GOP Ad Targeting Jon Ossoff Conjures Bin Laden: Georgia's 6th District Race

BROOKHAVEN, GA — A new ad from the GOP-backed Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC uses Osama bin Laden imagery to attack Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff's ties to Al Jazeera.

The ad, titled "Jon Ossoff: How Can We Trust Him?" references that Al Jazeera has been called a "mouthpiece for terrorists." The spot is the latest salvo in the Republican Party's attempt to hold off a 30-year-old political newcomer from flipping the longtime GOP-friendly 6th District back to the Democrats. The race is also the first big test of the Trump Administration's appeal on the local level.

With Ossoff leading in all the latest polls, the GOP is genuinely concerned about the 6th District seat, which was vacated by Republican Congressman Tom Price when he was tapped by President Trump to become the nation's health secretary.

Read more: Here are the 18 candidates running in Georgia's 6th District race

With about two weeks to go in the special election, Republicans are throwing major money at the 6th District; last month they released a Han Solo-based ad to show Ossoff as a beer pong-loving college frat boy.

In the GOP's latest ad against him, Ossoff is depicted as a shady politician hiding his true alliances with the Islamic world. Ossoff has said that his investigative film company has done work with Al Jazeera along with shining a spotlight on ISIS atrocities in the Middle East.

Al Jazeera, which is owned by the Qatar government, emerged as a major news outlet only in the last decade. Before that it was criticized by U.S. lawmakers for having an anti-American slant, especially after President Bush sent troops into Iraq following 9/11.

The ad also charges that "Jon refuses to tell voters the truth about his experience."

Ossoff is on record as saying that he has five years experience as a national security staffer. Critics charge that as a former legislative correspondent for Atlanta-area Congressman Hank Johnson, it is unlikely that he had a top-level security clearance to handle any substantial policy.

Politifact, a website that gauges politicians' statements for truthfulness, labeled Ossoff's claim "half true." But that isn't stopping voters in the 6th District, including millennials from largely affluent households in Cobb, Fulton and DeKalb counties, from coming out in large numbers for him.

Ossoff's strong showing has galvanized Democrats, who had long conceded the 6th District to Republicans since Newt Gingrich took the helm there in the late 1970s. These days, Democrats truly believe they can "flip the Sixth" after Trump's razor-thin victory over Hillary Clinton in November.

The special election is scheduled for April 18, and a runoff, if necessary, is slated for June 20.

Image via Youtube / CLFSuperPAC