Americans Looking for Politicians Who Can Bring Us Together, Not Deepen the Divide
Cleveland, OH — The Columbus Dispatch reports that in the last days of the Republican gubernatorial primary, both candidates — Attorney General Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor — are spending an outrageous amount of money on fear-mongering, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim ads.
Watch Taylor’s ad, with its vile language (“illegals and their drugs”) and outrageous distortions here. A Politifact fact check of another Taylor ad on the same topics called it “mostly false” and “misleading.” Yet TV stations have continued to run Taylor’s ad.
DeWine’s response, seen here, is equally disgusting. In it, he brags about destroying a ray of hope for Ohio children who have undocumented parents, by suing to block a program that would have allowed immigrant parents of U.S. citizens to apply for legal status. Since then, their main providers and caregivers — aka Mom or Dad — have been deported due to DeWine’s lawsuit and Trump’s policies.
Remember the children of Jesus Lara? Those are the young Ohioans that DeWine is so happy about hurting. He even met with a group of these Ohio families back in 2015, and was visibly moved by their stories. Today, he’s running ads that demonize them.
In his ad, DeWine also declares support for the Trump Administration’s Muslim ban, a policy that has severely impacted Ohio’s medical and research institutions. Remember Dr. Suha Abushamma? Luckily, she was backed by a powerful organization (the Cleveland Clinic) and a great lawyer (David Leopold), and was eventually allowed to return. Other doctors and researchers with Ohio ties have not been so lucky.
DeWine also adopts the standard Trump line about “dangerous sanctuary cities” — again, without any basis in fact. Multiple studies have shown that cities that focus local police-ICE coordination on serious criminal matters, instead of helping the feds deport ordinary parents and workers, actually build better relationships with the community that enhance public safety for all. The fact is, so-called “sanctuary cities” are just as safe, or safer, than ones without the label.
“Americans are tired of fear-mongering and us-vs-them politics,” said Lynn Tramonte, Director of America’s Voice Ohio. “Seeing Taylor and DeWine both turn to the 2016 playbook is really depressing. The fact is, after a year of Trump in office we’ve seen what extreme ideology looks like as a governing strategy. It’s cruel and un-American. In 2018, we’re looking for politicians who know how to bring our nation together and move the country forward in line with our shared American values, not deepen the divide. From the state of these ads — and the outrageous sums of money being spent on hate and fear-mongering — it’s clear neither Taylor nor DeWine are that person.”