Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released a campaign advertisement on Friday featuring surrogates who claimed he “bucked” President Joe Biden on key policies, while backing former President Donald Trump on others, in an apparent attempt to create distance from the Biden-Harris administration despite Casey campaigning with the president earlier this month.
The new ad features Casey and two purported supporters of the Pennsylvania Democrat who revealed themselves to be a politically divided couple, as one spouse is registered Republican and the other Democratic, who are able to find common ground politically through their mutual support of Casey.
In the ad, the Republican surrogate described Casey as an “independent” who is now, “leading the effort to stop corporate greedflation and price gouging,” before stating the senator defied the Democratic president.
“Casey bucked Biden to protect fracking,” the surrogate stated, before adding that Casey, “sided with Trump to end NAFTA, and put tariffs on China to stop them from cheating.”
Despite the ad highlighting a disagreement between Casey and the president, Biden reportedly traveled to Philadelphia for a campaign fundraiser with Casey within the last two weeks.
Both Biden and Casey have also stressed their mutual friendship repeatedly in public appearances, as noted by Dave McCormick, the Democrat’s Republican challenger, when Casey backed Biden while many Democrats urged the president to end his presidential campaign after a devastating debate performance against Trump.
Bob Casey has said over and over that his “close friend” Joe Biden, with whom he votes 98% of the time, is fit to be president.
What we all saw last night proves Casey is lying. pic.twitter.com/8vUy4F5FIk
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) June 28, 2024
Casey’s endorsement of Trump’s tariffs on China also come as Vice President Kamala Harris has attacked Trump’s trade policies, characterizing the tariffs Trump promised to impose on foreign countries to protect American economic interests as a national sales tax.
The remarks from Casey’s surrogate about fracking also appear to contradict the Harris campaign’s messaging, as though Harris once vowed to ban fracking, she has campaigned on the record of the Biden-Harris administration as evidence she is no longer interested in restricting the practice in Pennsylvania.
According to Casey’s ad, a blocked vote in the Senate was the only reason the Biden-Harris administration did not restrict fracking in Pennsylvania.
While the RealClearPolling aggregate shows Casey leading McCormick by 3.8 percent, the Democrat said last Sunday that his internal polls suggest the race is much closer.
“We’re probably in a two-point race in my race,” said Casey. He predicted the race between Trump and Harris is similarly close, and said need to court undecided voters with an economic message to win the Keystone State.
Watch Casey’s full ad:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bob Casey Ad” by Bob Casey.
