The Republican Jewish Coalition is spending a massive $500,000 on a brutal TV ad alleging that Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) gave President Barack Obama bad advice that allowed ISIS to take over Iraq.
The ad will run on Philadelphia network TV and on cable television in the Burlington County portion of New Jersey’s 3rd district.
Before winning a congressional seat in 2018, Kim served on Obama’s White House National Security staff as Iraq director
Script: “Andy Kim oversaw Obama’s policy in Iraq. It was Kim’s bad advice that allowed ISIS to build its caliphate. ISIS went on to murder American citizens, rape women, and execute Jews. Andy Kim’s bad judgement led to thousands of lives lost and it made America less safe. Our safety is too important to entrust to someone like Andy Kim.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has endorsed businessman David Richter in his bid to unseat Kim.
If he wins, Richter would become the first Jewish Republican in the New Jersey congressional delegation since Dick Zimmer (R-Delaware Township) gave up his seat in 1996 to run for the United States Senate.
This is the first time the RJC is making an independent expenditure in a New Jersey race.
Kim’s campaign said voters won’t buy the attack on the freshman South Jersey Democrat.
“The people of Burlington and Ocean counties won’t believe these lies smearing the work of a civilian public servant who dedicated his career to keep Americans safe,” said Andrew Mamo, a spokesman for the Kim campaign. “They know that Andy worked honorably under both Republicans and Democrats in Afghanistan and at the Pentagon, and alongside four-star generals and national security officials in the White House countering the threat of ISIS. The people of Burlington and Ocean counties will reject these lies on November 3.”
This story was updated at 2:11 PM with comment from Mamo.