Washington Post IMMEDIATELY fact checks Dave Brat's LIE
Richmond, VA – On the eve of tonight’s VA07 debate, Dave Brat blatantly lied in his latest press release. Brat has taken a Washington Post article which rates ANOTHER RACE's ad as false (4 Pinocchios) and claimed that this rating applies to a Spanberger campaign ad. The article clearly states that this rating is for ANOTHER ad is from ANOTHER race. The WaPo is rating that ad, NOT the SPANBERGER ad.
As you can see in the tweets above, Glenn Kessler, author of the Washington Post article Dave Brat is referring to, denounced the Congressman for his back-handed mischaracterization of his story:
READ BRAT'S FALSE CLAIM BELOW:
Today, the Washington Post Fact Checker rated the vote cited in the Spanberger ad on pre-existing conditions 4 Pinocchios — the most dishonest rating they give. They describe statements like these “Whoppers.”
“This is the second time fact checkers have had to call out Team Spanberger for lying about Rep. Brat’s record on healthcare. Spanberger is losing, she’s desperate, and she will say anything at this stage of the campaign. What she won’t say is that her plan to take us toward single-payer health care will absolutely gut Medicare as we know it, costing $32 trillion and doubling taxes for Virginia families,” said campaign spokeswoman Katey Price.
Last month, a Politifact article found that Nancy Pelosi’s PAC’s ad distorted Rep. Brat’s record on seniors’ health.
The Washington Post article may be found HERE.
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BUT IF YOU READ THE WHOLE WAPO STORY:
Interestingly, the May 4 vote is also cited in an ad for Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who is challenging Rep. Dave Brat (R) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. “I feel betrayed by Dave Brat. He voted against protections for preexisting conditions,” says Virginia resident Jody Cametas, identified as a former Brat voter, as the vote citation appears on the screen.
Brat, however, is much more vulnerable on this issue than Fitzpatrick. He repeatedly voted to repeal the ACA without any replacement — when Barack Obama was president and the repeal votes had no consequences. In theory, those votes were to eliminate the protections. (Fitzpatrick entered Congress in 2017, so he missed those repeal votes, though his brother Michael, who held his seat before him, voted to repeal the ACA.) The Spanberger campaign cites 13 votes in which Brat voted to repeal the ACA or undercut other aspects of the law, though many are procedural or on nonbinding budget blueprints.
“Congressman Brat chose to vote against bringing up an amendment to protect preexisting conditions,” said Justin Jones, a spokesman for Spanberger, in explaining the ad’s reliance on the May 4 vote. "He had an opportunity to reach across the aisle (as Rep. Walter Jones did) and make that change. He didn’t. And then he voted for the final bill, which undoubtedly gutted protections for preexisting conditions. It wasn’t the first time he’d voted to do that. He’s done it many times.”