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WASHINGTON — The South Texas man on the middle of a brand new advert attacking U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is a self proclaimed “conspiracy theorist” who has unfold theories on social media about 9/11 and the COVID pandemic and mocked each Michelle Obama and a Republican congressman.
The advert was launched this week by the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee on behalf of former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, who’s attempting to win again the seat for the GOP.
Texas Congressional District 34 stretches from Brownsville to Kingsville alongside the state’s southeastern coast. It is likely one of the few aggressive races within the state and a high precedence for each main political events to win.
The advert options Brownsville enterprise proprietor Ruben Guerrero ridiculing Gonzalez, a McAllen Democrat, for pushing “intercourse adjustments for teenagers” over caring concerning the economic system. The advert is a part of an $800,000 advert reservation within the South Texas market to be broadcast in each English and Spanish. Guerrero’s voice was additionally featured in a radio advert by the NRCC.
Gonzalez, a reasonable Democrat, has denied supporting tax-funded gender transition surgical procedures for minors.
Guerrero posted memes on Instagram calling 9/11 “the largest inside job in historical past … till COVID,” ridiculing former First Woman Michelle Obama as secretly a person, and mocking U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch, which he wears after dropping his proper eye serving in Afghanistan.
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Crenshaw is a Houston Republican. His workplace declined to remark.
Flores’ marketing campaign, which was not concerned within the creation of the advert, distanced her from Guerrero’s social media. Flores follows Guerrero’s Instagram.
“These posts are clearly not reflective of Mayra’s views,” the Flores marketing campaign mentioned in an announcement. “That mentioned, it’s an awesome advert with an essential message about Vicente Gonzalez’s excessive report of supporting taxpayer funded intercourse change surgical procedures for kids.”
Guerrero just isn’t the primary conspiracy theorist to be featured in a congressional advert this yr. A Republican operating in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, one other high goal for Republicans this yr, has additionally been criticized for spotlighting a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.
To make sure, Guerrero’s social media affect is small. He has about 1,700 followers on Instagram. When contacted by The Texas Tribune, Guerrero stood by his social media posts.
“I am a conspiracy theorist that is nearly batting .400,” he mentioned in a phone interview earlier than insisting steerage given in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic was flawed.
When requested concerning the meme mocking Crenshaw’s eye patch, Guerrero mentioned he couldn’t recall his reasoning behind posting the meme, however mentioned that Republicans “aren’t all equal,” suggesting that Crenshaw is a Republican in title solely.
“I submit quite a bit, as you’ll be able to inform,” he mentioned.
Guerrero posted the meme in January of final yr — across the identical time Crenshaw angered many right-wing Republicans for criticizing far-right U.S. Home Republicans who didn’t help Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker.
Political campaigns usually recruit on a regular basis voters to supply testimonials in advertisements that get blasted to 1000’s of viewers. Topics of testimonials are usually vetted to make sure their backstories are correct.
Mass media advertisements have diminishing impression on altering opinions, mentioned Daron Shaw, a political science professor on the College of Texas at Austin who beforehand labored on the 2000 George W. Bush marketing campaign. Moreover, the background of an individual giving a testimonial possible received’t make a lot of a distinction within the efficacy of an advert.
“There’s a query concerning the total impact of this form of promoting on voters’ preferences, and that’s combined at finest,” Shaw mentioned. “The nation is so polarized politically and so siloed that the variety of voters who’re up for grabs in a given election main get together competitions, very, very slender.”
The Harlingen media market consists of over 400,000 households with TVs. The decrease Rio Grande Valley has a inhabitants of over 1 million on the U.S. aspect of the border.
Gonzalez criticized the assaults as misrepresenting his stances.
“Not solely was their advert stuffed with lies, however their actor is a 9/11 conspiracist who insulted my colleague Dan Crenshaw, a embellished Navy Seal veteran — it’s beginner hour over there,” Gonzalez mentioned in an announcement.
LGBTQ+ rights teams have additionally criticized the Republican technique tying Democrats to youth gender transition surgical procedure as fear-mongering. Gender transition surgical procedure is exceedingly uncommon, with most take care of trans youth consisting of adjusting pronouns, adopting new names and hormone blockers to delay puberty. The Texas Legislature banned hormone blockers for minors final session.
Nonetheless, Republicans have leaned into the assaults. The NRCC mentioned it was the highest polling concern to transform voters from Gonzalez to Flores, performing higher than points associated to the border or the economic system.
Disclosure: College of Texas at Austin has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.
This text initially appeared within the Texas Tribune.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and fascinating Texans on state politics and coverage. Be taught extra at texastribune.org.
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