Conservative agitator highlights Trump’s conviction in an attack ad on endangered Democratic senator

Republicans are benefiting from the polarizing conviction of former President Trump in the criminal trial.

With their goal of regaining the Senate majority in the November elections, Republicans are going on the offensive in the traditionally Republican state of Montana, where Democratic Senator Jon Tester is fighting for his political survival.

Tim Sheehy, who is overwhelmingly seeking the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s Montana primary, released an ad this week accusing Jon Tester of “supporting Joe Biden’s witch hunt.”

It is the first place in a crucial Senate race where the verdict in the trial against Trump is the focus.

Trump released after guilty verdict in criminal trial

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was found guilty on Thursday by a New York jury on all 34 counts in his case, the first trial in which a former or sitting president has been tried.

Trump turns convictions into cash

The former president had repeatedly claimed that the case was a “farce” and “rigged” and that the prosecution had come “straight from the inner halls of the White House and the Department of Justice.”

Former President Trump (right) endorsed Tim Sheehy for Montana Senate. (Sheehy for the Senate)

The ad’s narrator, Sheehy, a successful businessman and former Navy SEAL, claims it’s “state-sponsored political persecution led by Joe Biden and the radical left. They want to put Trump in jail.”

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“Tester has even advocated violence against President Trump,” the narrator says, as the ad includes a clip from an old MSNBC interview in which the senator said someone needed to “punch Trump in the face.”

The ad was first reported by Politico.

Trump is supporting Sheehy, who is also strongly supported by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Republican senators.

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) speaks to reporters as he walks through the Capitol on February 5, 2024 in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker)

The ad is the latest entry in the multimillion-dollar advertising war for the Montana Senate seat. In addition, a GOP strategist working on the Senate campaign says it is “a sign that Republicans are going on the offensive after the Trump verdict,” especially in Republican states like Montana and Ohio, where Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is also a strong Republican target.

Tester spokeswoman Monica Robinson argued in a statement responding to the ad that Sheehy is “trying to cover up the fact that he is a multimillionaire from out of state who was caught lying about every part of his life and is running for Senate to enrich himself, not Montana. Jon will continue to run based on his track record of always fighting for what is best for Montana – including getting more than 20 pieces of legislation signed by President Trump.”

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