A super PAC in Wisconsin cut an ad supporting Republican Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson that favorably compared the candidate to Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), who was recently accused of sexual assault.
According to the Associated Press, the ad was sent to more than 20 Wisconsin radio stations, and although the PAC sent a replacement before the ad was supposed to air last week, some stations in the state broadcast the original.
Tom Donelson, the head of Americas PAC, which cut the ad, told the AP the original ad was made “months ago” and shouldn’t have been sent out.
“I can only say it was one of those deals where a mistake was made,” he told the wire service.
The ad compares Nicholson, a former college Democrat, to other politicians who have switched parties, including West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) and former President Ronald Reagan. Greitens reportedly isn’t mentioned by name in the ad, but the narrator mentions “the governor of Missouri,” and it includes auto of Greitens saying, “All of those things made me a conservative, not by birth but by conviction.”
The narrator goes on to say, “Like the governors of Missouri and West Virginia, Kevin Nicholson left the Democrat Party. Kevin Nicholson chose to be a conservative Republican.”
Last month, a Missouri House committee released a report detailing allegations of sexual assault against Greitens, and, in the report said they believe the woman who made the allegations is credible.
Greitens has called the investigation a “political witch hunt” and is refusing to step down as governor or as a candidate for reelection. Many Republicans in the state — including Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, the likely Republican nominee for Senate — have called for Greitens to resign.
The woman accusing Greitens testified under oath that the governor invited her to his home in 2015 while his wife was away, tied her up in the basement, and ripped open her clothes, all without her consent. She said that Greitens then blindfolded and took photos of her, called her “a little whore,” and threatened to make the photos public if she ever spoke about the incident.
When she tried to escape, she said Greitens attacked her and forced his penis into her mouth. The woman also said that she had a number of other encounters with the governor, some consensual and some not, and that Greitens hit her on three occasions.
Earlier this year, Greitens was indicted and arrested — and later released — for taking a photo of the woman without her consent. He faces a felony invasion of privacy trial in two weeks.
Americas PAC, which cut the original ad comparing Greitens and Nicholson, is funded in large part by Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein. Uihlein was Judge Roy Moore’s biggest donor last year when Moore ran for Senate in Alabama, and spent more than $350,000 supporting Greitens. He has now donated nearly $16 million to groups supporting Nicholson’s Senate race.