Politics

Nevada candidate’s light-hearted fear-mongering ad

Jeff Winkler Contributor
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The Republican candidate for Nevada’s special congressional election has released his first ad and he makes one thing clear — vote for me or China will literally take over the United States.

Mark Amodei, who has served as the chairman of the Nevada GOP, recently became the Republican nominee for the state’s 2nd Congressional District. The ad itself, which will be featured in Reno markets, doesn’t go after any particular  candidate as Amodei doesn’t yet have a clear Democrat opponent. Not that it’s stopped Amodei from coming out strong. (Mark Amodei gets Republican nomination for Nevada special election)

The ad, ostensibly pushing Amodei’s Tea Party-esque position on (not) raising the debt ceiling, is a 30-second glimpse into a dystopian future. A fake news report from a Chinese television station touts the success of China’s takeover of a debt-ridden America. The piece de resistance includes the Red Army storming past the US Capitol.

Is this a literal interpretation of the near feature or just an overly eager campaign video ad? As the exchange below the video between The Daily Caller and Amodei shows, the answer is: Reply Hazy, Try Again.

WATCH:

Amodei: The message is, the fiscal situation now is dire, and if you don’t change the course, it will go from dire to catastrophic.

TheDC: Does the catastrophic include an Army marching over the Capitol?

Amodei: Let’s put it this way: … If we start selling it to the French, you could substitute the French, you could substitute anybody you want. The fact of the matter is right now, this is where the ton of the debt is being placed. There’s no racial tone to it, it’s simply factual.

TheDC: No, sorry, I didn’t even mean to imply racial overtones. Just literal ones. Like someone taking over the US Capitol. Are you saying this could very well happen, or is this just hyperbole about the debt crisis?

Amodei: The fact is, a tone of the debt is being placed by the Chinese. I mean, it happens to be them. And by the way, if you don’t start taking the debt issue seriously, then the people who hold it will be in positions of power, regardless of who that is. [It is] really inconsistent with [our] notions of national sovereignty and being a superpower.

TheDC: So, I guess, barring whoever it is, someone will take over the Capitol, or the country, if we don’t get the debt crisis in order?

Amodei: Yeah, it is a country that was based on notions of private sector and capitalism. And so what’s happening now is a fairly large threat.

Amodei is the state GOP’s choice candidate, but Nevadans are awaiting a Supreme Court decision as to whether central party committees have the right to pick candidates, or if primaries should be a free-for-all. Amodei’s primary opponents included Greg Brower, who has already dropped out, and Kirk Lippold, who said he would continue to run in the special election until the courts make a decision.

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