The newest ad in Republican Kris Kobach’s campaign for attorney general features footage of Tiger Woods being arrested while accusing Democrat Chris Mann of wanting to eliminate the death penalty for individuals who kill police officers. Kobach's team has since taken down the ad and replaced it with a version that doesn’t contain the Woods clip.
“That was an ad agency error," Kobach spokesperson Danedri Herbert explained in a statement. "We caught it and fixed it within minutes. What a happy accident that media is going to pick this up and expose Chris Mann as a soft-on-crime liberal Democrat who will let cop killers and mass murderers off easy for their heinous crimes."
Mann's team called on Kobach to remove the ad, labeling it "absolutely false and deceptive."
Kelli Kee, a Mann spokesperson, said in a statement: “Not only does it feature Tiger Woods getting arrested as a cop killer, which we all know is false. It also contains multiple lies about Chris Mann. Lies like this shouldn’t be on TV. He needs to take down the ad. Chris Mann is a former cop who was injured in the line of duty. Kris Kobach has no shame in the lies he’ll tell to win political power.”
Specifically, the footage in question comes from Woods' 2017 arrest in Florida on suspicion of driving under the influence. The legendary golfer pleaded guilty to reckless driving at the time.
Woods has yet to comment on the use of the footage in Kobach's ad.
The commercial comes less than two weeks prior to the midterm election. Former President Barack Obama recently spoke about the importance of participating during a rally in Michigan over the weekend.
“This election requires every single one of us to do our part,” he said. “I understand why you might be worried about the course of the country. Sometimes it’s tempting just to tune out, watch football, watch Dancing With The Stars. I’m here to tell you, tuning out is not an option.”
[Via]