Republican Chairman of House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Calls Political Ads Inappropriate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6/09/2023
An independent fact check group issued a scathing report calling out Dan Sullivan for using the same inaccurate claims and attacks against Mark Begich that Outside groups have been trying to mislead Alaskans with in recent weeks. While not the first fact-check against Sullivan, this one highlighted Sullivan’s disingenuous attempt at attacking Begich’s record of delivering for Alaska veterans. Factcheck.org says Dan Sullivan and Crossroads GPS use the same attack while politicizing the tragic death of veterans at the Arizona VA with attack ads in Alaska. Sullivan broke his nearly month long silence on the VA scandal with a political hit piece in in the Anchorage Daily News, a portion of which now appears in a recently fact checked ad.
“Dan Sullivan spent nearly an entire month silent about the Arizona VA scandal, but it took only a week for his false claims to make it into $450,000 of attack ads paid for by his Outside backers,” said Max Croes, Communications Director for Alaskans for Begich.
“The Crossroads ad, which began airing in Begich’s home state of Alaska in late May on a $450,000 ad buy, highlights on-screen the headline from a CNN report — “Veterans languish and die on a VA hospital’s secret list” — and claims Begich’s response was to say, “if there’s a problem, they need to fix it. “The leading GOP candidate in the Alaska race, Dan Sullivan, also used that quote in an opinion piece that was published in the Anchorage Daily News on May 20.”-Factcheck.org
Begich also put tough questions to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki calling for those responsible to be held accountable. The fact check details Begich’s strong record of fighting for Alaska’s veterans and working to guarantee access to the care they’ve earned and deserve. Begich faciliated an agreement to allow veterans to receive care closer to home, helping cut down on VA wait times in Alaska. The Republican Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Jeff Miller (R-FL) has called these ads inappropriate and referred to them as a “political football.” Factcheck.org said the ads ‘twist’ the truth.
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