MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Minnesota Republican Congressman Erik Paulsen is standing by a campaign ad attacking one of Minnesota’s largest health systems.
Paulsen claims Allina Health Care ignored sexual harassment allegations when his 3rd District Democratic opponent Dean Phillips served on the board of directors. It is a claim Phillips calls “a lie.”
The ad accuses Allina of ignoring harassment claims in 2007, and says then-board chairman Phillips “did nothing.”
For a Congressman elected 10 years ago to focus on attacking his opponent with continuing use of debunked claims is sad to see, but not surprising from what he and his party has become.
The latest attack ad from his campaign (he’s shown at the intro and does the required disclaimer, so he and his campaign own this one), get down in the muck of false claims regarding sexual harassment.
Here are the facts:
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Excelsior, MN – Congressman Erik Paulsen and the special interest groups supporting his campaign are spending at least $8 million on a coordinated disinformation campaign targeting voters in Minnesota’s 3rd District. Paulsen for Congress, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) have all been called out by local news organizations for spreading false and misleading claims. Today, Politifact confirmed that the ads are distorted, out of context, and mostly false. Still, Paulsen for Congress, NRCC and CLF continue to fill the airwaves with little regard for the truth.
In response, Dean Phillips’s campaign for Congress today formally challenged the false NRCC and CLF ads, issued a letter to Congressman Paulsen correcting his false claims so that he can correct his ads accordingly, and offered a new idea to protect voters from the kind of lies and political distortions that are pervasive on the airwaves right now.
Because the Supreme Court has determined that First Amendment protections of free speech extend to political speech regardless of whether it is true or not, Phillips announced his proposal to establish a national Truth in Political Advertising program whereby political campaigns could voluntarily submit advertisements to an independent, nonpartisan fact-checking organization for verification of claims made. If verified, the advertisement would receive a Truth in Political Advertising Seal of Approval, which could be displayed in the ad. Continue reading “Phillips Calls for New “Truth in Political Advertising” Effort, Challenges False Ads”
Excelsior, MN – In the third debate of the campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s third district, Congressman Erik Paulsen continued to promote claims called false and misleading by local independent fact checkers, saying instead that those fact checks backed up his claims.
Here’s the truth:
KARE 11 News fact checked the Paulsen claim and declared “Attacks on Phillips Fail Truth Test.”
WCCO TV noted that Congressman Paulsen’s campaign took their own assessment out of context in an effort to mislead voters. Pat Kessler: “Paulsen is trying to make it seem like Phillips doesn’t give his workers healthcare. That’s FALSE.”
WCCO TV included the following facts to clear up Congressman Paulsen’s lie:
“Here are the facts about Dean Phillips:
Continue reading “Ironically, Paulsen Lies About Fact Checks During Debate”
Yesterday, Congressman Erik Paulsen voted along with all of his Republican colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee against a measure to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions from discrimination. In Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, there are 310,200 people with pre-existing conditions. DCCC spokesperson Rachel Irwin released the following statement:
“Congressman Erik Paulsen has once again sided with party bosses and special interests in Washington over his constituents, voting to allow insurance companies to deny coverage to the hundreds of thousands of people in his district with asthma, diabetes, and other pre-existing conditions. Minnesotans will remember this betrayal in November as healthcare is top of mind for voters.”
This vote comes just a few weeks after Rep. Paulsen’s spokesperson, said in a statement to the Star Tribune that, “Rep. [Erik] Paulsen has long supported protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, and he continues to do so.”
Here are the facts: Paulsen has taken more than $1.2 million from the insurance industry and voted dozens of times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would’ve eliminated protections for those with pre-existing conditions. In 2017, he voted for the AHCA, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Politifact confirmed would gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions, including making health insurance unaffordable for older Americans and jack up premiums. Paulsen has also failed to stand up to Trump’s administration ongoing efforts to dismantle pre-existing conditions protections.
