“Not electable,” “An unserious man,” “all my credible Republican opponents lost.”
PENNSYLVANIA — The Pennsylvania GOP’s “trainwreck” Senate primary continues to live up to its name as it has become defined by a crowded field participating in legal battles and nasty personal attacks.
In addition to a six-figure ad buy from a Bartos Super PAC hitting Parnell, the candidates themselves have not been shy about attacking each other. See below for the candidates’ thoughts on their opponents in their own words:
Bartos Attacks on Parnell:
“Sean is not electable. And so we as Republicans cannot put up a candidate who cannot win a general election. We have to hold this seat,”
Bartos said. In his memo, Bartos calls Parnell “a poison pill in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs” because of Parnell’s comments about women on cable news and court documents filed in a contentious divorce proceeding.
“I believe firmly that Sean is unelectable,” Bartos said. [9/20/2021]
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Conor McGuinness, spokesman for the Bartos campaign, pushed back against Parnell, reiterated calls about Parnell’s former Trump criticism, and brought up other instances where Parnell “sided with liberals,” including Parnell’s past support of mail-in voting. He said “frauds like Sean Parnell are what’s wrong with politics.“
“Glad to see Sean Parnell is admitting his support for Act 77, the disastrous legislation that cost President Trump the state of Pennsylvania and the Presidency, and agreeing that he sided with liberals in demanding Donald Trump release his tax returns,” said McGuinness. “Jeff Bartos has raised and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to elect pro-Trump Republicans. We’ll gladly stack that up against Sean Parnell’s effort to sabotage President Trump’s re-election any day of the week.” [5/28/2021]
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“Looks like Sean Parnell is grasping at straws already to cover his never-Trump record — Jeff Bartos has raised and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to elect Pro-Trump Republicans,” says McGuinness in a statement. “Sean Parnell called Donald Trump a racist, divisive, and sided with liberals in demanding President Trump’s tax returns.” [6/22/2021]
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Parnell’s opponents have been quick to point out his past criticism of Trump. Jeff Bartos, a businessman who’s also running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, ran digital ads on Google after Parnell’s announcement saying that Parnell “sided with liberals” and linked to Parnell’s 2016 tweet when he called for Trump to release his tax returns. [5/28/2021]
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“Jeff Bartos has raised and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to elect Pro-Trump Republicans. Sean Parnell called Donald Trump a racist, divisive, and sided with liberals in demanding President Trump’s tax returns,” Conor McGuinness, a spokesman for the Bartos campaign said. [6/18/2021]
Parnell Attacks on Bartos:
“If Jeff Bartos had a fraction of the integrity as Sean Parnell, he would drop out of the race. He is an unserious man for serious times and has shown he has no business running as a Republican for the United States Senate.” [9/20/2021]
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A Parnell spokesperson said that they “expect this type of dishonesty from Democrats” but that it’s “disgraceful” coming from “purported Republicans.”
“It’s pathetic that Sean’s political opponents are knowingly smearing him with desperate lies, all because they know their campaigns are in free-fall,” said the spokesperson, Ian Prior, adding that the attacks “are hurting Sean’s young children.” [10/01/2021]
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“I think [he] was an intern for Clinton and worked for Hillary Clinton in the White House… He was a lifelong Democrat. No, no, he was a lifelong Democrat until he recently switched to the Republican Party.” [10/11/2021]
“First, we learn Jeff personally donated to Democrats who supported impeaching President Trump,” says Prior in a statement to Pittsburgh City Paper. “Now, we find out Jeff worked for Bill Clinton and publicly heaped praise on Hillary Clinton. It sure sounds like Jeff was #ReadyForHillary.” [6/22/2021]
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“Digging up old out-of-context tweets reeks of desperation. But what else would you expect from someone like Jeff Bartos who has personally donated to multiple Democrats who supported impeaching President Trump and removing him from office?” said Prior in a statement to Pittsburgh City Paper. [5/28/2021]
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“First, we learn Jeff personally donated to Democrats who supported impeaching President Trump,” says Prior in a statement to Pittsburgh City Paper. “Now, we find out Jeff worked for Bill Clinton and publicly heaped praise on Hillary Clinton. It sure sounds like Jeff was #ReadyForHillary.”[6/25/2021]
Sands attacks on Bartos & Parnell
“So you can see that my campaign manager actually says this is a primary in name only. And that’s because all of my credible Republican opponents lost their last race and they lost badly, all of them.” [10/12/2021]
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“Bartos has said even the temporary orders make Parnell ‘unelectable’ in a competitive race. The campaign manager for another Republican candidate, Carla Sands, echoed that criticism this week. ‘Reports of Sean Parnell’s behavior are offensive, outrageous, and disqualifying. Parnell cannot be trusted to win the general election or represent millions of Pennsylvania women,’ said Joe Desilets.” [10/1/21]
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“And, you know, we have a couple of competitors in the race that are credible, but they both lost their last race. And I love that quote by Albert Einstein that says ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.’ I mean, I believe that’s mostly true. And we’ve had failed politicians coming out again and again. And they’re likely going to run against the same people they lost to the last time.” [7/7/21]
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