Never-Trumpers: McSally is a ‘Trump hack’ who won’t be remembered

A conservative anti-Trump group has launched a scathing ad of Sen. Martha McSally, dubbing her a “Trump hack” who is headed for defeat – again – in 2020 because of her decision to support the president in the impeachment trial.

The 73-second ad from The Lincoln Project, a collection of strategists and advisors who left the GOP after Trump became president, criticizes McSally for repeating her mistake from 2018, when she abandoned her moderate roots and campaigned for the U.S. Senate as a staunch Trump ally.

“Arizona rejected you in 2018, and you know why: You were too close to Donald Trump. And you lost, badly,” the female narrator says. “Now, you’ve gone ‘full Trump’ – again.”

Chiefly, the ad declares, McSally voted against the Senate hearing new evidence and testimony from witnesses in the impeachment trial.

McSally lost to Kyrsten Sinema in 2018, but was appointed to the Senate to fill the seat that the late John McCain was elected to in 2014. 

The Lincoln Project ad says McSally pales in comparison to McCain and other “true independents” who represented Arizona in the Senate, like Barry Goldwater. 

“They stood for what was right, no matter the political risk. And they are remembered as American heroes,” the narrator says. “And you, Martha? You’ll be remembered as just another Trump hack… If you’re remembered at all.”

It is unclear whether the video will be used for ads on television or in digital mediums. A message sent to Lincoln Project spokeswoman Lisa Horn was not returned.

But Horn said in a press release announcing the video that “Arizonans clearly see who Martha McSally truly is – an unprincipled and unelected Trump hack.”

The Lincoln Project aims to defeat Trump and candidates “who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party,” according to its website.

McSally is expected to face Democrat Mark Kelly in the November election.