Veterans group targets Toomey with new ad

VoteVets.org and the liberal super PAC American Bridge will release a new digital ad on Monday slamming Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) for failing to stand up to Donald Trump.

{mosads}The ad, obtained first by The Hill, will launch Monday before the Pennsylvania Senate debate in Philadelphia.

It spotlights Dave Henderson, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Henderson, who lives in Philadelphia, says Trump and Toomey do not have veterans’ “best interest at heart.”

“If our service members can stand up and fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pat Toomey, you should be able to stand up and fight for us,” Henderson says in the ad.

Toomey, who is currently in a tight race for reelection to the Senate, has not endorsed Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, but said he will not vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president.

“Unlike principled Republicans who have stood up to Trump, Pat Toomey appears all too ready to stand by and do nothing as Trump insults and endangers our troops,” VoteVets.org Pennsylvania outreach coordinator Hazel Diaz, a veteran, said in a statement. “If he cannot stand up to Trump, he is too weak to fight for Pennsylvania.”

American Bridge President Jessica Mackler blamed Toomey and the Republican Party for Trump’s rise.

“Donald Trump is wholly unfit to be commander in chief. And Pat Toomey’s cowardly Trump-enabling proves he’s just as unfit to represent Pennsylvania,” she said.

Clinton made similar remarks Saturday about the Pennsylvania senator. In her swing through the Keystone State, Clinton voiced her support for Toomey’s opponent, Democrat Katie McGinty, and criticized Toomey for failing to stand up to Trump.

“If he doesn’t have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump after all this, then can you be sure he’ll stand up for you when it counts against powerful interests?” she asked.