In Alan Grayson‘s first paid television ad for his U.S. Senate candidacy, the Orlando-area Democrat takes some credit for Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s decision not to run for Speaker of the House last week.
The 30-second ad highlights the fact that Grayson has been critical of the latest investigation into the events that led to the death of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans on September 11, 2012. Like other Democrats, Grayson has charged that it’s a political witch-hunt against Hilary Clinton, the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
After McCarthy suggested that the House investigation into the Benghazi attacks had successfully damaged Clinton’s campaign, last Wednesday Grayson filed an ethics complaint against McCarthy and South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chair of the Benghazi panel. Grayson said the comment signaled a misuse of funds and was being dragged out to bring down Clinton.
The next day, McCarthy stunned the political world by announcing that he would not pursue the speakership.
The ad features Grayson telling MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that “I filed an ethics complaint against McCarthy yesterday, and today he drops out of the race.”
For the record (and not shown in the ad), Hayes responded, “Congressman, you do not honestly believe that your ethics complaint is what led Kevin McCarthy today to step down.”
Watch below:
