New TV Ad Links Mitch McConnell With Al Qaeda For Opposing Gun Background Checks

A new TV ad that will be airing in Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky this week shames him for opposing universal background checks — which are supported by 82 percent of Kentuckians — for gun purchases.

But the ad goes further than just pointing out that by joining the failed GOP filibuster to even bring a debate on expanding background checks to the Senate floor, McConnell is going against the will of the people he is hoping will re-elect him in 2014. The TV spot, titled “Bad Company,” shows video footage of a 2011 al Qaeda recruitment video in which American-born al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn talks about how “you can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?”

The ad, which was released by progressive advocacy group Americans United for Change, ends by telling viewers to call McConnell and “ask him why he’s in such bad company.”

The Manchin-Toomey compromise amendment would close the “gun show loophole” by requiring background checks on everyone in order to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill, and al Qaeda terrorists.

“What should give Sen. McConnell and fellow Republicans who oppose broader background checks great pause is that their position is so unpopular that virtually the only people who agree with them are big gun manufacturers, criminals, and terrorists.  Talk about bad company,” said Tom McMahon, executive director of Americans United for Change. “Senator McConnell doesn’t even want to have a debate about gun safety in Newtown’s aftermath. Talk about a slap to the face to all families whose loved ones were taken away by gun violence – violence that may have been prevented if these common-sense gun safety measures before Congress were law. ”

Here is the ad: