Earlier this week, we saw some of the offensive ads in the race between Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, checked. Let’s now look at the other big race.
Republican Senator David Perdue and his allies portray Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff as a radical left wing. Ossoff and his allies are looking to Perdue for his shares and his comments on the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is an outline of the fact checking of some claims in advertisements that appeared in November and December.
An advertisement from the National Republican Senatorial Committee says ‘Jon Ossoff praises AOC’s radical Green New Deal’. Another advertisement from the same organization uses similar language and says, “Ossoff praised the Green New Deal of the radical socialist AOC.”
Facts first: This is misleading. Ossoff het tall was apparent that he is opposed to the Green New Deal, a major forerunner resolution which is focused on the environment. In September 2019, Ossoff praised one specific aspect of the proposal and said he agrees with the fact that it links environmental policy with infrastructure policy. But he then delivered more criticism.
The Green New Deal resolution goes beyond the traditional priorities of the environment, and includes ideas such as “to provide all people of the United States with … high quality health care.” Here’s what Ossoff told the New York Times last year: “Now, on the Green New Deal, I recommend Senator Edward Markey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that they link environmental policy and infrastructure policy. However, I believe that the critical way to fight climate change requires the abolition of the private health insurance market? No, I do not. And I will debate it all day, while still acknowledging the value and political contribution of people who may be a little see otherwise, reverently. ”
So there is a compliment in it. But the ad tries to create the impression that Ossoff is generally favorable to the Green New Deal. He is not.
Democrats, Ossoff and health care
A Perdue ad warns of serious consequences if the Democrats win the Georgia playoffs (which will give them control of a 50-50 Senate by a decisive vote of the Vice President). Perdue says, among other things, that such an outcome will lead to ‘your private health insurance being taken away’.
Facts first: We can not definitively ascertain what will happen in the future, but Perdue’s claim does not match the real agenda of President-elect Joe Biden. Praying was a voice opponent of the “Medicare for All” health care proposals for single payers that ban most private insurance and will move people to a government insurance plan. Pray it instead suggested a ‘public option’ in which people can voluntarily enroll in a government plan, but can also choose to keep their private insurance.
Ossoff also supports a public option and is against the plans for ‘Medicare for All’.
It is possible that a popular public option will, over time, affect the willingness of private insurers to offer plans. An anti-Ossoff ad from a Republican super-PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, makes an accusation referring to this legitimate concern, saying a victory in Ossoff would mean Democratic leaders could pass a radical government health care system to private insurance and endanger the doctor of your choice. ‘
This claim can be discussed, but it is more nuanced than Perdue’s own claim.
Democrats, Ossoff and policing
The Perdue advertisement says that the Democrats who win in Georgia will lead to a “police refund”.
Facts first: Also, this assertion does not match the elected president’s agenda. Pray it said over and over he resists the concept of police reimbursement. (It is also noteworthy that local governments, not the federal government, are responsible for the vast majority of police funding.) Ossoff also opposition police evading. Like Biden, he rather called for reforms for the police.
Perdue’s comments on the pandemic
In an Ossoff ad, Perdue is accused of echoing President Donald Trump by disregarding the pandemic crisis when the death toll rose.
The ad is consistent with Trump quotes about the pandemic with similar quotes from Perdue. While playing the sound of the quotes, an animated graphic shows the number of deaths quickly.
The ad, for example, plays the sound of Trump saying, “The risk to the American people remains very low.” It then plays the sound of Perdue saying, ‘The risk of this virus remains low.’ In the time it takes Perdue to say the eight words, the death count goes from about 10,000 to about 80,000.
Facts first: The simultaneous use of the ad of the quotes and the death counter is misleading: the number of deaths shown by the counter does not come close to the correct number at the time Trump and Perdue uttered the quotes. In addition, some quotation snippets omit important context.
As FactCheck.org noted, in a March 11 interview on March 11, Perdue commented on how the virus risk remains ‘low’. According to Johns Hopkins University data, there were fewer than 50 coronavirus deaths in the United States at the time. not the 10,000 to 80,000 that the tone of death shows when the quote is heard.
The ad does not explicitly link the timing of the quotes to the timing of the deaths, but it may suggest to viewers that Perdue made this remark to call the virus a low risk, even after tens of thousands of Americans died. He did not.
It is also worth noting that some prominent experts around the time of this Perdue remark said the same thing as he did. For example, six days earlier, Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters that “the risk in the United States as a whole is still low.”
Also, in the same interview on March 11, Perdue made other comments that were more cautious about the pandemic. He noted that the mortality rate for the virus was higher than that of influenza. Although he warned against “overreaction”, he said that “we accept the worst and prepare for the worst.” He also said that the elderly and people with respiratory diseases ‘should stay away from large crowds’ and sick people.
Perdue and shares
Another advertisement from Ossoff’s campaign questions Perdue’s shares before the collapse of the pandemic. The ad highlights three of Perdue’s moves after senators received a January 24 private information session from senior federal health officials.
“The same day, David Perdue bought medical supplies,” the narrator of the ad says; on the screen appears the name of DuPont de Nemours, which makes personal protective equipment among many other products. “Then he bought vaccine shares,” the narrator continues; the screen shows the name of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. The narrator then says that Perdue ‘dumped’ casino stock ‘; the screen shows the name of the casino business Caesars Entertainment.
Facts first: According to Perdue’s audience, the ad is correct about Perdue’s DuPont, Pfizer and Caesars stock transactions. disclosure forms. However, it is worth noting that Perdue says that he did not attend the information session on January 24 in which the ad was inspired, was the driving force for these industries. Ossoff’s campaign did not provide evidence that Perdue was there.
An Ossoff campaign spokeswoman, Miryam Lipper, responded that during the briefing, Perdue did not provide proof that he was anywhere else. She said Perdue ‘certainly did not deserve the benefit of the doubt’ as his history of deception told about his stock trading. But Perdue campaign spokesman John Burke said the “burden of proof” fell on the Ossoff campaign, and that “they have never provided evidence.”
In Perdue’s campaign, the frequent allegation is repeated that its operations are conducted by external financial advisers without its involvement. However, the New York Times reported that this was not true in one case that did not discuss the Ossoff ad. In that case, the Times reported that Perdue had personally instructed his financial adviser to sell shares in a financial analysis firm.
Burke said the Times report ‘completely agrees with what we said from the beginning’, but he did not explain how the report is in line with the claim that Perdue was not directly involved in the trade.
The Times also noted that Perdue, a businessman who was a regular stock trader, also traded in February, apparently contradicting a proposal to trade inside information about an impending economic disaster. For example, he bought shares in Delta Air Lines, which soon declined in value.
