GOP lawmaker condemns ad warning black voters Dems will bring back ‘lynchings’

An Arkansas Republican on Thursday condemned a right-leaning group over an advertisement in support of his campaign airing on radio stations in predominantly African-American areas in the state.

Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) tweeted Thursday evening that an ad warning black voters that white Democrats would bring back “lynchings” if they retake Congress in the fall and likening the issue to allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was “nonsense” and had no place in the campaign.

{mosads}”Some may have heard an appalling ad on the radio. I condemn this outrageous ad in the strongest terms,” Hill tweeted, while not linking to audio of the ad directly.

“I do not support that message, and there is no place in Arkansas for this nonsense,” he added.9

Some may have heard an appalling ad on the radio. I condemn this outrageous ad in the strongest terms. I do not support that message, and there is no place in Arkansas for this nonsense.

— French Hill (@ElectFrench) October 18, 2018

Hill’s tweet referred to an ad from Black Americans for the President’s Agenda, a right-leaning group formed in support of President Trump and chaired by Del. Jill Upson (R), a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Audio of the advertisement went viral on social media earlier on Thursday, with Twitter users criticizing the ad for linking the Kavanaugh hearings to the use of false rape allegations to justify white lynch mobs that targeted black men throughout the south especially during the Reconstruction period.

“Girl, white Democrats will be lynching black men again,” one unidentified voice says in the ad.

A request for comment to the group from The Hill was not immediately returned. A poll of the race last month showed Hill leading his opponent, Clarke Tucker (D) by 9 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight.