ron Johnson Radio Ad Downplaying Gun Violence Scrapped After Illinois Shooting
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) pulled a planned radio ad after the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.
The ad, which never aired in Wisconsin, cautioned, “The latest murder in America didn’t involve guns,” and invoked the tragic deaths of 53 illegal migrants in Texas last week in a tractor-trailer.
In the ad, Johnson continued, “Fifty-three people, including five children, were murdered by human traffickers because Joe Biden’s open border policy is facilitating the multi-billion dollar business model of some of the most evil people on the planet.”
Johnson blamed “Democrat governance,” before he concluded, “I’m Ron Johnson, and I approve this message.”
Sen. Ron Johnson’s campaign scrambled to have this planned radio ad downplaying gun violence pulled after the mass shooting on July 4th in Highland Park. They kept it from airing, but it has since been leaked to me.
Full story: https://t.co/MEc1DdMIE0 pic.twitter.com/YwpryJlBi3
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) July 7, 2022
Apparently, the Wisconsin Republican no longer approved this message after seven people were murdered and dozens of others wounded in Highland Park.
Ken Klippenstein of the Intercept reported,
The day after the shooting, an executive from one of the companies contracted to produce the campaign radio ad, Katz Radio Group, frantically notified colleagues to suspend it.
…
In an email bearing the subject line “URGENT: Ron Johnson orders,” a vice president of sales at Katz Radio Group wrote, “they need the creative pulled ASAP. … If you listened to the spot it talks about mass shootings which obviously is not good creative after this past weekend (especially in Chicago).”
On Wednesday, a sales representative at Cumulus Radio Station Group informed colleagues via an email Johnson’s campaign wanted the add pulled.
“The rep for the Ron Johnson orders we entered yesterday is asking we pull the creative ASAP because of the nature of the message and how it’s a little too close to the mass shooting events over the weekend,” the email reads.
Recent polling shows Johnson faces an uphill battle in retaining his seat.
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