In an election cycle where national security has emerged as a leading issue in the minds of Nevada families, few candidates have shown less regard for the issue than Catherine Cortez Masto. Her party’s disinterest on the issue was displayed clearly on the first night of their convention, with ISIS not being mentioned once. But despite her and her party’s lack of concern forthe issue, the Democratic Senate candidate and career politician mentioned today her concerns for her opponent, Dr. Joe Heck, on national security. But given her own comments on national security in recentmonths, it is clear that Cortez Masto’s campaign has a very short memory.
Just days after FBI director called Clinton’s use of a secret home email server to store over 100 classified emails “extremely careless” and potentially dangeous to our national security, Cortez Masto dismissed Director Comey’s rebuke, claiming that Nevadans, “not care about Clinton’s email server.” In reality, over 71% of Nevadans believe Clinton did something wrong, with 44% seeing the actions as criminal. But more startlingly, Cortez Masto followed up by refusing to say she wouldn’t have done the same as Clinton had she been in her position. Despite having served as Nevada’s Attorney General, Catherine Cortez Masto shockingly seems to see no problem at all with actions her constituents clearly see as legally dubious at best.
Cortez Masto has also supported the Obama administration’s reckless nuclear deal with Iran, which was passed through intentional deception of the American public by senior Obama advisors. More troublingly, the AP reported earlier this month that a secret deal will halve the time it will take for Iran to be able to continue its threatening nuclear program at a dangerous capacity. Despite these deeply disturbing developments, Cortez Masto has continued to support the agreement.
It’s beyond explanation for a candidate to criticize another on matters of national security when they themselves won’t rule out conduct described as “extremely careless” with national security by one of America’s top law enforcement officials. Catherine Cortez Masto’s alarming lack of expertise and blatant hypocrisy on this topic clearly shows how unfit she is to be Nevada’s next Senator.
–John Burke, Nevada Republican Party Director Of Rapid Response
