Last week, Donald Trump’s campaign was upended by the release of a 2005 tape in which he bragged about being able to grope women and get away with it.
Now, the fallout from the footage is making its way onto the campaign trail in a Senate race, as New Hampshire’s Democratic hopeful is looking to tie her Republican opponent to Trump’s words.
“Degrading women and vulgar insults, and Kelly Ayotte supported Donald Trump through all of it,” a narrator says in an ad released by Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is challenging Ayotte.
The ad opens with a quick glimpse of the now-infamous footage taken on the set of “Access Hollywood” 11 years ago. Trump can be heard on the tape making extraordinarily vulgar remarks about women.
The spot also shows Trump mocking a reporter last year who had a disability.
Earlier in the month, Ayotte had said she would “absolutely” point to Trump as a role model for children, later walking back the remark by saying she “misspoke.” And after the 2005 tape surfaced, Ayotte said she would not vote for him.
Hassan’s spot pounced on Ayotte’s shifting positions.
“A political calculation just to re-elect herself,” the ad said. “So what else has Kelly Ayotte done to get re-elected?”
The ad is the latest effort to tie Trump to down-ballot Republicans, particularly as his poll numbers sink.
Republicans in tough re-election fights have been weighing how aggressively to elbow out their presidential candidate. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson on Friday pitched himself as a counterweight to a potential President Hillary Clinton, allowing him to effectively concede the presidential race without having to invite Trump’s scorn with an un-endorsement.
